Privacy Policy
Today my co-worker "Dena" and I went to get lunch and noticed a whole lot of police on our street--like 8 officers just on our little block. The sidewalk was also cordoned off, lined with those metal police barriers they use for parades. I figured it had to do with St. Patrick's Day, but I forced Dena to ask some cops and they said it was for a health care workers rally.
Back in the office after lunch, I headed to the ladies room, which I've written about before. Now there's an open ceiling panel in there, which means we can hear everything the construction workers renovating the floor above us are saying. I assume this also means they can hear everything we do in the ladies room. I try not to think about this too often. The open panel also means that the ladies room is much colder than the rest of the floor, and alternately smells like cigarette smoke or electrical fire. Today someone put a sign up on the mirror directing "someone" to stop leaving the toilet seat covers on the toilet, as the bathroom "belongs to everyone." This is in addition to the signs on the back of every stall door directing us ladies to clean up the toilet seat area after we are done. Sometimes the faucets turn on spontaneously, and won't turn off. And I've spotted cockroaches multiple times. But I suppose it could always be worse.
Anyway, out in the hall in front of the ladies room I encountered a female police officer. As I unlocked the bathroom door she said to me, "Oh, my partner's in there." I said "Okay." And continued to open the door. (Also I was hoping that she didn't arrest me and that if I went into the locked bathroom she wouldn't be able to follow me and put on the handcuffs. Seriously.) She said "Yeah, my partner went in there because the other bathroom was locked," referring to the bathroom for disabled people located next to the ladies room. Again, I said "Okay." The police officer said, "Well, the other one was locked..." and I said, "That's really okay, this is a multiple stall bathroom so it doesn't matter." And then I opened the door and came face to face with Raoul, a male police officer. "Oh, Raoul, there you are," the female officer said. And I said "Ooooh, I see," as I ran at top speed into the bathroom. Really there was nothing else I could do. It took me a couple minutes to recover enough to be able to pee.
Dena was not surprised when I got back to my desk and told her this story. Probably you weren't either. I guess this makes me pretty clueless. But I like to think it makes me progressive--not only did I automatically assume that the woman's partner was also female, I also refrained from running out of the bathroom screaming.
Back in the office after lunch, I headed to the ladies room, which I've written about before. Now there's an open ceiling panel in there, which means we can hear everything the construction workers renovating the floor above us are saying. I assume this also means they can hear everything we do in the ladies room. I try not to think about this too often. The open panel also means that the ladies room is much colder than the rest of the floor, and alternately smells like cigarette smoke or electrical fire. Today someone put a sign up on the mirror directing "someone" to stop leaving the toilet seat covers on the toilet, as the bathroom "belongs to everyone." This is in addition to the signs on the back of every stall door directing us ladies to clean up the toilet seat area after we are done. Sometimes the faucets turn on spontaneously, and won't turn off. And I've spotted cockroaches multiple times. But I suppose it could always be worse.
Anyway, out in the hall in front of the ladies room I encountered a female police officer. As I unlocked the bathroom door she said to me, "Oh, my partner's in there." I said "Okay." And continued to open the door. (Also I was hoping that she didn't arrest me and that if I went into the locked bathroom she wouldn't be able to follow me and put on the handcuffs. Seriously.) She said "Yeah, my partner went in there because the other bathroom was locked," referring to the bathroom for disabled people located next to the ladies room. Again, I said "Okay." The police officer said, "Well, the other one was locked..." and I said, "That's really okay, this is a multiple stall bathroom so it doesn't matter." And then I opened the door and came face to face with Raoul, a male police officer. "Oh, Raoul, there you are," the female officer said. And I said "Ooooh, I see," as I ran at top speed into the bathroom. Really there was nothing else I could do. It took me a couple minutes to recover enough to be able to pee.
Dena was not surprised when I got back to my desk and told her this story. Probably you weren't either. I guess this makes me pretty clueless. But I like to think it makes me progressive--not only did I automatically assume that the woman's partner was also female, I also refrained from running out of the bathroom screaming.
posted by Emil at 10:40 PM
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