Man Almost Gets Banned After Being Accused of Taking Pictures of Woman at Gym

"AITA for not letting a girl check my phone to make sure I wasn't taking pics of her?"

Man asks whether he was in the wrong for not showing his phone to a woman accusing him of taking pictures of her at the gym.

Reddit/ConsequenceOutside64

OP had been working out at his local gym alongside another woman who was doing squats.

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"I'm at the gym today and I'm walking towards an empty squat rack. 10 ft in front of, and 1 ft to the right of my rack is another rack that a girl (Belinda 20F) is doing squats on. While walking up I briefly noticed that her leggings are see-thru and when she bends down in her squats you can easily tell she's also not wearing underwear."

He decided to grab the rack behind her even though he was uncomfortable with his choice.

Reddit/ConsequenceOutside64

"Thats not my business, thats her choice. But it made me uncomfortable to take a rack that was kinda behind her. I had been waiting my entire gym session for one of these racks to open up, and this was my last lift before leaving, so I went ahead and took it."

He says that everything proceeded as usual with him checking his phone every few seconds to track his workout.

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"I went through my workout as normal. After every set I check my phone for 5-20 seconds. I track every single set for every single lift in a spreadsheet to note how much I lifted and for how many reps."

He said that while he uses his phone regularly during workouts, this time he was following a sporting event.

Reddit/ConsequenceOutside64

"Sometimes I need to remind myself what I did last week to make sure I'm progressing. Sometimes I'm just checking the time. Sometimes I'm changing the song on my Spotify. Tonight specifically, there was a very important basketball game being played so I wanted to keep up with the score. So I use my phone a lot at the gym."

While he was checking his phone, he was surprised to see 'Belinda' confront him and tell him to stop taking pictures of her.

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"I finished my 3rd set when Belinda turns around and walks up to me, with her phone up yelling "What the fuck are you doing? fucking perv stop pictures of me." I'm caught completely off-guard, but I explain that I'm just taking notes on what I'm lifting. That I'm not paying attention to her at all."

He explained that he wasn't but she started recording OP and demanded his phone to see what photos he had taken.

Reddit/ConsequenceOutside64

"She's being extra loud so other people are looking at me, plus she's recording me, and she demands I go through my pics/vids to show her what I was recording and I delete the ones I took of her. I try to again explain I didn't record anything of her at all. She's yelling that if I have nothing to hide I should have no problem showing her, so I insist on going to gym management."

The two went to the front but OP refused to show his phone to either of them.

Reddit/ConsequenceOutside64

"Once at the front we both explain our stories (she's still recording). The normal gym attendee asks me if I'm willing to show her, a neutral 3rd party, my pics/vids. She also says if I have nothing to hide its not a big deal and we can squash it right now. I refuse."

He said he had some pictures of his own that he was unwilling to share with them. He showed her his progress sheet on the phone to prove his innocence but she was unconvinced. 

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"I have my own uncensored pics in there plus those of my gf. I'm not gonna let anyone force me to show them for some bullshit. I do show her my spreadsheet which shows its been revised over 15 times in the past 50 minutes, so that proves what I was using my phone for. That was received well, but they still expected me to prove my innocence."

He suggested they view the camera footage from the gym instead and was told that was something the manager would be able to do later.

Reddit/ConsequenceOutside64

"I told them they need to review the cameras. Apparently, only the manager has access to them so I was told he'd call me before the end of the night (in about an hour). My gf tells me I should have just let them look at my phone because she doesn't mind and it would have cleared this all up."

OP said that he didn't agree with his girlfriend's recommendation to have shown his pictures saying it was a violation of his privacy.

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"But I mind. I get that someone wouldn't want someone taking pics of them, but violating my privacy to prove I wasn't taking pics of you crosses a line for me."

He later shared an update.

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"Edit: Just talked to the manager. He checked the footage. He couldn't see what was on my screen in the footage, but he said it looks like I had my phone pointed towards the ground right in front of me the whole time."

While OP's name was cleared and he wasn't banned, the entire experience left a bad taste in his mouth.

Reddit/ConsequenceOutside64

"In his opinion, "Not high enough to even take a pic of her, and never angled in her direction." Apparently I was gonna get banned from the gym if the cameras didn't absolve me. And also I'm not the first person that has been accused by Brenda, but she legit had a creeper before."

This post led to a barrage of controversial comments. While most sided with OP, his description of the woman's outfit had them wondering about his motives.

Reddit/ConsequenceOutside64

"Why did we need to know the girl wasn't wearing underwear? That has zero to do with the story unless you're trying to shame her to turn the judgment in your favor.
Edit: To the people who are claiming she wore those pants for attention, op explained in a comment:
“She had black leggings which were very thin with white skin. I couldn't help but notice there is literally a full white ass peeking through her leggings at the bottom of her squat.”
They were not see-through, they were black. She very likely had no clue."

For the most part, they felt OP was without fault.

Reddit/ConsequenceOutside64

"NTA, you having to prove yourself by showing private photos is just absurd. Whats on your phone is private. The girl has no evidence except for what she had thought up in her own head. Too be honest i would have turned the tables and say she was recording you without permission and ask the attendee if that is normal for this gym."

Reddit/ConsequenceOutside64

"NTA. I understand why she would have this misunderstanding. But, regardless, you're under no obligation to show your personal photos to her or the manager. Yes, it probably would have cleared it up, and sure a lot of other people out there would probably have just shown the pictures. But, in this case, it's your decision, not theirs."

Reddit/ConsequenceOutside64

"Going to support what others have said and ask why the hell what she was wearing was relevant.
That aside, I understand why you were uncomfortable to show your latest pictures since they were nudes. NTA for that but seriously the comment about her leggings tips you into AH territory."

"NTA, the girl was out of line yelling and causing attention for no reason. You were within your right to not show your phone to anyone there especially if you have your personal pictures there."

Reddit/ConsequenceOutside64