This Woman From Missouri Was Shaken Up When She Was Kicked Out Of A Water Park

What was once a simple and fun outing with the family quickly turned into a downward spiral of rage, humiliation, and unfairness. She may be able to handle herself amidst the children playing around her and the price of the food and tickets in the waterpark, but when she was kicked out from the pool after only for a couple of minutes, she knew she can’t let them get away with this!

Her Name Is Madelyn Scheaffer

Being a dedicated mother in her mid-30s and living in Odessa, Missouri, Madelyn Scheaffer would do anything to make sure that her family does well. But something big happened to her, which shook her entire world!

Hard Work

Even after seven long years, many employees in the waterpark had tried to reverse the woman’s hard work. Madelyn has really gone through much on that waterpark – so something big must’ve happened that time.

It Was Time To Make A Decision

She once had an accident on her bathtub while bathing in 2005, which led to her to suffer a slipped disc. So, this has made her reconsider her choices in life right after that incident.

A Change

One day, the hardships of having a slipped disc made Madelyn decide to turn her lifestyle around. The pain of having to live through this kind of injury would be enough to make almost anyone reconsider their options!

It Was A Sign

Eventually, emergency workers were able to head towards Madelyn’s place in no time but were shooed away by her anyways. The pain was enough to let her stay in the bathtub for a couple of days or more.

A Sense Of Calm

Madelyn felt much calmer in the confines of her bathroom, despite the sudden predicament she found herself in. While in the bathtub, she took this moment as a sign that in her pursuit of looking after her family, she ended up neglecting herself in the process.

She Was Determined To Change

“That should have been the first sign for me that I needed to lose weight, but it took me another year before I made the decision to do something,” Madelyn said, and at once she was able to gather her strength and will, something incredible happened.

Best Shape Of Her Life

She had lost around a hundred pounds two years after she made her decision to change her life, and was able to maintain her good shape five years after. But, unknowingly, Madelyn would get into one of her biggest battles yet.

Mustering The Bravery To Do It

Madelyn, now 43 years old and weighing in at 170 pounds, now felt confident with her new and improved body. Despite knowing that her body isn’t perfect, she decided to put on a new black bikini and bring her family to Adventure Oasis Water Park one hot day. But bad things began to pop up later…

Someone Was Watching Her

Looking at all the young and old people in the waterpark didn’t make Madelyn jealous, for she is already happy with the way her body looked, especially that she’d worked hard for it. But she doesn’t know that someone has been looking at her in the backgrounds, unseen!

Confidence is Key

Losing weight is half the battle. Building up the confidence to wear something striking like a bikini is also another factor that is usually ignored, yet it is still just as important. Although Madelyn felt good in about it, that feeling would soon go away.

She Could Not Believe It

After setting her towel aside, Madelyn sat down on the cold water of the pool. Five minutes later, she was approached by two female staff members, and they told her something that Madelyn didn’t get the first time around.

Employees Say What

She squats at them and asked them to say it one more time, under the sunlight. It may be that she simply misinterpreted them? Nonetheless, she was stunned by these female staff members.

Her “Inappropriate” Outfit

One of them sighed and repeated her words back to Madelyn. Apparently, the bikini Madelyn was wearing is ‘too small’ and ‘inappropriate’. “This is a family park.” the staff member explained to the mother. How could this be right?

According To Who’s Standards?

To make matters more complicated, Madelyn was wearing ‘full’ bikini bottoms, while a lot of the women in the waterpark were wearing way smaller swimwear! There must be something afoot indeed.

She Felt Violated

A slew of emotions welled up within Madelyn, and made it apparent in her face. She had felt a deep sense of embarrassment and shame after hearing these violating comments about her from the female employees.

Taking A Stand

That humiliating feeling soon began to be replaced by furiousness. “I was embarrassed for a second, and then it was no, no way.” she shared, stating that she had worked so much to let these female employees berate her like that.

They Singled Her Out

“My body is different than the young girls that were walking around in their bikinis, but why should I be made ashamed of my body?” Madelyn explains. “I am comfortable in my bikini. I am happy with who I am.”

