The Office Bathroom

At work, there is a bathroom in the main office that the female employees in the building use. It is a small bathroom; just two side by side stalls, two side by side sinks, a trash can, and a fulll length mirror on the wall. I am not one for public bathrooms, but this bathroom is nice enough, and I know the majority of the women who use it. However, this bathroom is also quite a source of awkwardness for me. I find myself either feeling self conscious in this bathroom or unsure of the proper bathroom etiquette. For example, if a coworker and I are having a conversation, and we enter into the bathroom together, once we are in our side by side stalls, I never know whether I should continue the conversation. Should I keep on talking like we are in a car or an elevator, or should I wait until we are both done with our business? What if one of us finishes before the other? Should I wait on her?

Then there are the times when I enter the bathroom and one of the stalls is already occupied. An awkward silence falls between the two of us as we sit, inches apart, yet we are not speaking. I feel like I should introduce myself as I enter in, such as "Hi, it's Deb over here." Then maybe we could carry on a conversation.

This is the worst - the person in the other stall does not want to be identified. Maybe she is self conscious about using the restroom in public. Maybe she has more in depth business than I do and she needs her privacy. For whatever reason, she is outwaiting me in the other stall. I haven't heard a peep from the other side, and I'm in and out, washing my hands, and still no movement, not even a drop.

Once my boss and I entered at the same time. I really needed to discuss something with her, and it seemed ridiculous not to take advantage of the few moments we had together. But it just didn't seem right conversing at that time.

Sometimes if I am in a competitive mood, I have two different competitions - who can go longest, or if I can beat the other person out - especially if she was in there before me.

Then there's the time when I see the person exit the other stall and I notice that the handwashing did not occur. I always make sure if I am doing the handwashing at the same time as the other person that I wash extra thoroughly. We have this really cool motion sensor soap dispenser, except for today when I couldn't get it to pick up my motion. Don't you hate it when you are in a public restroom and either the soap or the water is motion sensored and you can't get it to work? Sometimes I can't even figure out where to motion to get the water to come out.

And the full length mirror - for some reason there is that temptation to study myself before I enter back into the real world. I'm not sure what I am looking for. But it is quite embarrasing when I am staring at myself when the door opens and in walks a coworker.

Though the bathroom does produce some awkward moments for me, I try not to get too hung up on it - I need to just go with the flow.