Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Odd Bathrooms

I sat in the bathroom in the Chicago airport and the first thing that popped into my mind... People can see me doing my business! My mother-in-law recently sent me an article: Odd Things About America that Americans Don't Realize. One of the things on the list was "odd bathroom stalls". The gaps between the door and the stall allow anyone to take a peak of you doing your business. As I sat there, I watched people pass by, wash their hands and walk into other stalls. All from the crack in the bathroom stall door. And I realized... that's only in America. In the rest of the world there are no bathroom stall gaps. They actually make the doors to give you privacy. In a country that likes their rights - the right to guns, bashing the president and most recently marijuana - it seems very strange that Americans don't seek the right to privacy in a public restroom. Maybe it's because they're free. They may be less private, but you can go to the bathroom for free all over the country. (FYI - Most bathrooms abroad coast a euro or so to use.) Maybe that's what keeps people from complaining. Or maybe Americans just don't know it's odd. Or the fact that we call it a bathroom - who is taking a bath in public?! America, your public bathrooms are odd, but I can't complain about the availability and convenience, even if people can watch me wee.