Washrooms in mind.

Going inside a public washroom is very similar to going inside a haunted house. You never know what to expect, except that there is a huge possibility you might find yourself face-to-face with something horrible, frightening and downright nasty. If you’re really lucky, you might even find yourself in a predicament so bad that it is forever etched in your memories.

I, for one, try to avoid having to use public washrooms unless I really, really need to go. The problem is that most establishments do not clean their washrooms as well or as regularly as they should. Clean public washrooms are a rarity... so rare that when I do find one, I actually end up remembering the establishment. If the washroom isn’t only clean but also smells nice and has good quality paper towels, it gets 2 thumbs up from me. The even nicer ones that have sofas, fancy lighting and big mirrors are just pure heaven. I am actually tempted to take a picture and show the world that Lo! There is such a thing as washroom nirvana.

How often do you find yourself walking into a public washroom with a grim expression? Barely surviving the stench, you proceed to open the doors to each stall, looking for one that’s clean enough for you to do the deed and go. If the gods are on your side, you find a clean one behind the first door you try. If you aren’t one of the blessed, you end up opening each door to be greeted with some nasty variety until you have almost reached the last stall and are seriously contemplating just peeing on the floor. This painstaking ordeal is made worse when you are dying to go.

Using the public washroom can also make you feel like a circus performer. Having to relieve yourself while holding your clothes up (lest, God forbid, it touches the floor), balancing your coat/bag in one hand (if the stall you’re in doesn’t have a hook to hold these), grabbing tissue in the midst of all of this, and changing a pad (if it’s that time of the month) is quite impressive.

I don’t know how nasty men’s washrooms are compared to women’s washrooms but as a woman, I am surprised at how bad our washrooms can be. Toilet paper everywhere, brown logs on the toilet, red jelly on the floor... the nastiness just goes on and on and on. Using the washroom and not having the decency to clean up after should merit some form of criminal punishment. It’s just wrong and inconsiderate to the next person using it. I can only imagine what other people’s washrooms in their own homes look like if they can’t even be bothered to flush the toilet. Establishments should also be more conscious about maintaining their washrooms. We’re giving you business and the least you could do is provide us a nice, clean place to relieve ourselves.

The funny part? Even though we all despise using nasty public washrooms, when you need to go, you just go.