So, I headed down to the public bathroom/lockerroom/shower in our building at day's end to change into my cycling clothes. The changing room and shower are actually a small anteroom of the bathroom. There was already someone in the room when I got there, so I had to wait for five or so minutes before going in. No big deal. But then, when the guy came out, I went in to discover the floor almost completely wet. I'm not talking about the shower floor itself, but the entire 5x5 foot changing/locker room. (Some background: this has happened many times before, and it really pisses me off. For some reason, I have a pet peeve about folks leaving the room in what I consider to be a shambles (as we'll see, maybe that's just me)). So, for me, it's now basically impossible for to change in that room without getting my feet and/or clothing wet, so I have to pack up my stuff and head upstairs to change in the bathroom up there.

Anyway, the guy is still standing at the lavatories as I behold the wet floor, and I just couldn't help myself -- I had to say something. So, I say, "how'd the floor get so wet?" He responds, in a 'duh' tone, "I just took a shower". "Why don't you pull in the curtain?", I say. He says, "I did pull in the curtain." I decide not to respond to this, since I don't comprehend how the floor could get so flooded if you did pull in the curtain. But, as I pack my stuff up to take upstairs, I get more and more pissed. I just can't help myself, so as I walk past the guy I say, "somehow I manage to take a shower in there without getting the whole floor wet". "You're a great man then", he says (or something to that effect). My witty retort as I went out the door: "yeah, and you suck".

I guess I should be glad he didn't follow me out the door and start a fight.

I reflected on this on my bike ride home, and just couldn't see how I could be in the wrong in this matter. Isn't it simple courtesy to leave the shower room basically like you found it? (BTW, when I'm done in there, you wouldn't know that I'd taken a shower there except for the wet shower floor). I felt justified, even though I did feel a little bad about mouthing off to the guy. Did it make me a whiner to complain about it? Or did it mean that I was just being assertive?

I decided to get MB's opinion on the subject. I told her the story, feeling sure that she'd agree with me that people, in general, suck (but thinking she'd also worry about me mixing it up with a stranger). Surprise! Her opinion was basically this: that I shouldn't expect everyone else to be as anal-retentive as I am, and that I shouldn't be surprised to see the floor covered in water, given that it's a public shower (although we're talking about a changing area, IMO). Her point was that my reaction was my particular reaction, and maybe my standards are just too high.

I can see her point, although it took me a while to get there. So, what do you think? Was the guy a messy a-hole, or am I an anal-retentive baby? The world wants to know (or at least I do).