How to Give Someone Privacy in a Locker Room

Privacy is a rare commodity in a locker room environment. However, finding and respecting someone else's privacy is not nearly as difficult as you may think, even when it involves strangers roaming around in the nude. Following some simple rules and suggestions of etiquette will allow you to give someone privacy in a locker room as well as attain a little of your own.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Leave at least one empty locker between you and the other person. Unless the locker room is extremely crowded, leaving an empty locker between you and someone else allows both of you the appropriate amount of room and avoids putting you both in uncomfortable positions as you undress or dress.
2. Choose an appropriate shower stall. If you find that there is already someone else in a stall as you go to shower, choose a stall that is along the same wall as that person and leave at least one stall between you. This avoids any uncomfortable views or accidental bumping, especially if there are no curtains or walls in the shower stalls.
3. Leave your conversations outside. The locker room is not really an appropriate place to make new friends, so avoid striking up small talk with a stranger. This is especially true if either of you are nude or will be during the course of the conversation.
4. Give everyone space. Don't crowd around outside of bathroom or shower stalls chatting with friends or taking care of anything else. Someone else may be trapped in those stalls or uncomfortable with the close proximity, so create buffer zones around all the areas where people are, even if they are behind closed stall doors.
5. Keep your eyes and comments to yourself. Many people are as uncomfortable with their own nudity as they are with a stranger's, so give everyone the respect they deserve by not staring or commenting on other people's bodies. If you find yourself in conversation with anyone, keep your eyes up and your conversation light.
6. Alert others to your presence by making obvious noises as you enter the locker room if someone has her back to you. You can even announce yourself with a quick, "hello" as you enter a steam room since noises are muffled and visibility is low. This gives everyone a chance to cover up if they desire.

Tips & Warnings

• Leave friends, children and family at home unless they are also members of the gym. Children are especially notorious for running up to talk to strangers. If you brought your children with you to enjoy a gym family day or another function, be courteous to strangers by moving to an isolated spot away from other members.