It creeps me out, ok? I think some things should be kept private, and the busiest women's room in my office is the place to relieve your bladder, not your soul. Get in, do your business, be polite, wash your hands, and go.
Other types of bathroom relief sounds actually don't bother me--when someone else is producing them, of course. But people who sigh, and especially those who keep sighing for the duration of their stay (yes it happens) freak me the eff out.
The Japanese are so embarrassed about making toilet sounds in public (even tinkling in the toilet makes them blush) that they have placed sound machines (one model, the Otohime, literally means "sound princess") in some public restrooms. The machines issue sounds like a waterfall, or flushing toilet, to cover the sounds one makes when going to the bathroom.
Using the restroom is this weird private thing that we also do in public. And like many other areas of public life, any etiquette that once surrounded public restroom use has faded, if it ever existed at all. (I'm sure someone, somewhere has written a doctoral thesis on human attitudes towards excretion throughout history.) Yet somehow there are a handful of us out there (myself included) who feel an instinctual revulsion to behaviors exhibited by others in this uncomfortably public, private experience.
Using a public toilet at Target or the mall is one thing because of the relative anonymity, but using it at your place of work presents its own challenges. These are people you have to see everyday, more or less, which makes the bathroom visits awkward, to say the least. And what makes it additionally interesting is that, at work, people largely encourage ideas that they're inhuman workaholics without home lives, grooming skills, or the need to eat, but the bathroom is the great leveler. Ever go into a stall that a VP has just quitted and smelled something foul? Ever stay in a stall longer than you need to until your boss or a coworker clears out? Ever go out of your way to a restroom on another floor to avoid awkward social interactions? Yeah, I thought so.
Perhaps even more annoying than the existential sighing that takes place are those who start a conversation in the bathroom, have cross-stall conversations, and then continue to stand and converse in the bathroom while other people are relieving themselves. First, there are much better places to hold a conversation, and second, it's disrespectful of others to babble through their private bathroom moments, in my opinion. I will readily admit I am not a fan of talking whilst peeing, or listening to others talk while I pee, I just think it's crude, but other people seem unfazed by it. In fact, I have overheard people talking on headsets while relieving themselves, an astounding practice, even more so because their conversations appeared work-related. Bottom line: if you can't take a couple of minutes out of your day to visit the bathroom in peace, unencumbered by a cell phone, you have the kind of life I don't want.
I just think if people were a little more self-conscious and aware of how others are affected by their actions, whatever the situation, the world would be a better place for all. Etiquette and manners used to alleviate the awkwardness inherent in social interaction, and, in essence, kept us from showing our asses and from having to see everyone else's ass, but we've slowly eroded those into nonexistence. Truth is, we need to be protected from one another. If we are to conduct business, partake of fine dining, attend the theater, converse, or do anything serious that pertains to our higher functions and capabilities as human beings, we need to be more discreet about and respectful of the baser aspects of our nature.
No comments:
Post a Comment