Feet Under the Stall

I hate public restrooms. I don't use them, as a rule. I have no problem with home and work, but that's where I draw the line. This picture reminded me of that uncomfortable feeling I get when I walk into a public restroom and have to almost squat on the floor to see if there are feet under the stall.

Fast approaching is the time when Elena will no longer be in diapers. I was a nanny for years, and I remember, in a not at all fond way, the mad dashes to the bathroom. I used to encourage the use of nature, as opposed to a restroom any day of the week. I mean, what's better than being all alone, under a big sky, doing your business? I'll tell you this - that is definitely how humans were made to relieve themselves.

Walking into a public restroom is practically a clausterphobic experience for me. Here, come along with me as we enter a bathroom at the mall...The cold steel handle of the door feels greasy, too many hands have eaten at the food court and then made their germy way to the bathroom. If I am wearing long sleeves, I will most definitely cover my hand with my sleeve to enter the chamber. Upon opening the door, strangely humid, hot air wafts toward me, carrying the mixed fragrance of minty lime disinfectant, urine, chlorine, and feces. It's a wretched smell. I have to bend down to see if there are feet under the stalls and sometimes even queue up to wait for the priveledge of getting some communicable disease from a public commode. I am attempting to pee as fast as I can while hovering above the toliet seat (as my germ-conscious mother taught me). I am surrounded by a syphony of sounds: elevator music, a mother talking to her child about wiping, a diaper being changed, water rushing, toliets flushing, and worst of all, other peoples' bodily functions.

I hate public restrooms. It makes me so much happier when I can remember to do my business before I leave home. However, if I am going to go to a public restroom, I am always hoping, being ever the optimist, that I will see no feet under the stall.