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Lo and behold loo manners!

Though I have seen instructions in many restrooms, this was a tad bit too much for a small room with tags everywhere, writes Priya Anand
Last Updated 14 March 2020, 20:30 IST

Couple of months back while attending a workshop, I wanted to use the restroom urgently. Guided by a lady employee and walking through a mini maze, I finally reached the place.

On the door, was a huge poster bearing the title ‘Loo Manners’. Well, it was a list of commandments which had to be kept in mind before entering. As I was in a great hurry, I zoomed past and went in at my own risk. Once inside, I had to spend some precious seconds searching for some light as it was pretty dark. I noticed a small switch to my right hidden with a paper.

After tapping the switch/paper several times, a bright light flashed over a note which read……‘turn me off when you leave’. Hurriedly, I attended to nature’s call and saw the next instruction behind, that read… ‘Use less water and leave the place dry for the next person’. Baffled by this, I turned off the flush soon enough for the written directive to be satisfied by my quick reaction. Now, I was getting better at this. I turned around to the tap which posed the third challenge bearing the jotting … ‘Wash your hands but do not waste water.’ How does one get this right? I responded to this by washing hands and allowing least possible drops slipping out. This was like a game for me with clues pasted everywhere in the room. When I was getting ready to wipe hands, the paper towel had a line which read, ‘Use less paper and save the environment’. I did comply to their demand by wiping hands with my own handkerchief. The loo tutorial finally ended when I reached the door, which bore a note saying, ‘Smile….you’ll be on camera once you exit.’

Though I have seen instructions in many restrooms, this was a tad bit too much for a small room with tags everywhere. After getting back, I couldn’t help turning back to look at all the faces which came out of the restroom. The expression on their faces surely made me smile all the way back home. When I narrated this to everyone at home, all burst into laughter and had only one concern... whether I used the washroom or returned after reading the list of Do’s and Don’ts.

This reminded me of an incident back in our good old Airforce days when we hosted dinner parties at home.

It was on one such day, when before entering the kitchen, I went around the house to see whether everything was in order and so, just to be careful that my kids do not soil the freshly hung towels in the washroom, I put a small post-it on it which read ‘Don’t use’ for them.

That evening, the party went off perfectly as planned. The next morning, after waking up from my slumber, as I crawled into the restroom, I found the two towels hanging neatly side- by-side untouched and with the post-it still on. I can still vividly recall that embarrassed look on my face.

Till today, I am reminded of it whenever I hang fresh towels for guests at home.

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(Published 14 March 2020, 20:25 IST)

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