On Saturday, 22nd of June I drove to the Pawley Pool for swimming. After swimming i went into the female locker room to have a shower. There was only one shower available and this didn't have a privacy curtain; but I showered anyway, naked. After a few minutes one of the female employees stood next to the shower and told me that next time i need to keep my swimsuit on during showering, because there are children around in the female changing room. This statement was somehow confusing for me and i told her that it is very unhygienic and unhealthy to not shower naked before and after using a pool. She pointed out that i can't shower naked in the facilities of a public pool and left. I started rushing to finish showering, but only a few seconds later another woman in the changing room started screaming at me! She screamed: "This is not cute! You can't shower naked here. I don't want my children to see your b*bs and va*na!" I stayed calm and left the shower as fast as possible; i grabbed my towel and wanted to change into my clothes but the woman walked over to me, stood very close in front of me and screamed again: "I am going to sl*p you!! We are in the USA! Go into the restroom for changing!" At this point i was really scared and terrified, because she was extremly agressive. From all the screaming the employee, who talked to me first had come into the room and witnessed the woman threa*ing me to sl*p me; a few seconds later the manager walked in. Both told me to go into the restroom for changing and the manager offered me to walk me to my car, so i can leave safely. Somehow the focus was more on me showering naked than the woman threa*ning me. I pointed out to the manager, that it would be at least fair, to tell the woman that it is not ok to thr*ten someone! I mean a female changing room should be a place where every woman can feel safe! So i went for changing into the restroom and she talked to the woman and walked me to my car. At the parking lot i told the manager that i am really afraid of that woman and very confused about the situation, because for me it is just the very normal thing to shower naked before and after going to a pool and something like this never happened to me before and California is the eighth state of the USA i am travelling through. She explained to me that it is not allowed to shower naked in a public pool in California, unless there is someting like a curtain etc. covering the shower area. I asked what they are going to do, because of the woman's behaviour and she said if that woman is threa*ning someone again, she is going to get a mark for her name. After this i was really convinced that people in California don't shower naked before and after using the pool and that this seems to be a cultural thing.
Only two days later i met a woman, who happened to work as a lifeguard in California and i told her my story. She couldn't believe what had happened and that i was treated so badly! She actually let me know that it is indeed encouraged that people shower before and after using a public pool- for hygienic and health reasons. It is the duty of the pool to even point this out to the visitors and provide proper facilities, including a shower curtain or something similar. Also the employee and manager handled the situation very badly; in California it is considered a crime to threaten someone, even when that person doesn't physically harm the other one- so the employees should have called the police right away, especially when one of them witnessed the woman threatening me.
I can just highly recommend to everybody to avoid this pool and drive a few extra miles, because there are plenty of pools around in the area. It is very alarming for me that i can obviously not feel safe in the female changing room of the Pawley Pool. This should be a safe environment for a woman everywhere! read more