Public Restrooms...

Sorry for the lack of posts....my RSD was bothering me this past week.  I am starting to feel like I am understanding my classes better, so that is good!  My students had another midterm...  Sadly, I could predict which were going to do well and which weren't as well.  They are all capable of doing well, but as the old saying goes, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink."  Sigh.  Why would someone spend so much money on an education and not study?

Ok - I have a gripe about public restrooms.  And no, it is not about the level of cleanliness.  It has to do with the design!  For example, at Sonoma State, the women's restrooms in the math building are designed such that the sinks are nearest the door.  Good plan.  BUT, if you want to get a paper towel to dry your hands, you wash your hands near the door, then walk practically to the back of the restroom where the papertowels are located, then you have to walk by all the people at the sinks again.  WHY wouldn't you put the papertowels next to the door.  Wash your hands, grab a papertowel, then out the door.  Why walk back and forth and back and forth in the restroom.  Highly inefficient.

It appears Montana State has a similar problem.
(PS - I took this picture at like 2 am when NO ONE was here, so I wasn't invading anyone's privacy).  How, pray tell, is someone supposed to use the hand dryer while someone else is using the sink?  Only one or the other can ever be in use at any one time.  If someone is standing at the sink washing their hands, the hand dryer is unavailable for use!  And vice versa.  If someone is drying their hands, then you have to wait for them to finish before you can wash your hands.  There were plenty of other places the hand dryer could have been mounted, but they chose this spot?  Does anyone think through the logistics and efficiency of public restrooms?

Well there is an easy solution to this.  Use the restroom on the second floor of the math building.  Yes, that one has its own personal quirks too.  Someone didn't situate the doors on the stalls properly.  So one of the stalls, once you close the door, it is nearly impossible to reopen it is so snug in the door frame.  I actually contemplated standing on the toilet and climbing over the stall door to get out one time.  The stall next to it, the door doesn't stay closed.  So then it is a juggling act of trying to use your backpack to keep it closed, or if you don't have your backpack, then a hand or foot to hold the door closed.  I have yet to decide which is the worse stall.  These two stalls are adjacent, which means the door frame between the two stalls is not placed correctly, making the door stick on the one side, and not stay closed on the other.

I feel like it shouldn't be that hard to design a properly functioning public restroom.  But alas, I fear I am wrong in that belief.