[AITA] Guy in free weight area of suburban gym loudly plays music without earbuds. I say, “did you did you leave you earbuds at home?” He replies, “I never use them.” I say, “people wear them so they keep their music to themselves.” He replies “I don’t give a fuck.” I reply, “I can see that.” He replies “you’re a fucking asshole for saying anything.”
Am I the asshole for suggesting to this guy that he was blasting music and should use earbuds?
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[AITA] Guy in free weight area of suburban gym loudly plays music without earbuds. I say, “did you did you leave you earbuds at home?” He replies, “I never use them.” I say, “people wear them so they keep their music to themselves.” He replies “I don’t give a fuck.” I reply, “I can see that.” He replies “you’re a fucking asshole for saying anything.”
Am I the asshole for suggesting to this guy that he was blasting music and should use earbuds?
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Am I the asshole here or is it the guy blasting his music?
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I asked a guy about his not using earbuds at the gym. Does that make me an asshole?
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
NTA. You did just right. Next step is to bring it to whoever is running the place. They can take care of it.
NTA. People need to be called out more for breaching social etiquette.
Perhaps you should follow up with gym staff.
Thats not you suggesting he should use earbuds, thats you, in 2025 mind you, explaining the concept of earbuds. Then, hilarious, you went with your vision skills.
In a conversation about annoying sounds, you somehow were able to never say “hey that sound is annoying”
Stop being so passive.
ESH cause I’m sorry, if your gonna speak up actually say something.
NTA. But let the gym management deal with him
nah, you ain’t the asshole. dude’s straight up being disrespectful blasting his music for everyone. you just pointed it out chill, he could’ve ignored you or been decent, but instead he got salty. some people just can’t handle being called out.
nah, you’re good. dude’s being rude blasting his music in a shared space. you just said something normal, and he got all mad for no reason. that’s on him, not you.
Silly post in what way would you be the AH?
I must have missed the part where you actually asked him to please use earbuds. If you’re not going to be direct, the passive aggressive style doesn’t work with these types.
You should have gone to staff immediately, rather than approaching an obvious A H.
ESH. Him for being one, you for hinting rather than asking.
NTA. These people should be publicly shamed more often.
No. He’s an entitled prick. Complain to mgmt next time
No hes the ah. When you accidentally drop a dumbbell on his phone. OOPS!!!!
not the asshole but you were playing fake nice guy with how you spoke to him which is sort of disrespectful on its own by you not speaking to him like a man. ofc he overreacted and i say he’s an asshole not you but i don’t like how you spoke to him.
Drop a weight on his phone.
I would say NTA but also not your job to confront him. The staff needs to do that and if the gym doesn’t have a policy that bans that kind of behavior, you can exercise your right to use a different gym.
No. NTA.
I’m noticing an upsurge in somewhat nonsensical posts on this sub lately, like posts where they couldn’t in any logical or moral way be the AH and yet they still post it. Like what’s up with that?
NTA but 100% complain to management. The part where he insulted you will be useful information also. Not just that there’s probably a rule against being unpleasant to other members, but also if they go “well have you just asked him?” you can point to this and make them do their jobs, hopefully.
Tangent: I see so much terrible behavior in weight gyms, I have long advocated for a lifeguard type position. There’s often enough staff but they’re hanging around by the front desk or back in offices. They don’t have to sit on a single chair and stare at one room but need to do constant rounds and have a job to intercede before one person makes things too awful for the rest of the membership.
Is it Bone Thugs n harmony?
Complain to the gym management. If they do nothing, it is time to find the biggest boom box possible and walk in and play K-pop at full volume when you see him.
ESH – this wasn’t really an issue for you to take responsibility for. If you have an issue with another member, the best thing to do is to talk to the gym’s staff. If they have a policy about people using earbuds or not playing their music out loud, it’s up to them to deal with it.
If they don’t have that policy, then the other guy wasn’t in the wrong, you were.
NTA
This and people who talk on speaker phone in public are two of my biggest pet peeves.
NTA. Bring this up to people running the place.
How would your gym allow this? Always see them shutting this down no matter the gym.
What a bellend end, them, not you OP.
Whenever anyone has a Bluetooth speaker playing I do my best to link my phone to it and play awful music until they get angry, look stupid and leave or turn it off. It’s fun them trying to work it out.
Talk to the staff, I’m betting that’s not allowed
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Depends on the gyms music rules. Yeah it’s annoying but if it isn’t against the rules you can’t expect people to be courteous because, as a collective, people fuckin suck.
If it isn’t against policy, you can easily get back at this guy, bring a speaker juuuuust a little louder than his and blast Barbie girl on repeat right next to him. He’ll either eventually complain about it and you can point out that it’s what he’s doing to everyone else, or he’ll leave, or the gym policy will change.
NTA for pointing out it’s rude though
NTA just start singing along to his music, badly.
NTA
Blasting music gets you thrown out of most gyms.
Back in my powerlifting days, the fairly hardcore gym I frequented would not have tolerated this at all.
Cussing out someone for mentioning it would also get you tossed quickly.
Douchenozzles like music guy make me glad I have a good home gym set up now.
What kind of music? The gym where I go plays music
NTA. People should be shamed for this behavior. Thanks for having the courage to do it.
YTA for even asking if YTA, he clearly has issues
NTA, and good on you for speaking up! Next step is to get a manager to talk to him.
Get a bigger Bluetooth speaker and blast music over his
Obviously your not the AH.
I wonder if you said loudly “Are you going to hit me? All I did was suggest you turn down the music. Why are you calling me a fucking asshole? There’s no need for swearing.”
Do you think you’d be the AH then?
NTA I’d start singing along even if I don’t know the words. That would probably annoy him enough to leave 🤷🏼♀️