A big H/T to Donna!
When you have to visit a public toilet, you usually find a line of
women, so you smile politely and take your place. Once it's your turn,
you check for feet under the cubicle doors. Every cubicle is occupied.
Finally,
a door opens and you dash in, nearly knocking down the woman leaving
the cubicle. You get in to find the door won't latch. It doesn't matter,
the wait has been so long you are about to wet your pants!
The
dispenser for the modern 'seat covers' (invented by someone's Mum, no
doubt) is handy, but empty. You would hang your bag on the door hook, if
there was one, so you carefully, but quickly drape it around your neck,
(Mum would turn over in her grave if you put it on the FLOOR!) down
with your pants and assume ' The Stance.
In this position, your
aging, toneless, thigh muscles begin to shake. You'd love to sit down,
but having not taken time to wipe the seat or to lay toilet paper on it,
you hold 'The Stance.'
To take your mind off your trembling thighs, you reach for what you discover to be the empty toilet paper dispenser.
In
your mind, you can hear your mother's voice saying, 'Dear, if you had
tried to clean the seat, you would have KNOWN there was no toilet
paper!' Your thighs shake more.
You remember the tiny tissue
that you blew your nose on yesterday - the one that's still in your bag
(the bag around your neck, that now you have to hold up trying not to
strangle yourself at the same time). That would have to do, so you
crumple it in the puffiest way possible. It's still smaller than your
thumbnail.
Someone pushes your door open because the latch doesn't work.
The
door hits your bag, which is hanging around your neck in front of your
chest and you and your bag topple backward against the tank of the
toilet.
'Occupied!' you scream, as you reach for the door,
dropping your precious, tiny, crumpled tissue in a puddle on the floor,
while losing your footing altogether and sliding down directly onto the
TOILET SEAT. It is wet of course. You bolt up, knowing all too well that
it's too late. Your bare bottom has made contact with every imaginable
germ and life form on the uncovered seat because YOU never laid down
toilet paper - not that there was any, even if you had taken time to
try.
You know that your mother would be utterly appalled if she
knew, because you're certain her bare bottom never touched a public
toilet seat because, frankly, dear, 'You just don't KNOW what kind of
diseases you could get.
By this time, the automatic sensor on
the back of the toilet is so confused that it flushes, propelling a
stream of water like a fire hose against the inside of the bowl and
spraying a fine mist of water that covers your bum and runs down your
legs and into your shoes.
The flush somehow sucks everything
down with such force and you grab onto the empty toilet paper dispenser
for fear of being dragged in too.
At this point, you give up.
You're soaked by the spewing water and the wet toilet seat. You're
exhausted. You try to wipe with a sweet wrapper you found in your pocket
and then slink out inconspicuously to the sinks.
You can't
figure out how to operate the taps with the automatic sensors, so you
wipe your hands with spit and a dry paper towel and walk past the line
of women still waiting
You are no longer able to smile politely to
them. A kind soul at the very end of the line points out a piece of
toilet paper trailing from your shoe. (Where was that when you NEEDED
it?)
You yank the paper from your shoe, plonk it in the woman's hand and tell her warmly, 'Here, you just might need this.
As
you exit, you spot your hubby, who has long since entered, used and
left the men's toilet. Annoyed, he asks, 'What took you so long and why
is your bag hanging around your neck?
This is dedicated to women
everywhere who deal with any public toilets. It finally explains to the
men what really does take us so long. It also answers that other
commonly asked question about why women go to the toilets in pairs. It's
so the other girl can hold the door, hang onto your bag and hand you
Kleenex under the door.
This HAD to be written by a woman! No one else could describe it so accurately.
Mostly about my backyard chickens. (Boring, I know), but there are a lot of us out here. Mine are only kept as pampered pets. I could eat a neighbor's chicken, but not MINE. There may be a comment on current events only if I get riled up enough. And there will always be a cartoon or a joke to cheer us. I promise to try my very best to respond to comments. Now I have to figure out how this blogger thingy works....
Amen lol
ReplyDeleteAnd men always wondered why the line is ALWAYS so darn long! :o)
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