Call them etiquette… protocol… even good manners, but there are some basic rules everyone should follow when they’re in a public restroom. I live by them and I wish everyone else around me would too, but sadly most people tend to ignore them causing others to be unnecessarily uncomfortable during their bathroom excursion.

Rule #1 – Everyone is a stranger in the bathroom! This means I don’t want to talk to you and I don’t want you to talk to me. The last thing I want to hear, after sitting down to take a pee is someone calling my name. Those thin little bathroom-stall walls are there to give the illusion of privacy, even though it isn’t real. Everyone needs to play along and pretend that those little walls are real walls.

Rule #2 – Watch where you’re peeing! Okay, this seems like it should be pretty obvious, but apparently there are a lot of ladies out there that just can’t seem to get it all in the toilet. How a grown woman can manage to get pee all over the seat and floor is beyond me. However, the better question is how does a grown woman get it all over the seat and floor and then decide not to wipe it off before leaving the stall? Yuck!!! Clean up after yourselves ladies.

Rule #3 – Leave an open stall! Have you ever gone into a public bathroom and found yourself the only one there? Yeah, it’s pretty great. You have your pick of the stalls, and of course you pick the farthest one against the back wall so that you have the most amount of privacy – just in case someone comes in. Not even five seconds after you sit down you hear the bathroom door open, “that’s okay, there are plenty of stalls” you think to yourself. But NO – this lady decides that the only stall in the room good enough for her is the one directly next to yours! WTF!!! With ten open stalls she picks the only one next to yours?! What is that? Leave an open stall between you and your closest bathroom neighbor whenever possible. One open stall is the minimum – more is always better. This rule applies to men using the urinals too!

  Rule #4 – Wash your hands! Everyone is watching you – and you better believe if you don’t wash your hands someone is going to be talking about you to their friends as soon as you leave. Its gross ladies, so wash your hands. It only takes thirty seconds to turn on the hot water, scrub your hands with soap and rinse… plus it saves lives, or at least kills germs.

Okay, that is my bathroom rant. Have a wonderful day.