Embracing Your Body

“My first reaction was why are you singling me out? They said that my bottoms were inappropriate. That was funny to me because they are full-size bottoms.” No matter the type of body they are in, women must be able to embrace their own bodies and not to be ashamed of it.

Time To Take A Stand

Madelyn looked at the staff members looking up and down her own body scandalously. If this happened to her back in the past, she would be too shy to stand up for herself, but now is the time for her to really give them a piece of her mind.

Standing Up For Herself

If these employees were singling her out for no apparent reason, then she should better take a stand, and show them that her confidence is built to last, and it doesn’t falter from such attacks!

They Gave Her Two Options

However, the two awful women refused to let it slide, and gave Madelyn two options: either slip-on shorts to cover her bikini bottoms or leave the premises. Madelyn, her anger now reaching a boiling point, asked them if she can speak to their supervisor.

Choosing

“Well, I am not covering up.” Madelyn insisted. “And if you expect me to leave, you had better call the police and have them escort me out.” Despite her embarrassment of being singled out by the two employees, she felt that she is standing up for so many women around the world.

She Was Booted Out

So, the employees called the police. The officers went to the waterpark to kick Madelyn out. “Fifteen minutes later, the police did arrive and said that while they did not agree, they had to do their job. ‘We can’t actually say anything,’ they said as we walked outside… but I hope from the expressions on our face you can tell how we feel.”

Even The Police Agreed

“They were compassionate.” Madelyn narrates in one of her Facebook posts which then went viral. “They, too, thought it was absurd.” These police officers must know what is allowed and not in today’s world.

Looking Too Good In A Bikini

Madelyn added this in her post: “I am a 43-year-old woman who did not have the confidence of the body, to put on a bikini until [I was] 40 years old. I will not be discriminated against because I look too good in one.”

Wearing A Bikini At Any Age

“This was not a thong.” Madelyn continued, describing what she was wearing then. “It was a standard, summertime, two-piece, string bikini… the same as everyone else, who felt confident enough in their body to wear one.” Regardless of the shape and type of other people wearing the same thing, Madelyn shouldn’t have received such unjust treatment from the staff.

It Was Completely Unfair

“I felt like it was both age and body discrimination and I felt like I could look around me and I could see a handful of other girls half my age, wearing the same size swimming suit and not being singled out and told to put on clothes or leave.” Madelyn continued, writing about her anger towards the staff on that incident. But what can she do about this unfortunate event?

It Went Viral On Facebook

Madelyn’s Facebook post about the waterpark soon began to trend, as more and more people around the globe heard about it. Their reactions mostly consisted of shock and disappointment to the Adventure Oasis Water Park’s staff, but it seems that Madelyn would not just be satisfied with that…

Spreading The Word

But Madelyn knew that going online and shame the waterpark won’t be enough for them to finally understand their shortcomings. So she decided to escalate things a bit more; doing this not just for herself but also for all the other women in the world who never had enough courage to stand up against such misgivings.

She Received Local Support

“Long story short, I called the media and will be on tonight’s local 41 news,” Madelyn said. “Several people walked out while I waited outside for the newsman, and told me how ridiculous this all was, and complimented me on my swimsuit.” It seems that her post was able to catch even the eyes of television networks too!

Supporters From All Over The World

Seeing all of those people around the world supporting her on Facebook came as a shock to Madelyn. “In addition to other countries already mentioned, I have now heard from Greece, China, Hongkong… and received over 500 beautiful letters from Brazil. I have been wanting to see the world, and now the world is coming to me, and sending much Love.”

Appreciation For The Human Body

Madelyn also shared about her reaction to the outpouring support: “One thing I have learned so far is that there is a much greater viewpoint and perspective of the human body than what is to be found in Independence, Missouri worldwide… and I thank and appreciate you for that!”

Appreciating What We Have

“Much Love to those who express pride over shame for all shapes, sizes, in addition to various ages and stages, of this beautiful human body we inhabit in our time on Earth.” Madelyn adds. What was she trying to achieve by revealing the ugly truth on the systems in place in the waterpark?

