So something happened yesterday that is weighing heavily on my mind! We woke up fairly early and decided to go to this coffee place down the street called Cozy Day. It's very cute and you can get a latte and a waffle. After you order, they give you a stuffed animal to put on your table so that they can deliver your order to you.
It was very quiet for a Saturday morning so it was very relaxing. We drank our coffee and had a pleasant leisurely breakfast, after which we were planning on walking to this place called Lotus because we needed to get some instant coffee and we couldn't find it at any of the smaller convenience stores that are closer to the hotel.
Lotus is about a mile and a half away from Cozy Day so we set out on our walk. We were almost there when I realized that I probably should have used the restroom at Cozy Day before we left. I mentioned this to Matt who replied, "Lotus is a huge department store as well as a grocery store, I'm sure that they will have a bathroom."
"I'm sure they will too," I said, "But that's why I probably should have gone at Cozy Day. It's much smaller and their bathroom would probably have been nicer and cleaner."
"You're probably right." (I was definitely right.)
When we arrived at Lotus, the place was PACKED and the lines were super long. Also, they lock up the coffee.
Eventually Matt mentioned that he could probably use the bathroom too, so we went to go look for it. It was upstairs and down a long hallway. Matt went in the Men's room and I went into the Ladies room. I went past some sinks and turned the corner to see two long rows of toilet stalls. The doors were all closed but one, but since there were four other women already waiting there and not going in, I decided not to look inside. Eventually doors opened, people came out, and the ladies waiting went in. Pretty soon it was just me and one other lady waiting. A door opened near me and a woman came out. I motioned to the other lady to go ahead because she had been waiting before me. She thanked me and opened the door and looked in then promptly turned around and shook her head and scrunched up her face indicating that the bathroom was yucky.
Now, every time a door had opened I had glanced into the stalls and noticed that they were all a little yucky and I had been waiting a while. Now I have seen quite a few really disgusting bathrooms including a truly disgusting gas station men's room in Jordan that I had no choice but to use since there was no ladies room and way too many people around to just go outside. Since a lady had just come out of the restroom, I looked.
Now I should probably mention that in China most of the toilets are squatters. A longish porcelain bowl on the ground that you squat over and go. These confused me a bit when I lived in Macau but I have since gotten used to them as they often had them in Riyadh as well. (I still prefer a western toilet though given the choice.)
Anyway, this particular toilet had a little brown turd on the back of the bowl. It was hanging off the edge and therefore not getting flushed when the automatic flusher went off. Since I had seen bits of brown in many of the other doors that had opened, I figured one brown toilet is as good as the next, and it's not like I had to sit on it. So I shrugged my shoulders and went inside and quickly did my business, avoiding the little brown turd. Not a huge deal. The problem came when I had finished with my business and was exiting the stall.
When I had gone in, it was only me and the lady who had chosen not to go in. When I came out, the other lady was nowhere to be seen but there were now three new women waiting. The closest one came over, opened the door and didn't go in, now of course thinking that I did it! Probably thinking, "Stupid foreigner, doesn't know how to use the toilet."
Now had I actually done it I would have probably used a tissue and pushed it into the bowl so no one would have had to see that, but since it wasn't my poop I certainly wasn't going to play around with it! As a rule though I generally avoid pooping in public bathrooms whenever possible.
So what could I do? I washed my hands and got out of there as quickly as possible. Now had I had internet I probably could have used my translator app and said something like this:
But would that really of helped? Probably not. Oh well, I'm just putting it out there... I didn't do it!
It was very quiet for a Saturday morning so it was very relaxing. We drank our coffee and had a pleasant leisurely breakfast, after which we were planning on walking to this place called Lotus because we needed to get some instant coffee and we couldn't find it at any of the smaller convenience stores that are closer to the hotel.
Lotus is about a mile and a half away from Cozy Day so we set out on our walk. We were almost there when I realized that I probably should have used the restroom at Cozy Day before we left. I mentioned this to Matt who replied, "Lotus is a huge department store as well as a grocery store, I'm sure that they will have a bathroom."
"I'm sure they will too," I said, "But that's why I probably should have gone at Cozy Day. It's much smaller and their bathroom would probably have been nicer and cleaner."
"You're probably right." (I was definitely right.)
When we arrived at Lotus, the place was PACKED and the lines were super long. Also, they lock up the coffee.
Eventually Matt mentioned that he could probably use the bathroom too, so we went to go look for it. It was upstairs and down a long hallway. Matt went in the Men's room and I went into the Ladies room. I went past some sinks and turned the corner to see two long rows of toilet stalls. The doors were all closed but one, but since there were four other women already waiting there and not going in, I decided not to look inside. Eventually doors opened, people came out, and the ladies waiting went in. Pretty soon it was just me and one other lady waiting. A door opened near me and a woman came out. I motioned to the other lady to go ahead because she had been waiting before me. She thanked me and opened the door and looked in then promptly turned around and shook her head and scrunched up her face indicating that the bathroom was yucky.
Now, every time a door had opened I had glanced into the stalls and noticed that they were all a little yucky and I had been waiting a while. Now I have seen quite a few really disgusting bathrooms including a truly disgusting gas station men's room in Jordan that I had no choice but to use since there was no ladies room and way too many people around to just go outside. Since a lady had just come out of the restroom, I looked.
Now I should probably mention that in China most of the toilets are squatters. A longish porcelain bowl on the ground that you squat over and go. These confused me a bit when I lived in Macau but I have since gotten used to them as they often had them in Riyadh as well. (I still prefer a western toilet though given the choice.)
Anyway, this particular toilet had a little brown turd on the back of the bowl. It was hanging off the edge and therefore not getting flushed when the automatic flusher went off. Since I had seen bits of brown in many of the other doors that had opened, I figured one brown toilet is as good as the next, and it's not like I had to sit on it. So I shrugged my shoulders and went inside and quickly did my business, avoiding the little brown turd. Not a huge deal. The problem came when I had finished with my business and was exiting the stall.
When I had gone in, it was only me and the lady who had chosen not to go in. When I came out, the other lady was nowhere to be seen but there were now three new women waiting. The closest one came over, opened the door and didn't go in, now of course thinking that I did it! Probably thinking, "Stupid foreigner, doesn't know how to use the toilet."
Now had I actually done it I would have probably used a tissue and pushed it into the bowl so no one would have had to see that, but since it wasn't my poop I certainly wasn't going to play around with it! As a rule though I generally avoid pooping in public bathrooms whenever possible.
So what could I do? I washed my hands and got out of there as quickly as possible. Now had I had internet I probably could have used my translator app and said something like this:
But would that really of helped? Probably not. Oh well, I'm just putting it out there... I didn't do it!
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