Part 2 of my bathroom tirade:
Urinals
The urinal understandably sees the most traffic. What I hate is that no matter what urinal you go to, unless no one has used it since the last mopping, there’s always a puddle of pee on the floor right in front of the urinal. Now I don’t go around trying to look to see what other guys are doing with their johnsons when they are taking a leak, so my hypothesis is based on my own habits. The reason for the puddle I figure is because after you finish the main stream, when the remaining drips come, no one wants to be that close to the urinal to make sure they land in the basin, so we try to shake our johnsons in a fashion to hurl the remaining droplets to land in the basin. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss. But instead of feeling guilty for letting pee land on the floor, we think to ourselves “this is a public bathroom, so they’ll have someone clean this up. oh well.” and go on about our business. I know I add to the problem, but……oh well.
Bathroom Doors
Last but not least it’s the public restroom door. If you notice, most bathroom doors push in and pull out. I’m to a degree a germaphobe, and whenever there is a handle that I have to grasp, I am aware that thousands of hands have grasped that handle before me. So when I enter the bathroom (which is more commonly a push), I use my elbow or forearm. Then I handle my business, wash my hands, and when leaving (where I have to grasp the handle and pull), I get a hand towel and grasp the handle to exit. Chick Fil A is one of the few places that has a pull in push out bathroom door. It provides some comfort because at least you know that the handle would have Pre-Sh*t and Pre-piss germs on it as opposed to a pull out bathroom handle which has post-sh*t and post-piss germs on it (from a lot of nasty folk who don’t wash their hands after they use the bathroom).
You’ve got to find a bathroom in your building that’s infrequently used, like in the basement or on a random floor with few workers. Fortunately, my office is on that type of floor.
What’s bad is that my germaphobe tendencies are worse at home than in public. Some people hate visiting with me because I wash towels and wash clots constantly, even when people bring their own. I don’t like strange smells in my bathroom, and my “old” house’s bathroom develops a smell quickly, so I’m always cleaning. Bleach is my friend, and that extends to handles, fixtures, and light switches.
I spent a good part of Saturday morning (6am) bleaching my stove and window fixtures in my tiny kitchen. I even gave the baseboards a whirl with the bleach. I know they make medication for this, but the irony is that I can actually be quite messy with my papers but HATE germs, which I think are a totally different matter. Messy and nasty are not the same.
Thanks for the venting space. Whoo!!
YES!! I love bleach! My Mom says I’m addicted to the smell. But nothing cleans better.
amen to the bleach use.
i’m a fellow germaphobe too, so i’m not made of any of your practices.
i wash my hands all day long.
must be working though, because i’m one of the few people i know (at work, home and out of my friends) who is rarely ever sick with a cold or flu.
ok too much coffee has me trippin’. that line should read “i’m not mad at any of your practices.”
though, i guess i really am not made of any of them either.
bleach should be everyone’s best friend. i never touch the door handle in a public bathroom and really don’t care to shake hands with people. hand sanitizer is one of the best things ever made.