Stick to the designated areas…

I generally stay away from public toilets. I have too many neuroses that take over me even before facing a dirty toilet area.

But the very first problem I have is a more broad problem. People do not stick to their designated areas.

I’m not saying that we need to start segregating people based on race again; I’m not proposing designating separate dining areas for Canadians. I’m talking about areas that are already divided, like, say, bathrooms, which are, for functional reasons, usually separated based on gender.

I really don’t like being in a bathroom and having someone else come up and start jiggling the door. And I don’t like doing that to other people, but, sometimes, there’s no other way of knowing if there is anybody inside. Fifty percent of the time, after I check an occupied mens’ bathroom door, moments later, a female exits.

You can imagine how uncomfortable I already feel for jiggling the door; the fact that I have to face a female exiting the mens’ room is mortifying.

Furthermore, how awkward would it be if the tables were turned, I were in the ladies’ bathroom, a lady jiggled the door, and had to watch me walk out. I’m sure they’d feel weird, and, thankfully, I’ve never reached that kind of point of needing to use a bathroom.

It’s like that episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry uses the handicap stall in the bathroom. It just leads to uncomfortable social interactions that just aren’t good for anybody.

If you need to go to the bathroom and someone is in your designated area, you wait…you…wait.