I’d first like to start this blog by showing you this:
This cartoon is not an exaggeration. It’s a pretty accurate depiction of what old men are like at locker rooms – especially the one at my gym.
Usually on Sundays, after my work out, I’ll go to the steam room and then the sauna. Today, while I was in the steam room, a guy walked in holding two bags of ice, a bottle of water, and a towel (yes, he was holding and not wearing the towel). He then proceeded to sit right next to another guy who he didn’t appear to know. Check out this diagram that I drew:
The three blue circles represent the guys that were already in the room. The one in the middle is me. The red circle is where the naked guy came in and sat.
So I was looking straight ahead trying to ignore him, but I just heard a bunch of rustling coming from the red circle guy. Then, I heard the blue circle guy say, “sorry for looking, but I was just curious as to what you were going to do with the ice packs.”
Now, I don’t know if the red circle guy actually did anything weird (other than sit right next to someone he didn’t know), but I just thought the blue circle guy’s comment was odd enough that I just needed to share it.
A few minutes later, I went to the sauna, and a naked guy walks in. Here’s a diagram:
Here, I’m the blue circle. The naked guy is the red circle (different from the guy from the steam room, I think). He immediately walks to the other side of the room, stands on top of the bench, and stands in front of the machine that produces the heat for the sauna with his arms akimbo. For those of you who don’t know what “arms akimbo” means, it’s this:
So that’s what the steam room and sauna were like today.
Is it gross? 
I’ve noticed the very same phenomena, and I think it represents some sort of nation-wide generational cultural shift regarding how comfortable (or uncomfortable) guys are about being naked even in all male environments.
And here’s the explanation I’d like to posit for it:
Old Guys (such as our Dads):
– Had to shower after High School gym class.
– Mostly have served in the military.
Young Guys (such as us):
– Didn’t have to shower after High School gym class.
– Mostly haven’t served in the military.
(And I might further add that
Really Old Guys (such our Grand-Dads):
– If they grew up in the US, then they grew up swimming butt-naked at the YMCA or at the Ol’ Swimmin’ Hole.
– Or, if they grew up over-seas, then they similarly grew up going to Russian Bath Houses (Banyas) or Scandinavian Saunas or Japanese Sentos or the like.
– And they probably were in the military too.)