Bathroom couplet...

Methinks that I shall never see,
A lovelier place 'n which to pee.

Okay, not that kind of couplet- more of a couple different musings both centered on the bathroom at my place of employment.

THE SMELL!!
And no, it's not what you think.

Ten floors up, our bathroom faces out toward the backs of buildings on 48th Street. Often times the window is left ajar a bit, so as to air out the goings on that go on in a bathroom. Well, somewhere down below there is restaurant, from which delicious smells waft up into the air, seeping through the open window and into the bathroom- burgers, chicken, onion rings, and other fried goodies...

Often times I have walked into the bathroom, and for moment thought -- Mmmm, what's that smell?-- and then immediately remembered where I was, and felt very strange about the sensory contradiction I have encountered. And I'm not the only one- I have spoken to a few other co-workers who have faced the dilemma of the delicious-smelling bathroom. It just feels wrong to walk into bathroom and be made to feel hungry.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes it stinks like a bathroom usually does. But it's almost a comfort when it does. Ewww, that's more like it.

A SIGN OF THE TIMES?
On the mirror above the sink, there's a sign that states "It's flu-fighting season, don't forget to wash your hands!" Because it's flu-fighting season- that's why you should wash your hands. Not because you're in a bathroom, having done your business where countless others have done similar business.

And if it's the type of person who doesn't wash their hands after using the restroom- does this sign even register? Is the fact that it's "flu-fighting season" a deal-breaker? As if it's like, "Oh I don't mind a little fecal matter or the like on my hands- but the flu? I just can't have that!! Better wash my hands." I don't know. I would think this person is comfortable in his savagery enough to think himself impervious to such petty things as the flu, or say, social convention.

So, thanks for the "reminder," but you're probably preaching to the choir with this one.