Clearing Up Bathroom Issues!
Recently, I read in a local newspaper under one of those "Dear Annie" or "Dear Bob" columns about the handicapped. Normally, I would never read into these articles, but since it was slow at work, I read the whole thing. The issue was over bathroom stalls! According to the handicapped people, the handicap stall is always being used by someone who is not handicapped whatsoever! This seemed new to me, because most of the people who are handicapped want to be treated like regular people. They usually do not complain over public facilities. And there, before me, were at least 20 angry people writing to this newspaper. It was pretty interesting to see how the reaction was about this growing issue. I guess most people never talk about it based on it to be a growth of any kind in the bathroom. The thing that bothered me about the whole issue was that they never asked why it is happening. So to go deep undercover and to go use the bathrooms, we sent Skibicki Research on a mission which took about 30 minutes, because someone was in the handicap stall for about 12 minutes, to find out what gives.
It was within the 30 minute stall time that Skibicki Research discovered the problem. The handicapped people and Annie/Bob were missing the point. It is always in use, because it is at the end of the room. Let us be honest, we do not like to be in public bathrooms, especially when other people are in it. It would be as odd as Michael Jackson staring at you. Wow, that gave me shivers! How do I know this is the cause?! Well, according to Skibicki Research, several different restrooms were tested to see this theory in action. Three of them had the handicap stalls at the end of the room and were constantly occupied. The one bathroom in Boscov's had the handicap stall in the middle of the room and had no one in it. Unfortunately, I can only speak for the men's side due to the fact the women would probably beat Skibicki Research to death causing the use of a slower research engine, such as Mindspring.
But wait! There is more! Research also shows that the people who use the handicap stall are more likely to stay in the restroom for longer periods of time than normal. So what is the normal time for bathroom use? It's not important! Some say that this is due the comfort zone in the handicap stall. Because of it's roomy space, us guys tend to relax a little longer in the bathroom. We even get to the point where we read whole newspapers, books, talk on cell phones, and possibly sleep. So why can't we do these same things in a regular stall? Maybe, that slight difference in size gives us a little claustrophobia? Who knows? My point is that if there is anyone to blame, it is the designers of the bathroom. Sometimes, I think that building designers do little jokes throughout a building design just to cause issues. Example: At Coastal Carolina University, the builders decided to put pull-handles on both sides of the doors in the Student Center. I cannot stress how stupid that is. Or that one Target that placed 36 handicapped parking spaces in a row, so that it is a seven mile walk to the door. Crazy! And I never saw anyone park in them!
Anyway, all I can say is that we should try to make things a little equal. Turn all of those regular bathroom stalls into handicapped ones! And while you are at it, could you at least get good toilet paper?
Skibicki
It was within the 30 minute stall time that Skibicki Research discovered the problem. The handicapped people and Annie/Bob were missing the point. It is always in use, because it is at the end of the room. Let us be honest, we do not like to be in public bathrooms, especially when other people are in it. It would be as odd as Michael Jackson staring at you. Wow, that gave me shivers! How do I know this is the cause?! Well, according to Skibicki Research, several different restrooms were tested to see this theory in action. Three of them had the handicap stalls at the end of the room and were constantly occupied. The one bathroom in Boscov's had the handicap stall in the middle of the room and had no one in it. Unfortunately, I can only speak for the men's side due to the fact the women would probably beat Skibicki Research to death causing the use of a slower research engine, such as Mindspring.
But wait! There is more! Research also shows that the people who use the handicap stall are more likely to stay in the restroom for longer periods of time than normal. So what is the normal time for bathroom use? It's not important! Some say that this is due the comfort zone in the handicap stall. Because of it's roomy space, us guys tend to relax a little longer in the bathroom. We even get to the point where we read whole newspapers, books, talk on cell phones, and possibly sleep. So why can't we do these same things in a regular stall? Maybe, that slight difference in size gives us a little claustrophobia? Who knows? My point is that if there is anyone to blame, it is the designers of the bathroom. Sometimes, I think that building designers do little jokes throughout a building design just to cause issues. Example: At Coastal Carolina University, the builders decided to put pull-handles on both sides of the doors in the Student Center. I cannot stress how stupid that is. Or that one Target that placed 36 handicapped parking spaces in a row, so that it is a seven mile walk to the door. Crazy! And I never saw anyone park in them!
Anyway, all I can say is that we should try to make things a little equal. Turn all of those regular bathroom stalls into handicapped ones! And while you are at it, could you at least get good toilet paper?
Skibicki
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