Bathroom Etiquette

I never thought this would be something I would do, but it is my duty, as a woman who uses public restrooms, to share with those of you who don't have common sense when it comes to bathroom etiquette.

A lot of guys out there, I've learned, are shocked when I share horror bathroom stories with them. BTW, I was never the cause of any of this "horror," just a victim (because I follow my guidelines below.) When I tell them my stories, they're wide-eyed and shocked. "REALLY?! I thought ALL women are clean!!" No no, boys. Bad things happen in there. Things you may want to cover your ears and eyes... and many times, noses for. There are gross things like finding a pad in the waste basket that is wide open with not the expected menstrual blood soaked in there, but a huge smear of poop. Or being surprised by finding little, er, big, surprises in the toilet. I'm sure many women have experienced finding the toilet seat covered with pee, but sometimes it's worse - it's all over the floor as well. You have to do a balancing act while trying to pee, and when you're unlucky, your coat or hand bag, falls on the floor! Or once in a blue moon, you'll actually even think someone exploded in there, and traces of their poop can even be found on the stall walls. Come on, ladies! Not all of us are delicate flowers, but... come on! That's just gross!

So here are a few things EVERYONE, including men, should practice when using public restrooms. No actually, when using ANY restroom.

1. Dispose of your trash properly. Make sure any poop stains, blood stains, whatever stains are not visible to the next person using the toilet.

2. When doing a #2, flush immediately after you unload. Don't wait around for the wonderful aromas to waft around. You may like smelling the kids you've dropped off at the pool, but I'm sure no one else does.

3. Ladies, if you must squat to pee, please wipe off any excess pee you've gotten on the toilet seat. Sitting on a wet seat is not fun.

4. Make sure you've flushed your toilet seat cover down the drain along with your business.

5. Before leaving the stall/room, check the toilet. Did you leave any skid marks in there? If so, flush again.

6. And one last thing that some people do that annoys me. Why do you need to flush the toilet when you come in? There's nothing there. And these are not low-flow toilets, so A LOT of water is being wasted. (Water levels are low this year.) Please don't do this unless you have to.

7. Oh! This is the last thing - WASH YOUR HANDS with soap and water! MANY people do not do this. You may think that your hands are not dirty, but think about all the things you've touched that other people have touched. And I bet some of those people didn't wash their hands... Eewww...

If all of you would just follow these simple guidelines, our bathrooms would be so much cleaner. But then again, I wouldn't have any new bathroom horror stories to tell...