Stuff Happens

The men’s and women’s restrooms in one area at work are back-to-back. The rooms were built as mirror images. This means the toilets in the stalls are also back-to-back. I was using the facilities in the men’s room today, when the toilet seat on which I was sitting, raised about one inch. The upward movement was so sudden, I was a bit startled. At the same time, I could hear women’s voices coming from the other restroom. I realized that the toilets in each room were fastened to the same support system inside the shared wall, and connected so that pressure or movement on one seat was communicated instantly to the other, much like a teeter-totter. My surprise turned to amusement as I realized what had happened. After a minute or so, my seat dropped back down, as my unknown partner exited her stall, unaware that we had shared an intimate moment.

This event got me thinking about other surprising experiences in bathrooms. Several summers ago, I was in my mother’s bathroom in Long Beach, California during an earthquake. I was in a situation, where movement was not immediately possible. It was a very short, small quake, but it made me realize while there is no convenient time or place for an earthquake, some times and places are definitely better than others.

About a year ago, I was sitting in another restroom at work, when a co-worker’s young son came in and karate kicked the locked stall door, causing it to fly open. Instantly, we were looking at each other, almost face-to-face and too surprised to move. I finally asked him to pull the stall door closed. When I left the restroom a few minutes later, he was washing his hands and probably wondering if I would tell his mother about his behavior. I did not tell her the story until several months later, and when I told it, I made it sound like a humorous situation. By then it had become a kids do the funniest things story.