Money Is Not Going To Fix The Problem

“While I stand by my grievance that I was discriminated against at Adventure Oasis Water Park, and I do not believe it should happen again.” she said. “It is not money that is going to correct the issue, but a change in the swimming park’s ‘appropriate swimming attire’ policy, and also an improvement involving better education and orientation of their park management.”

Change In Policy

Most would agree that this way is probably the best, if not the only, way to improve the current state in the waterpark, and even if these are actually the standards set in place, then the waterpark must make sure that these rules must be understood and enforced fairly. In today’s modern era, body positivity and embracing it is quickly trending with the general populace. Now here’s another similar yet more bizarre story…

Unwelcome

Sarah Villafane is a student from the College of Charleston, who frequently works out in the student gym there. An avid goer with no issues with that particular gym, she usually makes her way there after attending her classes, but there was something said there that isn’t right.

Her Gym Top

Sarah had taken three classes while wearing her fitness clothes all day long, something common for people who want to wear when there is a lot to do or you want to finish the day by training.

A Matching Set

Sarah had taken three classes while wearing her fitness clothes all day long, something common for people who want to wear when there is a lot to do or you want to finish the day by training.

Approached Her

She went about with her workout regimen when an employee approached her and told her to change the shirt because it was inappropriate. This caused Sarah to stop for a moment, unable to believe what the employee actually said to her.

No Other Option

Sarah only told the employee she didn’t have a shirt. She continued her workout and went to her session as if nothing has happened. Although she felt a little embarrassed, it was not the end.

The Conversation

She went to the other side of the gym while she was on the floor doing some abs exercise and to her bafflement, another employee came up to her. Sarah remembers the staff member requesting her to put her shirt back on when she said, “I’ve got a shirt on.”

The Staff Member Argued

“No, that’s not a shirt.” the staff member replied. “You have to wear a whole shirt.” “How is this not a shirt?” Sarah responds, and then the staff went to explain about how she needs to have full coverage.

Continued On

The staff continued that if Sarah has a problem, their ‘boss’ is always on the premises. Sarah simply laughed at them, daring them to send the boss over if they are really serious about it.

The Manager

And so, the manager approached her, and said that she must leave the gym if she refuses to change from her shirt. Sarah was even more embarrassed by this, especially in front of all the other students who were using the gym at that time.

Referred To As Boss

“I need you to put on a shirt, or I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.” the ‘boss’ told Sarah. “But I have a shirt on.” Sarah exclaimed, to which the boss replies this; “Are you gonna put a shirt on?”

Gym Clothes

Gym clothes throughout the decades were comfortable, easy to wear, and a bit showy, with newer designs becoming tighter and more flexible – probably a bit more than what Sarah was wearing at that time.

Conducted Wrong

Sarah was then forced to leave the premises, which wasn’t even the proper way to handle that situation in the first place as the employees could’ve told her less rude but told that they were only enforcing the policy of the gym, which didn’t work in this case.

Taking It To Media

Sarah took her frustrations to Facebook and expressed herself that even if her top was considered to be a sports bra, it was still a piece of athletic wear and thus should have been allowed. She wasn’t supposed to be condemned in the first place.

People Reacted

The responses came in as people began to either agree with Sarah’s statements or with the gym’s policies. Others pointed out that if her attire was considered appropriate for class but not for the gym and vice versa. “I would question how appropriate they are for class or lectures or discussions with your professors.” Caryl Hogan said.

Another Reason

The gym reached out to the conversation later and said that there was a good reason why they handled that situation in that way. The reason led people to believe that the situation itself was simply mishandled and that they should’ve explained it at the start. So what was that reason?

Sanitation

Covered t-shirts or vests are actually part of the dress code in the gym due to sanitary reasons, but the dress code is seen in front of the gym reads “Athletic wear must be worn.” Despite this, the employees discussed Sarah’s coverage and have not mentioned anything about sanitization.

Additional Responses

The commenters in Sarah’s post said the same thing – that even their own gyms require their students to wear clothing that does not cut-off or crop, to help minimize skin contact with the various exercise machines and equipment.

Valid

This clarification seems to be valid, and it should’ve been explained to Sarah right at the start. It would also help if the employees were friendlier and more helpful to tell her all about those standards and why they are in place in the gym.