Mara's blog had an entry on toilet paper which got me to thinking. It was a pretty popular topic, everyone has pretty strong opinions regarding direction of paper roll flow, responsibility for changing roll etc. I wanted to mention something that it made me think of. Public toilets and methods of avoiding germs. I know I am pretty extreme in this regard, and I was curious to know whether I share this with anyone else. When I step into a public bathroom, these are my basic rules: 1. Some people don't wash their hands, 2. Of those that do wash their hands, some don't use soap, 3. Those that don't use soap make the places that should be clean even more dirty (e.g the paper towel dispenser, or the button that turns on the hand dryer machine), Here's a typical scenario for me in a public toilet. I realise that my behaviour closely resembles Jack Nicholson in As Good As it Gets.... I'm trying to ignore that.
Most of my germ avoidance tactics start after the deed is done. There's not much that can be done to avoid the germs that lurk on the outside door handle, and I imagine those aren't nearly as bad as those on the inside, where no one who touches it has washed their hands. However, upon stepping into the stall, I get a small piece of toilet paper with which to touch the locking bolt mechanism. After using this to lock the door (and also conveniently to ascertain that there is in fact toilet paper available) I throw it in the toilet*. After using the bathroom, being careful not to touch any part of anything on the inside of the stall with anything other than the bottom of my shoe, I flush, either using my foot if it is one of those protruding bar flush mechanisms, or using another piece of toilet paper if it is another kind. Another small piece is then used to unlock the door. This one is always left in the toilet after I leave, which may cause consternation to some when they enter, about why there is a clean little piece of toilet paper in the toilet*.
Now comes the challenging part, washing my hands. It's tricky. It requires a survey of the area. I quickly ascertain the type of drying mechanism, tap type, soap dispenser, and exit route. The worst combination is a push-button soap dispenser, tap that you have to hold down, and paper towel dispenser with some kind of manual button for dispensing, combined with a door that has to be pulled to exit. In this scenario, I first dispense the required amount of paper without ripping it off. I then get some soap and wash the tap. Then I get more soap and wash the soap button. With clean soap button and clean tap, I can then proceed to wash my hands, dry them with the pre-dispensed paper, and use the same paper to open the door to leave (and to turn off the tap in some cases). Worse is when there is a hand dryer, no paper, and a pull door to exit. In a busy place I just wait for someone to come in, then hold the door with my foot as I'm leaving. As a backup, there's always toilet paper, but only if I don't have to actually touch the stall door handle to get it.
In my head, the ideal public bathroom has the following elements (all of which I've seen in various places, but never all together):
A curved or overlapping wall entrance not requiring a door but still private.Toilet stall doors that open out and not in.
Door lock and unlock mechanisms that are foot operated (I've only seen this once and was duly impressed).
Automatic flush or foot pedal on the ground.
Toilet paper dispenser that doesn't involve sticking your hand up in it and digging for paper.
Low enough seats to squat comfortably without touching the edge of the seat with your leg or any other body part.
Automatic taps that are motion activated.
Soap dispenser in which the dispensed soap runs over the button that you press, therefore keeping it self-cleaning.
Motion activated hand dryer.
Paper dispenser that dispenses the sheets one at a time without pressing anything.
Is this too much to ask?
1 comment:
Yes, it certainly is too much to ask! I agree with you on some things, but it would be more ecomically and environmentally friendlier if you simply carried around plastic or rubber gloves, your own TP and those sheets for sitting on. I notice that you are a squatter...I hope you aren't the type that doesn't lift the lid! Because squatting almost always leaves little dribbles of urine and leaves those of us who are less germophobic in an unhappy situation. But seriously, the foot lock thing IS a good idea. Oh yeah, and soap and friction do the same thing!
posted by Rachael (Mara's sister:)
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