Wednesday, May 04, 2005

true reflections

You could always tell who the new guy at the one of the offices I used to work at was based upon his bathroom habits. If he went to the single urinal by the sink I knew that he was new. This was based on the fact that he hadn't figured out yet that anyone walking by the bathroom when the door was opened could plainly see the urinal (or the person in front of the urinal) through the reflection of a mirror on the bathroom wall. I could never figure out how a mistake like that could be made since a recent stat I heard said that over 90% of architects are male. Isn't this something that is covered in some architecture basics class? Isn't this something that most male architects will have considered. It seems like such a simple, yet vitally important, detail to miss.

It's amazing how frequently this problem is repeated. Even one of the main bathrooms in my church has this problem. There are two urinals side by side, and if you look in the door at the mirror in front of the sink, one of the two is visible. I always have to take a second or two to think through which one is visible before using it.

Now when I walk into an unfamiliar bathroom the first thing I check is what a person walking by the bathroom can see. Sometimes the only usable facilities available are not completely hidden. Some people think that the hardest decisions to make are regarding career, mate, and other things that can impact you for the rest of your life. For me, those decisions were easy compared to, "Can I hold it?"

2 comments:

windarkwingod said...

I have unkowingly exposed some elders in the church and quickly shut the door behind me. Ooops! I usually find a wall in a parking garage.

roamingwriter said...

I have inadvertently been the one looking in the mirror. And for your willingness not to be standing there, I thank you.