public restrooms

i promise, i usually pee without incident.  really, i do......

we went to dinner with some wonderful friends tonight.  we made a real evening of it, downtown mckinney.  we went to dinner at a swanky place, then walked a block or so to have coffee. it was a great night to enjoy the outdoors.  we were chatting it up amongst the other locals having a grand ole' time.  but i had had quite a bit of water at the afore mentioned restaurant, so i excused myself to the restroom.  everything was normal... until i lathered up my hands.  i could not figure out how to turn on the water.  i tried and tried with my soaped up paws, but there was no water to be had.  so i thought, well, i will just use a paper towel to get all of this soap off.  try as i might, that paper towel dispenser was not sharing.  there was no crank, there was no wheel (just in case the sensor didn't work)....i was out of luck.  fortunately, i heard someone walking past the door so i opened it...best i could with my slippery soaped up hands, and asked for help.  yes, i had to ask for help.  "um, could you please tell me how to get the water on," i said...laughing at myself of course.  people like me can't take themselves too seriously.  the lady came in and turned it on.  it was simple really, but i have to say,  even after seeing her do it, i would have been in that bathroom all night long and never figured it out on my own.  it was strange.  maybe i can post a picture of it sometime.  there is more....

so after our night out with friends, we had to make a target run.  we are in need of some TSA locks for when we travel, and every now and again we are able to catch them on sale at target....if we are having one of those really lucky days...  but, before we could shop, randy and i had to use the restroom again.  for one, we had had coffee, and for two, we are getting older.  and actually, i didn't even have coffee, i'm apparently just getting older.

anyway, back to my story.  i went into a stall and began the process.  you know, the one where you cover the seat with toilette paper?   this should always be done for many reasons, but one handy reason is that it gives you a heads up for when there is no toilette paper in the stall.  this was one such time.  so i relocated.  i repeated the above process with plenty of toilette paper and did what i needed to do.  during which time, another person came in and went to my first stall.  the one with no toilette paper.  hmm, what do i do?  surely they will begin with the same steps that i did and realize that they, too, needed to relocate.  not so much. well, that's not good.  so i thought.  i decided to be a good neighbor, after all, i did have a "square to spare", and i tried to hand the lady some t.p. under the little stall wall.... she did not respond.  which made me feel kind of weird because i didn't know what to do.  do i take the toilette paper back? do i say something?  it was all kinds of awkward.  did she even see what i was offering.  did she even notice she had NO TOILETTE PAPER.  i looked at her feet, they were small.  maybe i was dealing with a child.  maybe that was why the beginning error happened in the first place.  i mean, who doesn't cover the seat with toilette paper?!?!?!  *sigh*  we ended up washing our hands at the same time.  it wasn't a little girl, it was a lady with really small feet.  i didn't say anything...and neither did she.  perhaps it was because we both knew she had had no toilette paper.  now, i'm not gonna judge, as i foresee some times in my new future where t.p. may not abound.  that was an africa reference incase anyone missed it.

so here are my P.S.A's for tonight.  always figure out how to turn the water on in a bathroom BEFORE you lather up, and  any time there is no toilette paper in a bathroom stall, go ahead and yell it out as people are entering the restroom.  that way, if people are ok with their being none, then you can be ok with it, too.