Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Urine-ing for Equal Treatment

Rise up girlfriends, I've just discovered a new source of discrimination against women - in public restrooms across the country. Did you know it's common for establishments to provide current reading material, such as today's sports page, above urinals in men's rooms? In some of the nicer places, there are even TV screens.

No such courtesy is extended in the women's rooms I've been frequenting, and I can't figure out why. Women are skilled multitaskers. We can definitely pee and read at the same time, certainly as well as any man. We're literate and interested in current events. And we stay longer in the stall than the guys do at the urinal, since our biology dictates we take a few extra steps with our clothing and hygiene. We deserve entertainment in the loo as much as the next guy.

In the same restaurant that kindly inserted the local headlines into a plexiglass protected bulletin board in the men's bathroom (above), this was what was posted on my stall in the Ladies':

Be kind to our pipes!
Please dispose of sanitary hygiene products
in the waste bin provided. Thank you


I'm sorry, but I read that notice in two seconds flat and it was not at all thought-provoking.

I want the same pithy material my mate gets when he tinkles in a public place. I want my mind as well as my bladder to be accommodated, same as the dudes. Ladies, let's wipe out this disparity. Next time you visit a public potty, bring the front page of the newspaper or a lively magazine article and tape it to the stall door. Sooner or later those guys will get the message.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

We'll allow you to have posted reading material when you agree to install couches, soft chairs and other "lounge-type" furniture -- similar to what you ladies already enjoy in your loo -- in our facilities.

Tit fot tat, so to speak.

Marjie Killeen said...

Perhaps you guys need reading material to prevent you from checking out the "packages" of your fellow urinal-mates. Must be tempting to look....

Anonymous said...

You don't know guys -- or how they think/act around other guys-- very well, do you.

Marjie Killeen said...

I guess I don't! Please illuminate me.