Shut Off the Lights in Public Bathrooms
Picture this: You're at Starbucks. You've just purchased a non-fat, no whip Mocha Latte and a couple of, what appear to be, two week-old chocolate glazed donuts for the kiddos when the little one turns to you and says "I go boopey."
Great. Hands full of coffee and "fresh" food, protected only by a thin paper bag, you head for the germtopia that is the public bathroom. You open the door to the single-serve potty room and find the lights and fan have been left on, just waiting for the next person to "boopey". You do your thing, wash up and head back out.
But what happens when you open that door and the lights are off? Sure, you flick 'em on, but then you shut them back off when you leave, right? I know I do. It's the old "Leave it as you found it" mentality. Why does this happen? How the hell should I know? I'm not a psychiatrist. I just know it's true. We tend to do whatever the last guy did because, hey, he's done it so it must be right. Let's face it, we are a species of followers.
So from now on, I'm going to be the trendsetter who shuts the lights off. Hopefully, the next person after me will do the same and the lights will be left off in that bathroom for a least a couple more boopeys. Who knows.
I wouldn't recommend this in those multi-stall bathrooms though. That might piss someone off. Or result in someone being pissed on. Either way, it wouldn't be good.
Savings:
Incalculable. Unless I want to hang out in Starbucks all day watching people go in and out of the crapper. If I had more free time, maybe I would. They've got wi-fi you know.
Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5
So many of the changes I make are just about being more aware. More conscious of your actions. Living in 'The Now'. All that zen stuff. This is one of those changes.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
#189 - Be A Trendsetter
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Just make sure no one's in the other stall, before you leave them in the dark!
My sneaky thing I do is turn waiting room TVs off. Why do I need to watch soap operas while my car is having an oil change? Or while I'm waiting to get my mammogram? If no else is there I turn it off. If others are there and don't seem to be watching, I ask if any one cares, and they almost always say "Oh, yes, please DO turn it off!" Who decided we need these TVs anyway?
Ha! I thought I was the only weirdo to think about this kind of stuff. I never thought of it as setting a trend but, hey, it's worth a shot!
Yup...I agree. My little epiphany of late has been to "re-think what we are doing" on every level...and this totally fits into that concept.
I'll join you Burbs...in this endeavor...not in the bathroom...:)
And I thought I was weird. Seriously, I do this stuff. I even turn off lights when I leave exam rooms at the doctor's office. I keep hoping someone catches on: "hey, why DO we leave these lights on 24/7?"
Great blog :-)
I do this in the copy room at work all the time. Sadly. I don't think the rest of my co-workers agree with me though that the lights in the copy room don't need to be on just to shine light onto our hallowed copier if no one else is in there because every time I go back in, the lights are back on.
I do it at work. Much better than preaching at the rest of the staff. It's a buzz to enter our tea-room or one of the loos and find someone else had turned the lights out.
You're right that it's a matter of being conscious. I think I have been unconscious in public bathrooms because I honestly can't remember if I turn the lights off or not.
So you're getting all Zen now too. Cool. Maybe we should start an online meditation group. Yeah, that's it. One more thing to add to the list of things to do!
See? We're ALL weird, which makes this totally NOT weird!
And Beth... I too have been unconscious in public bathrooms, but not since college. The first step is admitting you have a problem....
Post a Comment