Friday, April 23, 2010

Why do men design women's bathrooms?

Last year the floor of my office building began renovations. Many people had mixed feelings about this, but I didn't mind - a little updating is always a good thing: new bathroom, new floors, new doors, new elevator marble, etc. For two months we had to use the restrooms on other floors and when ours finally reopened it was great. However, all the other ladies on the floor and I thought - why do men design women's restrooms? They have no understanding about the space we need - and I like to consider myself restroom low maintenance. They removed our full length mirror, they installed automatic flushing toilets, automatic soup dispensers and automatic sinks. It's great they are helping with sanitation. BUT the toilets flush too quick, the soap comes out when you don't want it, and your hands need to be in the exact right spot for the water to come out. There is no doubt that my building is paying more in water now (or is city water still free?) or at least wasting a lot more of it.

I do not sit on the toilet to pee - I squat over it. However, whatever I do, the toilet flushes about 2 to 3 times before I am even out of the stall. Now, I won't lie, I guess I have some squatting issues. I realized this when I was in the Redwood National Park with McGriddle Pants. We had to pee - and the trees were huge. I peed on my pants. I couldn't figure out how to squat enough to get the pee go straight and land only on the ground - without removing all my clothes. McGriddle thought it was hysterical. I guess that is what amuses you when you are an expert at using the woods...


Where was I? Oh right, so not only that, we have a narrow hallway that opens to a decent size 'lobby' of the bathroom - yet the stall doors are almost right up against the toilet & the new paper dispenser sticks out, so when you enter the stall, you have to shift sideways around the toilet to close the door - and risk getting other people's pee all over you (YES, I wipe any pee drips before I exit, but shockingly 90% don't - it is gross). There is so much room they could have easily come out a little to make it roomier in there.
Today someone was bitching about the full length mirror being gone - so I told her "I'm not sure why they did that either, but why don't you just stand on the toilet, you'll get the same result". She laughed like I was the funniest person she ever met, yet secretly, I hoped she'd fall in.

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