Every day, after last period (Spanish), my friend and I walk the exact same route: take a right out the door, walk down the hall past the first staircase, past the front entrance, to the second staircase, then go up those stairs, take a left, say bye at my locker. I get my stuff together and then shove it all into my backpack and slam my locker shut at nearly the exact same moment that Bestie (i, if you know that list) arrives just to the left of that staircase, and then we go downstairs together. It's routine.
Bestie, however, has what we call a "micro bladder"--that is to say, she has to go to the bathroom like three times during the school day alone. So of course, we always end up taking a detour to the bathroom before leaving school because apparently it's necessary. I, being a weird person, almost never go to the bathroom during the school day (of course, once I get home it seems I have to go every two hours, but I think my bladder is just trained for that 'cause it's special. . .) so I always stand there against the wall and wait for my friend. The interesting element to this, though, is simple: Children are gross, and even once they reach middle school they're still fairly gross, and have actually began a downward decline in person hygiene.
It seems that, as young children, we are constantly controlled by parents. They always make sure we brush our teeth twice a day and do it right and they make sure we shower and put on clean underwear on a somewhat regular basis and ensure that our rooms aren't too gross. All of these things and their importance are highly impressed upon us so that one day, when we're older, we can do them all on our own.
This is a lesson modern youth have entirely skipped over.
It just so happened that on . . . Wednesday, I think, while I was standing in the bathroom humming "Rolling in the Deep," four different children finished their business and then left the bathroom. I really shouldn't be calling them children since they're my age and I don't like being called a child but whatever. The point was this:
None of these children washed their hands.
This bothers me greatly. It really shouldn't, but it does. And thinking about the children who don't wash their hands led me to thinking about public restrooms, specifically those at school, which led me to thinking of the other thing I hate about them, which is that the door is always open.
I don't mean like the stall door--that would just be creepy. No, I mean you have your little bit of privacy allotted by wannabee-walls and then a wide open door leading out into the hallway, and to top it all off the ceilings are high and everything echoes because the school is elderly.
Basically, anyone walking by in the hallway can hear you going about your business.
This actually bothers me a lot more than the whole hand-washing thing but trust me, that still bothers me a lot. It's just . . . random strangers are walking by outside and they can hear you and they know exactly what you're doing in there. Even better, at school, you know most of them. So now random people you know--but not really--are also listening to you going about your business.
AND IT'S A SCARRING ORDEAL.
~Ave
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