EDIT: Since many people were missing this part. (Maybe I was not clear enough). The owner of the keys was in the weight training class that started at 6 AM and left her keys on the bike to “reserve” it for the cycle class that started at 7 AM. I got there around 6:50 and she was still in the weight training class. I assumed someone had forgotten their keys and gave them to the coach.
So I go to this fitness studio. It’s about 25 people max.
They offer two classes. Weight training and cycling.
Weight training is at 6AM and cycling starts at 7 AM. They’re both one hour classes.
I only go to cycling at 7 AM. I always go 10 mins early to get a good seat (I’m not the only one who gets there early for the cycle class).
Usually, when I enter the studio, the weight training class is finishing up their class, which is right next to the empty bikes.
The coach recently replaced all the bikes and I don’t have the special shoes, so I sit on the bikes that have the pedal strap, which were just a few.
Yesterday, I entered the studio and the bike I sat down was empty (I sat on this one because it was the only one with the pedal strap). I then saw a car key fob on the bottle carrier of the bike and I genuinely assumed that someone had forgotten it (because why would I leave my car key fob unattended?)
I handed the key to the coach and she also thought someone forgot it.
Nobody said anything or opposed.
10 mins later, the first class finished and one of the girl from the training class comes up to me and tells me she left her keys there. I politely tell her that I gave them to the coach.
She then repeated the same thing. This time hinting at the purpose of leaving her keys on the bike was to “reserve” it. (She didn’t say it directly but the fact that she repeated herself made me assume she was mad I was sitting there).
She walked away and I didn’t move.
Should I have moved? I told this to my partner and he said that seat guarding should not be allowed if you’re not actively using the equipment.
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So I go to this fitness studio. It’s about 25 people max.
They offer two classes. Weight training and cycling.
Weight training is at 6AM and cycling starts at 7 AM. They’re both one hour classes.
I only go to cycling at 7 AM. I always go 10 mins early to get a good seat (I’m not the only one who gets there early for the cycle class).
Usually, when I enter the studio, the weight training class is finishing up their class, which is right next to the empty bikes.
The coach recently replaced all the bikes and I don’t have the special shoes, so I sit on the bikes that have the pedal strap, which were just a few.
Yesterday, I entered the studio and the bike I sat down was empty (I sat on this one because it was the only one with the pedal strap). I then saw a car key fob on the bottle carrier of the bike and I genuinely assumed that someone had forgotten it (because why would I leave my car key fob unattended?)
I handed the key to the coach and she also thought someone forgot it.
Nobody said anything or opposed.
10 mins later, the first class finished and one of the girl from the training class comes up to me and tells me she left her keys there. I politely tell her that I gave them to the coach.
She then repeated the same thing. This time hinting at the purpose of leaving her keys on the bike was to “reserve” it. (She didn’t say it directly but the fact that she repeated herself made me assume she was mad I was sitting there).
She walked away and I didn’t move.
Should I have moved? I told this to my partner and he said that seat guarding should not be allowed if you’re not actively using the equipment.
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> 1 i didn’t move off the bike
2. I refused to move off the bike
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
NAH you don’t need to keep thinking about this.
NTA. Even putting aside whether seat reserving should be “allowed,” no one can reasonably expect anyone would know that leaving a key there was intended to reserve it.
NTA you can’t reserve a piece of equipment in a gym. It’s first come first serve. If she continues to do this, she need to report her to the class coach.
NAH. Don’t worry about it. There’s no reason you would’ve or should’ve realized she left her keys to “reserve” the bike, I would’ve also assumed they were forgotten. (I’m going to say NAH instead of NTA because we don’t really know if she intended to reserve the bike at all, that’s just an assumption, but it’d be NTA if she did, you can’t just “hold” workout equipment if you’re not actively using it)
NTA, gym etiquette dictates that you don’t reserve equipment that you are not currently using. Now if she had put the keys there and went to fill her water and came straight back, it would be slightly different.
NAH this time. However, this is common knowledge that at the gym, a personal item on a machine means someone is using it. This is rarely a lost and found situation and you should have given it a few minutes at least. She is also NTA because she didn’t throw a fit and moved on to another bike.
Tell your gym the lack of bikes you can use is an issue.
Before the replies start, I’m Not Endorsing excessive hogging of equipment. But I feel someone can ‘get there first’ and have a right to put their stuff down and go pee.
Honestly, you did the right thing. If someone wants a specific bike, they should arrive early and sit down, not leave the keys like a towel on a hotel lounge chair. 😂
You weren’t a bad person for using a team that was free and available. Besides, you gave the keys to the coach, which is the most logical thing to do. If we let people reserve things with belongings, then anyone will throw away an old sock and say “that spot is theirs.
NTA
YTA. You go there early to get a good spot. Obviously someone else did as well. If I had to do a quick trip to the bathroom I’d leave something like keys to hold the space. So you could have been polite and moved but decided it was better to “be right” than be decent.
NTA. I agree with your BF – this is guarding because seats can’t be reserved in advance.
YTA. She got there early just like you, picked a bike, then probably ran to the restroom.You can be right, but YTA.
NTA – it’s keys. An important and necessary item, especially if it’s got their car fob on it. And it’s in the cup holder. That’s an instant “this needs to go to the front desk or lost & found” item in my mind.
I might see it differently if they’d left it in a more prominent and visible place, like on the seat, but it’s still a really odd item to use for that.
NTA: Was there assigned seating? No. <— This is the exact response you can give next time. If they push, ask, “Why do you feel that you are entitled to an assigned bike?” That’ll get their gears going.
Another one my friend taught me when we worked at a rehab, “Well, you are entitled to that opinion.”
I agree that you shouldn’t be able to hold a seat if you aren’t using it. But she was in the other class. Actively working out. When did the other class end? If people show up to claim the bikes early and do so, do the participants of the first class also have time to plant themselves on a bike and hold it until class starts? Or do most/all of the bikes get claimed before the other class lets out?
It sounds like an unfair gym scheduling issue may be the asshole here and neither you nor her may be the asshole here. They either need to keep the doors closed until the previous class has finished, allowing equal opportunity for all to claim a seat, or they need to have a reservation so people can get the bike they want, especially if there are specific shoes required for some not all of the bikes.