The Fitting Room Is Not Your Toilet

Men get a whole lot of flack for being vile and disgusting where hygiene is concerned but they've got nothing on women when it comes to public restrooms, or sometimes a lack thereof. Have you ever walked into a restroom only to go stall to stall to stall looking for an unblemished commode? Or how about the perpetually wet counters that you wouldn't dare set your purse on (you only make that mistake once in a lifetime.)

Many years ago I worked in a famous department store. While I ended that career path long ago in favor of the high-end boutique life, I did kind of enjoy it. For the most part. I loved the freedom of being solely responsible for myself and my performance. When it was time for a break, I could take it. If I was sick, I could call in sick. When it was time to go home, I left. My presence didn't make or break the store.

The strangest phenomenon consistently occurred that none of us sales gals could ever figure out. With clearly marked public restrooms all over the place, we constantly found urine-soiled tissue papers neatly folded on the benches in the fitting rooms. The tissues were the annoying pieces you find folded inside of sweaters and knits to keep them neatly stacked (well, initially inside of the sweaters, but all over the floor by then end of the day if not sacrificed for incontinence.) Was it the thrill of peeing in public? Or could these women really not make it the few hundred feet to the toilets?

Maybe they were marking their territory?

And would you believe there is a World Toilet Day? Mark your calendars - it's celebrated on November 19 all around the globe. Don't pee in the fitting rooms, ladies...people in third world countries would love to use our toilets. Appreciate the hygienic accommodations.