When you gotta go, you gotta go. But next time patience wears thin because of a short wait for a toilet or urinal, take a moment to put things into perspective.
There are plenty of well-known restroom and hygiene rules to follow that will help us avoid sickness, death and physical discomfort. There are more unwritten, unspoken rules of the restroom that will help us avoid awkwardness, ostracism and social discomfort.
The people making you wait for your turn are not your enemies. The real enemies are cholera, botulism and other waterborne diseases.
As early as 3000 B.C., bathrooms were not primarily used for hygiene, but to call upon the purifying power of water to clean the body and soul prior to entering sacred areas. Ironically, the very substance called upon for purity was the medium that brought disease-causing bacteria.
Sanitation has improved throughout the years, but it wasn’t until the late sixteenth century that the flush toilet, as we know it today, was invented. Even then, it still wasn’t scientifically proven that water was a transport for disease. Today we know better.
As benefactors of a society that has tamed disease-causing bacteria and parasites through plumbing and hygienic practices, we need to remember that the age of disease is not as far away as we might think. According to a recent World Health Organization report, 40 percent of the world population doesn’t have proper disposal facilities for human waste. In 2004, the WHO reported that diarrheal disease accounted for 1.8 million deaths every year.
Even though disease may be less of an issue here as it is in the rest of the world, there are still plenty of things to be conscious of in the bathroom. Average bathroom visits are scary for different reasons now. Thoughts of privacy and social accommodation can outweigh, and in some cases even eclipse our worries of disease and filth.
After consulting with many individuals on campus, a source was found that seemed to accurately represent the consensus of thoughts regarding how to behave in the bathroom. The bloggers at The International Center for Bathroom Etiquette have put together a concise list that will help all bathroom users to get along well while doing their business. ICBE’s in-depth analysis of bathroom visits includes advice such as being sure to flush, cleaning up after yourself and having general courtesy for those around you.
In addition to these tips, please note that the larger stalls are not intended for just any bathroom user that feels the other stalls are too cramped. These larger stalls are for people with disabilities.
If you see a person who doesn’t appear to have a disability use this oversize stall, don’t be too quick to judge. Even though a person may look like they don’t have a disability, they could still have issues that require more space to facilitate their toilet use. Ed Martinelli, director of Accessibility Services, explained that sensitivity should be used in this area, because sometimes disabilities aren’t visual.
“You just don’t know if someone has a disability,” Martinelli said.
How other individuals feel about proper social etiquette in the bathroom is just as much of a mystery. Keep that in mind on the next bathroom trip, and it might make the visit a little bit easier for everyone.
By Jeff Jacobsen – Online Content Manager
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Thanks for the fun tangent!
On a serious note, clean water is such an important issue for international development and humanitarian concerns. Here’s a quote from the UN:
“Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of poor sanitation. That’s 1.5 million preventable deaths each year.”
If anyone is interested in learning more, check out the different fact sheets at this link: http://www.unwater.org/factsheets.html
Thanks again! Also, I now feel guilty for the times I’ve picked the large stall just to give my backpack more room 🙂 I will mend my ways!