What I'm Not Thankful For.

Hi all,

Yes, it's very close to Thanksgiving and I should be posting a "What I'm Thankful for" post with all of the millions of wonderful things I have to be thankful for; however, this is not a "Thankful" post. This is a soap-box post. I'm writing this as I go, so it may be a little graphic, and it might offend you. All I can say is, if it does offend you, then maybe you're one of the people who should be reading this.

I am a fairly new mother, and I am one who does not take her children out very often. There are bugs out there, and my children don't need them quite yet, so we don't just go out. We go to doctors' appointments with our children. Other than that, they're pretty much home.

That being said, I'm a grown-up now, and I have been going into public restrooms for a long time. Thankfully I typically have the option of choosing from any of the stalls when I go, so if one looks pretty questionable I can just hop in the next one. No biggie.

Bathrooming with a child in a stroller is new for me. There is only one stall for mom + stroller.

Thus begins my soapboax.

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and it was just me and Daxton. I'm completely useless without my caffeine in the mornings, and I admit a big, fat Sonic coke in the mornings gets me through more days than it should. Yesterday was one of those days, so we take a potty break right before the appointment. The bathroom was clean and nice and all was well in the world.

Well, 20 minutes later when we're still waiting for the doc I was doing the pee-pee dance again so Daxton and I trek back to that same bathroom, in a hurry since the doctor would be ready for us any minute.

We met her coming out the door. I knew the second I saw her. Yes, stereotyping is bad, but I knew. One look in the one stall mom + stroller would fit in, and my fears were confirmed.

I'm guessing most of you who read this blog are adults, and most of us are responsible for cleaning our own homes. They might not be spotless, but there are just some hygienic standards that most people aspire to.

I also get that there are physical and cognitive conditions which might render a person unable to maintain their own hygiene or the cleanliness of the environment. It happens, and others should be understanding of that.

However, if you are a grown woman, or man, who is physically and cognitively able to do so, then there is absolutely no excuse for leaving a public restroom in any worse condition than it was when you entered.

This bathroom stall had gone from nice and clean to poop on the seat, pee on the seat, and pee on the floor. There were black specks on the toilet seat, and, you got it, she had not bothered to flush.

There is NO EXCUSE. If nothing else, if she was unable to clean up after herself for some reason, she should have stopped me at the door and said, "Excuse me, there's a mess in there and I'm going to contact housekeeping."

Of course that didn't happen.

At any rate, that's the end of my soap box. I'm still disgusted. Thanks for listening.