Shared Gym Sandals

Bill and I are members of the Alexander Club - Health and Fitness Club here in Suzhou.

The facilities are very nice for China standards and just so ~ so to American standards.
Here's a picture of the treadmills inside the gym.  And my view of the pool from the treadmill.

One thing that really baffles me is when you walk into the locker rooms you are suppose to take your shoes off and put them in a shoe locker.  Inside the shoe locker are sandals that one is suppose to wear around the locker room, in the shower and in the pool.  I understand the thought/concept of taking off your shoes especially going into a pool/shower area.  Even more so now because here in China the outside world is quite dirty and you never know what you're stepping in.  However, when you're done using these sandals you return them to the same shoe locker and leave the gym.

I don't know about you but I'm not really keen on putting my feet into sandals that other people wear on and off all day long.  To be fair I did see the cleaning lady once hosing the sandals off with water in a red bucket and then placing them back into the lockers.  Soooo just a wash with water is all these sandals get!  A level of cleanliness and comfort I'm not willing to participate in.  Although as I think twice about it I'm not sure what's worse - sandals other people wear or walking barefoot from the pool through the showers to my locker.  I figure I'm going into a chlorine filled pool so I'm okay going in, it's the getting out and back to my locker so I can get home and scrub my feet that worries me!