*Random Fears of Public Restrooms*

I know a guy who will not use a public restroom--ever. He will go on a roadtrip, an eight hour roadtrip, and not use the bathroom once, not even just to go #1! Though I find it slightly odd, I don't know where that compulsion comes from, and I guess that's one of the intricacies that makes my friend who he is.

I've noticed lately however, that I'm starting to have my own "bathroom thing." I'm the type of person that likes to know where all the exits to a room are when I'm in it. I want to know there is a way out in case someone comes in that I need to get away from.

I was thinking the other day when I went to the restroom at work, the women's restroom could potentially be a very scary place. In Turlington Hall, where I work, the restrooms have two doors, one for entry into a hallway, another for entry into the actual restroom. That's it. They both line up and there's no other way out. AND if I yelled, I have to wonder if anyone in the hallway would hear me through all that empty space and hallway?!?! Besides that, if someone came in with suspicious intentions, how could I get away? Locking myself in the stall certainly wouldn't help---crawl under or over and I'm done for! It's kind of funny to think about the only reason guys don't come in our bathroom on a regular basis is because the stick figure on the front of the door doesn't match their anatomy. Nothing really is stopping a man from coming in the bathroom, or for that matter, an angry woman.

I'm not trying to say we should boycott public restrooms (though my frined may be on to something and may one day prove to have a healthier life thanks to his avoidance of the billions of disgusting things that grow in public restrooms). I'm also not saying I'm never going to use them again. I just am saying that lately whenever I'm in one I'm think of how to get out.

I guess that means I have a public restroom issue now too. Lame.