restrooms – the most awkward place
i hate walking into a public restroom when someone else is already there. there’s so many awkward moments that result from it… it’s best if the restroom is just one of those one room dealios.
awkward moment #1
you open the door to the bathroom. no matter how gentle you do it, you’re going to startle the other person. they’ll likely turn around and glance at you for a second. but a second is all they need! now they know what you look like. if you’re someone who tries to visit other floors’ restrooms at the office to avoid awkwardness between coworkers you know, it can still be quite awkward because the person inevitably will figure out you don’t sit on the floor (“hrm… i only see her in the restroom”) and just come to the floor to use the restroom.
ackward moment #2
ok, so the person’s gone back to washing/drying their hands. you rush into a stall, trying to avoid more awkwardness (or worse yet, an awkward conversation in the restroom!). but in your haste, you forget to look ahead! now, i’m not talking about walking into an unflushed toilet stall or a dirty one… because as nasty as that is, you can easily walk out of that stall to use another. the nastiness you encounter is a reasonable excuse for switching stalls. no… in your haste, you forgot to look for choppy seas!!! this is the scenario where the toilet bowl water hasn’t had time to settle from its last flush, so it’s still refilling. this means you’ve just walked into the stall that the person outside washing their hands just vacated. what do you do?! you can’t walk out of the perfectly useable stall, that’d be an insult to the other person! but now you have to deal with a warm toilet seat and the aroma freshly flushed toilets give (even freshly flushed toilets give off a smell. it’s not so much a nasty smell… it’s more a smell of water and metal… it’s difficult to describe, but i’m sure you’ve smelled it.)
awkward moment #3
this one, hopefully, is an occassional moment. say you walk into the restroom just as the other person is finishing up. and then they leave. without washing their hands. nasty!! can you ever look at that person the same way anymore??
then there’s the awkwardness when you’re the one leaving the restroom…
dirty, unflushed toilet? wasn’t me!! it was there when i got here!
that stench? wasn’t me!! it was there when i got here!
or using the napkin to hold the restroom door… is that normal? will the person think you’re OCD? it’s just a matter of being sanitary…
July 26th, 2006 at 11:02 am
wow… i think you’re thinking too much into this… i mean, it’s not like we have to deal with urinals or anything
July 26th, 2006 at 3:55 pm
talida– with urinals there are all these unwritten guy rules … one of my guy friends was trying to explain all of ‘em to me. sounded way to complicated.
i have had some awkward bathroom encounters too. today i had to rush down to the other floor, cause the second floor is being cleaned. i was already in the stall, and i hear someone else coming in saying “why dont people flush!? just for damn sakes flush” i recognized the voice to be one of my worker friends. do you say ‘Hi’ (from the stall, which is kinda ackward cause you startle them) or do you just finish up and go about your business ? but if she comes out while you’re washing your hands then they know you were there, including the time they were ‘talking and cursing to themselves’. then you have to pretend like it never happened–also awkward. so, what is acceptable bathroom etiquette?