Chairs and Bunks

[wayfarer]

Sadly you meet these people all over the world and you don't even need to leave your own home town to do so. Some people who think its ok to jump the line at the supermarket or the bus, or on the Camino to "reallocate" your bed while you are in the shower, or remove your pack from the chair by your bed and put their own on it. I do not know if they are born with a huge sense of entitlement or have just been reared badly but as they say here it takes all kinds.

 

[cher99840]

Sadly you meet these people all over the world and you don't even need to leave your own home town to do so. Some people who think its ok to jump the line at the supermarket or the bus, or on the Camino to "reallocate" your bed while you are in the shower, or remove your pack from the chair by your bed and put their own on it. I do not know if they are born with a huge sense of entitlement or have just been reared badly but as they say here it takes all kinds.

I've wondered about that chair by the bed and why on earth a bunk bed has only one chair. I have arrived at albegues that had only upper bunks and no ladder. The person in the lower bunk used the chair for his/her pack (following the no pack on floor rule I supposed) and left me with no way to climb up and no place to put my pack. What is the etiquette in that situation. That is why I didn't like top bunks.

 

[Suzanne S.]

I've wondered about that chair by the bed and why on earth a bunk bed has only one chair. I have arrived at albegues that had only upper bunks and no ladder. The person in the lower bunk used the chair for his/her pack (following the no pack on floor rule I supposed) and left me with no way to climb up and no place to put my pack. What is the etiquette in that situation. That is why I didn't like top bunks.

Good Question!!! I wouldn't mind an upper bunk, but I'm not a spry as I once was! I might just need a chair or a ladder!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

A chair is for sitting.

chair
CHer/
noun
noun: chair; plural noun: chairs
1. a separate seat for one person, typically with a back and four legs.

Expect me to remove a pack when I want to sit (unless there is one per bed).

 

[Icacos]

Sadly you meet these people all over the world and you don't even need to leave your own home town to do so. Some people who think its ok to jump the line at the supermarket or the bus, or on the Camino to "reallocate" your bed while you are in the shower, or remove your pack from the chair by your bed and put their own on it. I do not know if they are born with a huge sense of entitlement or have just been reared badly but as they say here it takes all kinds.

Sorry @wayfarer, but I don't think the chair by your bed is there for your exclusive use just because you may have got there first. Neither is it there for the exclusive use of the person who comes after you. As others have mentioned, it may also be needed as a stepping stool to get to the upper bunk or, for that matter, to be sat on by the person allocated to the upper bunk so he doesn't sit on your bed while he rummages around in his pack. I think, when it comes to the chair, this is a case where the 'share and share alike' rule might be applied. IMHO

 

[wayfarer]

I've wondered about that chair by the bed and why on earth a bunk bed has only one chair. I have arrived at albegues that had only upper bunks and no ladder. The person in the lower bunk used the chair for his/her pack (following the no pack on floor rule I supposed) and left me with no way to climb up and no place to put my pack. What is the etiquette in that situation. That is why I didn't like top bunks.

In this case there was a ladder for the upper bunk.

Sorry @wayfarer, but I don't think the chair by your bed is there for your exclusive use just because you may have got there first. Neither is it there for the exclusive use of the person who comes after you. As others have mentioned, it may also be needed as a stepping stool to get to the upper bunk or, for that matter, to be sat on by the person allocated to the upper bunk so he doesn't sit on your bed while he rummages around in his pack. I think, when it comes to the chair, this is a case where the 'share and share alike' rule might be applied. IMHO

What does one do in this situation, I always took it as first come first served, if the chair was being used by the other pilgrim I left it so as they were there first, the alternative is to keep moving stuff on and off the chair and that would be just silly.

 

[wayfarer]

chair
CHer/
noun
noun: chair; plural noun: chairs
1. a separate seat for one person, typically with a back and four legs.

Thank you @falcon269 who with the help of Google finally explained to me the real purpose of a chair.

 

[Icacos]

What does one do in this situation, I always took it as first come first served, if the chair was being used by the other pilgrim I left it so as they were there first, the alternative is to keep moving stuff on and off the chair and that would be just silly.

Oh, wayfarer, that lack of space and sharing cramped quarters in the dormitorios I found was one of the hardest aspects of the Camino to deal with, but I forced myself to endure it from time to time - yes, endure it - as I wanted to put myself out of my comfort zone. I admit that it seems perfectly logical to place a pack on a chair, most especially when space is limited, but I don't believe anyone has a right to claim its exclusive use.

 

[Chacharm]

In this case there was a ladder for the upper bunk.


What does one do in this situation, I always took it as first come first served, if the chair was being used by the other pilgrim I left it so as they were there first, the alternative is to keep moving stuff on and off the chair and that would be just silly.

Really? I wouldn't think so. Lets say I need something in my pack - so I set the pack on the chair and go through it, or I sit down on the chair and go through it. Then I remove either myself or my pack and leave the chair for someone else to use as the need arises.
Why does my pack need to rest on the chair? Do I want to keep it pristine? I wouldn't stay in an albuergue so dirty I was uncomfortable putting my pack on the floor.
What I worry about is outlets. Am I hogging the outlet? Does someone else need it? I have never had anyone say anything to me about it - but I always feel guilty charging my phone and am probably irritating other people by urging them to just unplug my phone if they need the outlet. Please - if y'all see my phone charging and you need the outlet please just go for it!

 

[wayfarer]

Really? I wouldn't think so. Lets say I need something in my pack - so I set the pack on the chair and go through it, or I sit down on the chair and go through it. Then I remove either myself or my pack and leave the chair for someone else to use as the need arises.
Why does my pack need to rest on the chair? Do I want to keep it pristine? I wouldn't stay in an albuergue so dirty I was uncomfortable putting my pack on the floor.
What I worry about is outlets. Am I hogging the outlet? Does someone else need it? I have never had anyone say anything to me about it - but I always feel guilty charging my phone and am probably irritating other people by urging them to just unplug my phone if they need the outlet. Please - if y'all see my phone charging and you need the outlet please just go for it!

This chair debate can go on forever but let me clarify, I was on the lower bunk, my brother was on the upper, I partialy unpacked my pack to get my shower gear and towel. When I returned from the shower my stuff was on the floor and the chair had been moved a few bunks down with someone elses pack and clothes on it. Now what would you guys have done?

 

[CaminoDebrita]

This chair debate can go on forever but let me clarify, I was on the lower bunk, my brother was on the upper, I partialy unpacked my pack to get my shower gear and towel. When I returned from the shower my stuff was on the floor and the chair had been moved a few bunks down with someone elses pack and clothes on it. Now what would you guys have done?

I think you are a good person, of good conscience and etiquette.

Personally, I would not have touched your items; that was not cool.

On the other hand, I would probably have packed my few belongings into my pack, and placed it on the floor, leaving the chair free and open for a human backside to use. That someone re-purposed it for his pack's use is not very nice

This is such a little issue, in the grand scheme of things. If this is the worst thing that happens to me on Camino, I think I'll be glad.

More horrific are items that I've read about in other threads: the burn victim from Germany who was shunned. The people who aren't invited to sit down. The woman getting her body snatched at by someone.

 

[CaminoDebrita]

This chair debate can go on forever but let me clarify, I was on the lower bunk, my brother was on the upper, I partialy unpacked my pack to get my shower gear and towel. When I returned from the shower my stuff was on the floor and the chair had been moved a few bunks down with someone elses pack and clothes on it. Now what would you guys have done?

What I would have done: gotten mildly irritated and had some mildly irritated feelings to the owner of the pack. I may have said something when he returned, but probably not

What I would feel like doing: saying "hey, why do you think it's okay to move my stuff and then put your pack on the chair my stuff was on?" Or I would have felt like repurposing the chair again, and sitting in it calmly whilst reading my guide But that's all my passive-aggressive side responding.

In reality, I would have chalked it up to "people" and gone out for a nice, big, icy cold beer!

 

[Chacharm]

This chair debate can go on forever but let me clarify, I was on the lower bunk, my brother was on the upper, I partialy unpacked my pack to get my shower gear and towel. When I returned from the shower my stuff was on the floor and the chair had been moved a few bunks down with someone elses pack and clothes on it. Now what would you guys have done?

I would have seethed. And then bitten my tongue. Still, HMPH! My rude people were the young guys on bikes from Italy. They stayed up talking until 2 am with everyone begging them to shut up.
I didn't see that about a burn victim being shunned. I can't imagine that on Camino! Hell I can't imagine that anywhere. What on earth is wrong with people?

 

[naplesdon]

This chair debate can go on forever but let me clarify, I was on the lower bunk, my brother was on the upper, I partialy unpacked my pack to get my shower gear and towel. When I returned from the shower my stuff was on the floor and the chair had been moved a few bunks down with someone elses pack and clothes on it. Now what would you guys have done?

I would have asked my brother, what the heck were you doing when that mutt#*@&er remove my stuff from the chair?
Okay, but in my case what would I have done if I didn't have "a brother at my back" I would have walked across the room and reclaimed the chair if I needed it to get to the top bunk and said, "Oh, sorry" as I left their stuff is on the floor.

