I don’t know how you live at home. Maybe you have a maid that cleans up after every little mess you make. Maybe you just live in squalor. Or maybe your neat-freak personality shines through. But here at Grinnell, you are not at home. On any given floor, you are living with 20 other people, and, like it or not, you are sharing a bathroom with them. Some of them may even be of the opposite gender. As such, there are rules that need to be followed. A code of etiquette,if you will. Sit at your computer in awe as I educate you.First of all, close that stall door. Seriously. There is absolutely no way that you could be in such a rush that you don’t have three seconds to turn around and lock the door behind you. And while you’re at it, flush the toilet. There is no reason that you don’t have the three more seconds it takes to push the handle. Both of these activities extend your total bathroom experience by six seconds. I certainly hope you can spare the time.
While we’re at it—the bathroom sinks are not a place to dispose of food. There are kitchens for that. When you dump leftover whatever into the bathroom sinks, they get clogged, and the next person to run water in them gets all your little food particles floating up to greet them. In case you were wondering, there are not garbage disposals in the bathroom sinks. Those are … where again? That’s right. In the kitchen.
Finally, as you are sharing a bathroom with all of these people, it is inevitable that you will run into them from time to time while brushing your teeth, washing your face, et cetera. At this point in the semester, you should at least know the names of everyone on your floor. Say hello to whoever is standing next to you at the sink. Nothing is more awkward than the whole brushing-your-teeth-while-pretending-the-other-person-isn’t-there thing, except for maybe the wow-I-really-wish-that-kid-would-put-some-clothes-on-so-I’m-going-to-ignore-them thing. You don’t have to be best friends, or eat dinner together, or even like each other. Just acknowledge each other.
Yes, Grinnell is different from the real world. There are different standards of cleanliness and acceptable social interaction. Every one of us is going to have to leave here eventually though (except for the weird, creepy ones), and I’m pretty sure that these are basic skills you’ll need to be considered even marginally socially capable wherever you end up next. All you have to do is nod at the kid brushing his teeth in his underwear, then lock the door, and push that little lever. You can do it. I have faith.
8 comments:
Word.
I don't know, personally I think the I-hardly/don't-know-you-yet-I'm-going-to-ask-you-personal-questions-while-you-have-toothpaste-foam-frothing-from-your-mouth phenomenon is way worse than the brushing-your-teeth-while-pretending-the-other-person-isn’t-there thing. I think I'll still stick to the awkward silence.
A few people on my floor are also confused by the differences between a kitchen and a bathroom sink. So, even though there are 11 people on the floor, we are all religated to one sink because the other one is filled with dishes and the left over remains of ramen noodles and burrito carcasses.
Yawn.
Even though I agree with you that there should a bathroom etiquette that, most importantly, has people flushing the toilet (do they just forget to flush? How do you FORGET?) I think you are the most abrasive writer I have ever read. The moment you TOLD me to sit down and read your column as you "educate" me, I was turned off from what you had to say. I purposefully looked for errors in your argument, and wanted to not agree with you. I imagine you want to have people change their habits, if so I would suggest not being so unpleasant, aggressive, gruff and mandatory. Seriously, writing like that almost makes me want to come to your bathroom, pee into the toilet and not flush, or pour rotting food into the sink, or even brush my teeth without ever saying hi. Of course I won't, but your writing makes me want to–simply because you entice such an aggressive response. You do NOT entice me to consider changing my ways (if I were someone who did not already do the things you advocate). There are other persuasive tools besides ordering people around out of anger. Consider using them, and maybe you'll be able to preach to more than just the choir.
Do you know what a garbage disposal is? Because, I've never once encountered one in the kitchen sinks in the dorms. Maybe you just mean that metal piece that catches bits of food?
Mark me down for "awkard silence" as well.
Overall, this was a silly column.
Double Yawn. Please write more about exclamation points and online chatting.
I think the sarcastic tone of the column is really hilarious, and I'm confused about how that could be seen as boring or harsh (unless that was a sarcastic comment...I was confused). Anyhow, Leigh's column is still the only reason I ever really think to check the S&Blog, so do your thing and ignore any (non-constructive) criticism.
About not flushing--some people don't flush as a way to save water. Some people don't flush out of laziness. Even if conservation is the aim, not flushing is something that maybe you can do at home, but you'll need to have a pretty accepting floor to not flush while at school. Hippie activists, like vegans, are endangered species at Grinnell.
Speaking of conservation, we should all try not to throw our food down the drain, not just because of clogs, but also because water with more contamination requires more treatment (more energy, resources, etc.). As another comment stated, few (if any?) kitchens on campus have garbage disposals, so tossing things down a drain that might not clog as obviously isn't really much use, either. I think the overall idea expressed in the column is that food in sinks causes clogs. It's super simple to just use the kitchen drain plugs to collect extra junk and then dump the food in the garbage when you're through (or, if you're enviro- concerned you can try to find a way to compost). I feel silly even having to type those instructions, and I think that's why the column had such a snarky tone...why should we have to teach each other how to have common sense, Grinnell buddies?
Post a Comment