Musings on Public Restrooms

It is Saturday and I am on campus. It is about 1:00pm and, on a scale of 1 to 10, my motivation to study for finals is at a -5.

So, instead of being productive any longer, I will tell you some things I have been thinking about lately...about public restrooms.

You may think that I am a little crazy for thinking about public restrooms, but I kinda spend a lot of time in them lately. I am honestly never home - that is what finals do to you.

So, for your reading pleasure, here are some personal observations (pet peeves?) on a very public place that really should be personal.


Sanitizer is NOT Soap
When I was in China we introduced one of our Chinese classmates to hand sanitizer. We put a drop of it in her hand and she rubbed them together tentatively, slowly. The look on her face said that we might as well have spit in her hand and told her that it would make them clean. She didn't buy it. "How do you know they are clean?"

A very fine question. While I believe in the anti-bacterial power of a substance that is 70% alcohol, I always left feeling a little unclean. Hand sanitizer should be used when there is no soap and water - and when you get to a place where you can properly cleanse your hands - you should do it. That being said, the sanitizer dispenser at the door does NOT COUNT as washing your hands. And even if it did, what if you get into the habit of not washing your hands and one day you walk out the door and there is no handy dispenser? Stay with what your mamma taught you and keep washing your hands.

Caution: Automatic Faucets
Speaking of habits. The Tanner bathrooms really mess with my head. There is an old wing and a new wing in the building on campus that I like to call home. In the new wing, everything is automatic. In the old wing, everything is, well, not. That means that when I wash my hands in the old wing, I put my hands under the faucet and wait for the water to turn on. When I am in the new wing, if I lean forward to look in the mirror, the faucet starts pouring out water and it freaks me out. every. time.

A Bathroom Stall is NOT A Telephone Booth
Is a call ever important enough that you have to take it in a public restroom? And if it really is that important, aren't you a little worried that the person on the other line will hear toilets flushing in the background? Or aren't you at all bothered by the fact that we are all in a tiny space and at least one another person in the room is overhearing every single word you say? Oh, your not? Well then, by all means, keep talking in the bathroom.

Hide and Seek
I am not really sure where this comes from, but I hate seeing people in the bathroom. (maybe because people don't walk into my bathroom when I am at home?) Don't get me wrong, like any normal female, I have no problem going into a public restroom with a pack of friends, but if I walk in there by myself and I hear the door opening behind me, it is like the gun just went off at a race and I will find my way into the nearest stall and hide like I was running from the cops. I must not be seen. In the same vein, if I am washing my hands and I hear a toilet flush. I will dash out the door, paper towel in hand, and avoid at all costs seeing whomever was just finishing their personal business. I like to think it is a respect thing, but I really have no idea.

Emergency Feed
To wrap things up with something a little more positive, HRH posted this a little while ago and I thank her for it. Even if public restrooms are strange, often uncomfortable places, at least they are well prepared in case of an emergency: