Clean Up Your Mess!

It's something we all have to do, and something we all have to use. Yet, even the most popular bachelor pad looks clean compared to how some women leave a public restroom!

Let's face it, even the most pristine and beautifully decorated public restrooms have us walking on egg shells, trying to touch as little as possible, squirming, squatting, using a weeks worth of toilet paper, and our feet to flush the toilet. The tight rope walker who balanced his way across Niagra Falls has seen nothing compared to the woman who enters a public restroom wearing 5 inch heels, after having a few glasses of wine. Before she is through she will have managed to miraculously balance herself in a stall without touching the walls or the toilet, remove and replace her undergarments, while clinging to her handbag and possibly her cellphone, and still walk away without a single scratch or run in her designer pantyhose! However, the mess she has left behind her is likely to be atrocious.

Most public restrooms are cleaned quite well on a regular basis throughout each and every day, so someone has to be the first to leave the spotted splashes on the toilet seat, or the yards of toilet paper on the floor. Why is it so difficult to clean up your own mess? Have you ever thought about who you are leaving that mess for? Someone has to use that toilet after you. What if it's a mother with a small child? What if it's someone with bad knee's or someone who simply cannot balance well? What if it's your grandmother? I know it may be a bit too much to ask some women to simply clean off the toilet seat, but is it too much to ask that you find an employee to clean up the restroom so the next person in line does not have to suffer the same disgusting environment?

This is never an issue when we are a guest in someone's home. We always make sure that the host's bathroom is just as clean as when we entered. Most women would be mortified to leave sprinkles on the toilet seat or trails of toilet paper in their hosts bathroom! And God forbid you clog the toilet or improperly dispose of your monthly sanitation supplies. But how much do you really know about your host/hostess' cleaning rituals? For all you know, your host/hostess could have just wiped everything down quickly with a plain towel, or they may never even wash their hands and every handle throughout their house is brimming with germs and disease. Rest assured my dear "germaphobe's," according to modern medical opinion, it is more than likely that there is nothing you will come in contact with that can't be removed or overcome by a strong immune system, and by simply washing your hands. So, now that I've made you question the cleanliness of even your best friends bathroom, why would you treat a public restroom any differently than your friends?

Today's etiquette lesson: Be conscious of your behavior even when you think no one can see you, because there is always someone who has to come after you. The kind and gracious thing to do, ladies, is....Clean up your mess!