 

[Chacharm]

What I would have done: gotten mildly irritated and had some mildly irritated feelings to the owner of the pack. I may have said something when he returned, but probably not

What I would feel like doing: saying "hey, why do you think it's okay to move my stuff and then put your pack on the chair my stuff was on?" Or I would have felt like repurposing the chair again, and sitting in it calmly whilst reading my guide But that's all my passive-aggressive side responding.

In reality, I would have chalked it up to "people" and gone out for a nice, big, icy cold beer!

Yes! I would have THOUGHT of some choice things to say..."Oh I am sorry! I didn't realize your more important pack was coming! I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for using the chair by my bunk that was clearly meant for YOUR pack. Next time I will just leave my pack out in the street so we won't have any more awful moments like these".
All while...yes...I was having that nice beer.

 

[cher99840]

Now what would I have done if I didn't have "a brother at my back" I would have walked across the room and reclaimed the chair if I needed it to get to the top bunk and said, "Oh, sorry" as I left their stuff is on the floor.

Would you walk with me ? I like your style.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Now what would you guys have done?

If I needed to sit, I would have removed the items from the chair, and sat. If I was simply out for spite, I would have dropped the issue, and worked on my attitude.

 

[naplesdon]

If I needed to sit, I would have removed the items from the chair, and sat. If I was simply out for spite, I would have dropped the issue, and worked on my attitude.

The very best revenge would be to remove the stuff from said chair next to bed of the offender and stay there as you go about doing your daily hygiene, nail clipping and foot repairs.

 

[wayfarer]

What I would have done: gotten mildly irritated and had some mildly irritated feelings to the owner of the pack. I may have said something when he returned, but probably not

What I would feel like doing: saying "hey, why do you think it's okay to move my stuff and then put your pack on the chair my stuff was on?" Or I would have felt like repurposing the chair again, and sitting in it calmly whilst reading my guide But that's all my passive-aggressive side responding.

In reality, I would have chalked it up to "people" and gone out for a nice, big, icy cold beer!

Well that was pretty much the upshot of it, I grumbled but let it go. I try to be non confrontational now ( getting sense in my old age) because when I get annoyed I can get cross to say the least and it doesn't do the bp or ticker any good.
Sorry for hijacking your thread Don.

 

[Mark Lee]

I've wondered about that chair by the bed and why on earth a bunk bed has only one chair. I have arrived at albegues that had only upper bunks and no ladder. The person in the lower bunk used the chair for his/her pack (following the no pack on floor rule I supposed) and left me with no way to climb up and no place to put my pack. What is the etiquette in that situation. That is why I didn't like top bunks.

Chairs are for sitting, and I suppose in that situation they can also do double duty as a step-up for accessing the top bunk. They certainly are not for storing a sweaty, dirty backpack. I would have removed it from the chair and placed it on the floor where it belonged. Bogarting a chair like that is just plain rude and since people are people (even on the Camino? ) you will find a certain percentage of rudeness.

 

[Telelama]

or remove your pack from the chair by your bed and put their own on it. I do not know if they are born with a huge sense of entitlement or have just been reared badly but as they say here it takes all kinds.

Okay, hold on. Many beds and few chairs means they have to be shared. Dominating a chair when you are not even using it but to keep your backpack off the ground is not being considerate to the others in the room. If you got the top bunk, the chair is darn handy place to sit. We often found packs sitting on chairs or clothes drying on chairs with no one around and no place to sit in our room. We often had to sit on the floor or go to a common room to find a place to sit to get our shower gear and clean clothes. It's like they had a huge sense of entitlement or something.

 

[Icacos]

Okay, hold on. Many beds and few chairs means they have to be shared. Dominating a chair when you are not even using it but to keep your backpack off the ground is not being considerate to the others in the room. If you got the top bunk, the chair is darn handy place to sit. We often found packs sitting on chairs or clothes drying on chairs with no one around and no place to sit in our room. We often had to sit on the floor or go to a common room to find a place to sit to get our shower gear and clean clothes. It's like they had a huge sense of entitlement or something.

Hey, this has all been sorted out. We've moved on.
But I see you are fairly new to the forum. Welcome!

 

[DurhamParish]

Theoretically, wouldn't the chair be for the person on the upper bunk. The person on the lower bunk can sit on the lower bunk.

Theoretically.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The person on the lower bunk can sit on the lower bunk.

Not if you are over 5' 8"!! Head room is one of the benefits of the upper bunk.

