Dec 12, 2007
The men's bathrooms of our nation are quite appalling. Not in terms of equipment or usability, but in terms of cleanliness and respectability.
At first, I thought it was an age/maturity thing. The public bathrooms in the dorms in college were frightening. I would expect certain things from freshman males, but things really didn't improve with age. During my senior year, I would still walk in the bathroom and be amazed at what people deemed was acceptable bathroom behavior. Toilet paper all over the floor. Water and soap all over the sinks, counters, and mirrors. Garbage cans knocked over. It was ridiculous.
Now that I'm a grownup and work amongst other grownup, professional males, I would expect things to be different. They're not. Paper towels all over the floor. Pieces of toilet paper scattered around making it look like a cat attack. Newspaper on the floor in the stalls. My question is this: Who does this? Is it everyone, or is it that one guy who still lives with his parents? Haven't these people ever cleaned a bathroom before? Probably not. A lot of people go straight from living at home (where mom cleans the bathroom) to college (where janitors clean the bathroom) to a putrid apartment (where no one cleans the bathroom) to marriage (where the wife cleans the bathroom). I can tell you one thing: It's not me. I've cleaned a bathroom before. I'm the regular bathroom cleaner of our household (she cooks, I clean bathrooms; it evens out). It sucks, especially when you have to clean up after someone else (thanks, roommates from junior year!). And I know for a fact the bathrooms at work don't get cleaned very often, so the stuff that's strewn about will stay there for about two or three weeks. Do people honestly not understand that? Or is it that guy who waits until no one's looking then runs around the bathroom splashing water all over the place and throwing paper towels on the floor? If I ever catch that guy, I'm gonna introduce him to Mr. Swirlie. #entertainment
At first, I thought it was an age/maturity thing. The public bathrooms in the dorms in college were frightening. I would expect certain things from freshman males, but things really didn't improve with age. During my senior year, I would still walk in the bathroom and be amazed at what people deemed was acceptable bathroom behavior. Toilet paper all over the floor. Water and soap all over the sinks, counters, and mirrors. Garbage cans knocked over. It was ridiculous.
Now that I'm a grownup and work amongst other grownup, professional males, I would expect things to be different. They're not. Paper towels all over the floor. Pieces of toilet paper scattered around making it look like a cat attack. Newspaper on the floor in the stalls. My question is this: Who does this? Is it everyone, or is it that one guy who still lives with his parents? Haven't these people ever cleaned a bathroom before? Probably not. A lot of people go straight from living at home (where mom cleans the bathroom) to college (where janitors clean the bathroom) to a putrid apartment (where no one cleans the bathroom) to marriage (where the wife cleans the bathroom). I can tell you one thing: It's not me. I've cleaned a bathroom before. I'm the regular bathroom cleaner of our household (she cooks, I clean bathrooms; it evens out). It sucks, especially when you have to clean up after someone else (thanks, roommates from junior year!). And I know for a fact the bathrooms at work don't get cleaned very often, so the stuff that's strewn about will stay there for about two or three weeks. Do people honestly not understand that? Or is it that guy who waits until no one's looking then runs around the bathroom splashing water all over the place and throwing paper towels on the floor? If I ever catch that guy, I'm gonna introduce him to Mr. Swirlie. #entertainment
This past spring, I had a vendor come to do his sales pitch for a software product and when he reached to shake my hand, I realized I had just seen him "in there" and he chose not to, um, wash up. Here's a hint sales people, wash your hands if you want to make the sale!