Maintaining your proper manners in a difficult situation
Are you a victim of an inconsiderate commercial bathroom stall user before you?
Have you ever felt the urge to start picking up after that person? If your answer to both these questions is yes, then good for you for having proper manners outside of your home. However, if your answer is no, then you might be the person who used the bathroom earlier. In which case, you may want to brush up on your public bathroom etiquette.
The Basics of Commercial Bathroom Stall Etiquette
Manners have been ingrained in modern society. In fact, you would rarely ever be with a person who has not been taught table manners. Whether they use it or not is up to them but the point is they were given that training. However, we rarely ever talk about commercial bathroom etiquette or, indeed, bathroom etiquette in general. And while we do not usually have to worry about what people do in their own homes. This changes when we have to share public utilities with them. Which is, in fact, the case for public bathrooms.
Proper bathroom etiquette goes with you wherever you go. This means you should practice it even when you are at your home. Besides, you would not know if a guest arrives and wants to use your bathroom and you would not want there to be a surprise then. You also want to practice it when visiting a friend or when you are considered as a guest in another person’s house. And finally, you want to keep your bathroom manners with you when you are using a commercial bathroom. That last one is probably what is most lacking for a considerable number of people these days.
So what is in it for you if you follow proper bathroom etiquette? Well, for starters, you should follow any etiquette as that is one of the unspoken rules that govern a civilized society. Imagine if no one followed proper dress codes and ran naked amok on streets. While that example is certainly a bit more extreme than following simple bathroom rules, you would be surprised at just how thin the line is from following the social protocols and complete chaos. So, back to the question at hand, what does a person gain from following proper bathroom etiquette? Well, there are two actually which are self-respect and self-confidence. The first one is quite an obvious benefit. If you learn to start respecting the people around you then you would gain the same respect for yourself. Because, what we are really is just another person who happens to have a different story. Learn to respect others and you can start respecting yourself as well. The second one is self-confidence. We can never really be too sure about the norms and practices around us. But if we have a firm grasp on the basics, then maybe we can take it from there. Bathroom etiquette should not be complicated at all. Simply try to treat other people the same way that you want to be treated. And by giving special attention to simple rules, you should be able to gain self-confidence knowing that you are not being a burden to other people, specifically, the people who will use the bathroom next.
Commercial Bathroom Stall Etiquette For Hosts
It may not come as a surprise that the focus for bathroom etiquette is oftentimes focused on the ones actually using it. But, like most social interactions, the contract requires that two parties meet in the middle. This means that the one using the bathroom is as much responsible as the one maintaining it. If you are a host, then it is your responsibility to ensure that the guests do not face any problems using it. This can be as simple as making sure that there is enough toilet paper or can require a bit more effort like preparing and installing proper ventilation.
As a host, there may be times when you feel like you have to overexert yourself to make sure that your guests are comfortable. But there should be a balance lest you get all too crazy. Guests will often appreciate the effort but going out of your way to resolve every minor inconvenience can be an inconvenience in itself. Take for example replacing all the toiletries with brand new ones just before the guests arrive. As a guest, it might feel imposing to have to open every piece of toiletry in a brand new wrapper. These are the kinds of considerations that hosts have to keep in mind when entertaining guests.
Close the Commercial Bathroom Stall
The first and probably the simplest advice in commercial bathroom etiquette is to properly close the door. This may seem like an obvious thing for you to do but you will be surprised at how many people still forget to do this one basic detail. The reasons for doing so are also quite easy to see of course. You would not want anyone to accidentally see you in an awkward position. Despite the bathroom stall being considered as a public utility, the one using it should assert his or her privacy. At the moment of entering the stall, that is your own private space and you should treat it as such. Close the door and make sure that no one has to have a conversation that neither really wants to have.
Keeping the door closed while using the bathroom stall is only one side of the equation. The other side is closing the door after using it. This is one of the instances where etiquette can dictate the subtle ways of how we conduct ourselves. Since you are done with the bathroom, it essentially no longer serves a purpose for you. But it does serve a purpose for someone else. In this case, that someone else is the next one to use the bathroom. Leaving it closed for him or her means that you respect him or her enough to return things back into place.
