Looks like I may be at it again. It's been over two months since the last post, and that's not because I don't have anything to say. As usual, I've got plenty to say, so this might be a reintroduction of sorts in which I rant and rave about any of a number of things that I find pretty darned annoying.
Let us begin with a brief discourse on some brief topics to just get them out of the way and off of my chest.
Bathrooms. No, not the currently debated 'bathroom law' that has folks up in arms all over the country. That's possibly a topic for a whole 'nother time. To be clear, however, please note that I'm not 'anti-this' or 'pro-that' regarding that issue. What I am is wondering profusely why politics have to make so many decisions so much more convoluted than they need be.
No, this brief bathroom break (seewhutahdidthar?) is about men and the men's room. For those of you who may not be aware, the men's room typically has a few stalls (with regular toilets) as well as several urinals. Due to male physiology, an abbreviated type of toilet is entirely functional for the male of our species.
If a male has become aware of a need to relieve his bladder he can walk (sprint, or duck-walk) to the men's room and stand at a urinal to do so. If your need for relief involves more than your bladder, the regular toilets are available. There are also a number of regular toilets in regular stalls reserved for handicapped people.
Why is it that some men feel that it's OK to wander into a completely vacant men's room (in an occupied building, mentioned strictly for the fact that said men's room can become over-populated rather quickly - just hit a men's john as soon as a period ends at an NHL game!) and head straight for one of the stalls?
"Dude! Don't you have something else you can complain about?!"
Well, yes. Yes I do. I fully intend to shortly - immediately after I finish this. Possibly in a soon-to-be-written near future blog.
At the risk of lapsing into more crass language than I choose to do regularly in this blog, here goes;
If you have to pee, you (as a man) are capable of doing so while either standing at a urinal or standing at a toilet. If you find yourself confronted with an urgent need to, umm, take a dump... That's what the toilets are for, and that's actually the only feature of a men's room designed specifically for that bodily function.
By being male, having entered a men's room, and then using one of the stalls rather than behaving as a big boy and going to the urinal, you have prevented many handicapped people from using the rest room at all. You have prevented the man experiencing a flashing-red-light need to experience a bowel movement from doing so in the place for which it was intended.
Gentlemen. If you're afraid that some other man - someone you may not even know - might get a glimpse of 'Mr. Winkie,' perhaps you have a much deeper issue and I should point you toward psychological help rather than trying to embarrass you into proper restroom etiquette.
One of many reasons I have a very strong opinion here stems from a road trip years ago. I had to use the restroom and stopped at an official rest area. There were 6 urinals, three regular stalls and one handicapped stall. I was at the urinal when some individual entered the restroom and headed straight for the handicapped stall. At this point, we were the only two in the restroom.
The second guy began urinating. For those who wonder, yes, the sound made will give it away every time. In rolls a wheelchair with a handicapped young man. He may have been mid 20s, but his handicap obviously involved his legs. That being the case, he had to use a stall. Being in a wheelchair?
Well, the poor guy noted that the handicapped stall was occupied and looked at the three empty regular stalls. He wheeled over to one and tried entering.
Not going to happen! This is the point at which the 'guy' in the handicapped stall became the 'jerk' in the handicapped stall. Rather than exiting when he heard the wheelchair guy struggling with the wheelchair and the regular stall entry he began straightening his clothes; untucking/retucking his shirt, adjusting his belt, tying his tie until he got it right - possibly hoping to find the right one to whom he would proudly show Mr. Winkie.
I told the guy I'd wait at the door to the ladies room if he wanted to try that. Fortunately it was empty, and aside from the urinals it is equipped basically the same as is the men's room with at least one handicapped stall included.
No idea what Mr. Winkie was doing in the men's room, but he hadn't left by the time the dude in the wheelchair was in, finished, and out. The handicapped guy wanted to pay me for my time!
Geez! Is it that bad now that people feel they should pay others to show a little courtesy?
Let us begin with a brief discourse on some brief topics to just get them out of the way and off of my chest.
Bathrooms. No, not the currently debated 'bathroom law' that has folks up in arms all over the country. That's possibly a topic for a whole 'nother time. To be clear, however, please note that I'm not 'anti-this' or 'pro-that' regarding that issue. What I am is wondering profusely why politics have to make so many decisions so much more convoluted than they need be.
No, this brief bathroom break (seewhutahdidthar?) is about men and the men's room. For those of you who may not be aware, the men's room typically has a few stalls (with regular toilets) as well as several urinals. Due to male physiology, an abbreviated type of toilet is entirely functional for the male of our species.
If a male has become aware of a need to relieve his bladder he can walk (sprint, or duck-walk) to the men's room and stand at a urinal to do so. If your need for relief involves more than your bladder, the regular toilets are available. There are also a number of regular toilets in regular stalls reserved for handicapped people.
Why is it that some men feel that it's OK to wander into a completely vacant men's room (in an occupied building, mentioned strictly for the fact that said men's room can become over-populated rather quickly - just hit a men's john as soon as a period ends at an NHL game!) and head straight for one of the stalls?
"Dude! Don't you have something else you can complain about?!"
Well, yes. Yes I do. I fully intend to shortly - immediately after I finish this. Possibly in a soon-to-be-written near future blog.
At the risk of lapsing into more crass language than I choose to do regularly in this blog, here goes;
If you have to pee, you (as a man) are capable of doing so while either standing at a urinal or standing at a toilet. If you find yourself confronted with an urgent need to, umm, take a dump... That's what the toilets are for, and that's actually the only feature of a men's room designed specifically for that bodily function.
By being male, having entered a men's room, and then using one of the stalls rather than behaving as a big boy and going to the urinal, you have prevented many handicapped people from using the rest room at all. You have prevented the man experiencing a flashing-red-light need to experience a bowel movement from doing so in the place for which it was intended.
Gentlemen. If you're afraid that some other man - someone you may not even know - might get a glimpse of 'Mr. Winkie,' perhaps you have a much deeper issue and I should point you toward psychological help rather than trying to embarrass you into proper restroom etiquette.
One of many reasons I have a very strong opinion here stems from a road trip years ago. I had to use the restroom and stopped at an official rest area. There were 6 urinals, three regular stalls and one handicapped stall. I was at the urinal when some individual entered the restroom and headed straight for the handicapped stall. At this point, we were the only two in the restroom.
The second guy began urinating. For those who wonder, yes, the sound made will give it away every time. In rolls a wheelchair with a handicapped young man. He may have been mid 20s, but his handicap obviously involved his legs. That being the case, he had to use a stall. Being in a wheelchair?
Well, the poor guy noted that the handicapped stall was occupied and looked at the three empty regular stalls. He wheeled over to one and tried entering.
Not going to happen! This is the point at which the 'guy' in the handicapped stall became the 'jerk' in the handicapped stall. Rather than exiting when he heard the wheelchair guy struggling with the wheelchair and the regular stall entry he began straightening his clothes; untucking/retucking his shirt, adjusting his belt, tying his tie until he got it right - possibly hoping to find the right one to whom he would proudly show Mr. Winkie.
I told the guy I'd wait at the door to the ladies room if he wanted to try that. Fortunately it was empty, and aside from the urinals it is equipped basically the same as is the men's room with at least one handicapped stall included.
No idea what Mr. Winkie was doing in the men's room, but he hadn't left by the time the dude in the wheelchair was in, finished, and out. The handicapped guy wanted to pay me for my time!
Geez! Is it that bad now that people feel they should pay others to show a little courtesy?
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