 

[susanawee]

I've wondered about that chair by the bed and why on earth a bunk bed has only one chair. I have arrived at albegues that had only upper bunks and no ladder. The person in the lower bunk used the chair for his/her pack (following the no pack on floor rule I supposed) and left me with no way to climb up and no place to put my pack. What is the etiquette in that situation. That is why I didn't like top bunks.

I have to admit that I was guilty of doing just this early on in my first Camino.....as soon as I realised what I had done I apologised to the Top Bunk person - a very red faced susanawee.....

 

[Magwood]

As a result of reading this thread I think I shall take an 'S' hook with me in a couple of weeks on the camino Mozárabe, so that I can hang my pack from the bed frame. Although I don't think it will be needed much for the first few weeks as I am not expecting to come across many other pilgrimss on this route.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I shall take an 'S' hook

That will work, but so will a loop of cord or rope, good particularly for corner posts.

 

[grayland]

That will work, but so will a loop of cord or rope, good particularly for corner posts.

What type and size of the rope loop do you use?
How would you attach to bunk when no corner post sticking up?

Picture?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

What type and size of the rope loop do you use?
How would you attach to bunk when no corner post sticking up?

Parachute cord about 18" long. If there is no corner post, use the cord to tie the pack to a horizontal bar.

 

[Telelama]

Hey, this has all been sorted out. We've moved on.
But I see you are fairly new to the forum. Welcome!

Agreed, I piled on, but before I saw all of the other comments. The chair issue touched a nerve. Piling on is a common feature on this forum, but I suspect for the same reason. A comment strikes a chord and one responds before having read the entire list of comments.

BTW, I am not new to the forum, I've been here for years. I simply have something to offer now that I have completed my first Camino

 

[Mark Lee]

I'm wondering why anybody would want to spend any length of time sitting in a stuffy albergue on a chair or the side of their bunk? If I wasn't sleeping, or at the very least lying horizontal I wasn't in the albergue.

 

[wayfarer]

After long cold very wet April days walking I was very glad to sit on/lie on my bunk and decompress before the pilgrim meal.

 

[SuGardner]

We walked the Camino in Summer of 2013 and never really encountered rudeness; actually, quite the contrary. We saw many acts of generosity, thoughtfulness, and consideration of others. I hope our experience was the 'norm', not the exception. Though I do believe, and I'm trying to learn, that in any group situations or living arrangements (where the actions of others can get on your nerves) that good humor and a spirit of generosity go a long way. I have several people in my life that model this approach and it is truly refreshing!!!

 

[naplesdon]

We walked the Camino in Summer of 2013 and never really encountered rudeness; actually, quite the contrary. We saw many acts of generosity, thoughtfulness, and consideration of others. I hope our experience was the 'norm', not the exception. Though I do believe, and I'm trying to learn, that in any group situations or living arrangements (where the actions of others can get on your nerves) that good humor and a spirit of generosity go a long way. I have several people in my life that model this approach and it is truly refreshing!!!

Exactly, the Camino promotes generosity and consideration of other. You have that right.

 

[CaminoDebrita]

Exactly, the Camino promotes generosity and consideration of other. You have that right.

I sincerely hope that all those who encounter me--or any others--on the Camino will forgive our errors---I have never been one who particularly worried about doing things "wrong" but having lived overseas for so long gave me some interesting learning experiences. You simply can't predict a cultural error.

It seems that bringing so many people together from so many different countries is always a recipe for 'mild' disasters, those niggling little social blunders that seem okay to an American but could be terribly wrong to a person from Japan, or Cambodia---two countries in which I've witnessed Europeans and Americans making cultural mistakes.

Imagine not knowing one of these rules:

---pointing your feet toward someone (dirtiest part of the body, disrespectful)
--not taking off shoes before entering a Wat (pagoda)
--placing two chopsticks in a bowl of food, sticking up (looks like two sticks of incense at a funeral--bad!)
--staring aggressively, or losing face by getting angry
--eating while walking on the street (rude)
--getting on a motorcycle like a guy (must sit sidesaddle if a woman, otherwise you're considered unladylike)
--saying that a woman is good, rather than clean--good implies sex, clean implies pure and clean and beautiful (language difference in Cambodia)

When I first lived overseas, I made a few of these mistakes, but I did have a wonderful group of friends who taught me the cultural rules and norms, so I was able to avoid getting myself into a pickle. These cultural norms are important, and I think it's respectful to observe them. Honestly, the Camino routes aren't to be taken for granted. I would think everyone should be most concerned about how they are representing themselves and try to be extra courteous. I know that being courteous is more difficult when one is suffering. I pray to be courteous and humble while I'm suffering! And I hope to suffer quietly if I am in pain, so as not to burden others....let's see how I do with that!