Before going into the actual use of public restrooms, I present here a partial list of public restroom avoidance techniques:
1) Use non-public restroom in advance of knowing no other types of restrooms would be available where you venture.
2) Hold it, if at all possible.
3) Stop at a friend’s house if convenient and allowable, but consider whom this friend is as their bathroom could be less than desirable.
4) Seek large bushes or any other object that offers a visual obstacle.
5) Don’t drink beverages that could induce the need for using a public restroom.
6) Don’t overeat in public as that could trigger an obvious urge.
7) Dress warmly as this can forestall urgency.
Now that the above has been addressed in avoidance and you still are subjected to using a public restroom, let’s go over the various techniques:
OPENING RESTROOM DOOR:
a) If door swings inward, you simply push door open with foot. Do not look like a germaphobe to others around you, raise a hand to make it appear as though you are actually opening the door with your hand.
b) If door swings outward, you can do one of FOUR ITEMS:
i) Loom around the restroom door, acting busy somehow, perhaps by looking at pictures on the wall or admiring the wallpaper and wait for someone to exit – once someone exits, promptly position yourself on the restroom side of the person so that you are not in the way of the person leaving so that other person continues in holding the door open. If necessary, use your foot as a stop and as noted above, if you feel you are being gazed at, raise a hand to make it appear you are propping the door open with your hand.
ii) Loom around the restroom waiting for another person to enter the restroom. In this instance it’d be hard to position your body between the other and the bathroom, so it’d be you who’d have to prop the door open. In this case you’d have to act very swiftly to avoid using your hands by positioning your foot to prop the door open.
iii) Use the back of your knuckles to pull the door and either wash them once in the restroom or wash upon exiting if you feel the knuckles won’t be a factor in any bathroom function.
iv) Bring a napkin to the restroom and strategically use the napkin to grasp the door handle.
Okay, now you’re in! What’s the next step? Well, it all depends on what you’ll be doing in there. Let’s go over some of the functions:
OPENING DOOR TO USE TOILET:
a) Depending on how the door swings, though usually inward, you can normally just push the door open with your foot. If the door swings the opposite way, simply lift your foot up and pull the door open.
b) If you happen to have a napkin in your hand, possibly one you brought from outside or one from inside that did not require any other portion of towel dispenser, use that to open the door.
CLOSING DOOR TO TOILET:
a) Once in the toilet area, grab some toilet paper and place over fingers to push the door closed and to lock the door. If the door is blocking the toilet paper dispenser once the door is open, push and hold the door closed with your foot until you are able to gain access to the toilet paper to lock it.
PREPARATION FOR USE OF THE TOILET:
a) If sitting is desired, line the toilet seat with two layers of toilet paper, making certain not to miss a spot, OR use a liner that may be available. Otherwise, I recommend squatting though this method has been shown to interfere with complete emptying of the stuff you want to purge.
b) Position clothing for the necessary act. Hold loose clothing so it does not touch any bathroom object either by bunching or holding with one hand only as the other hand would be used for some obvious other action.
FLUSHING TOILET:
a) Grab a piece of toilet paper and push flushing lever. Public restroom toilets may flush very quickly so you may want to immediately throw the paper into the toilet once lever is pushed. If there is a foot pedal to actuate the flushing, use that instead, UNLESS the pedal is so far away that you fear touching the toilet in the process!
OPENING THE TOILET DOOR TO EXIT:
a) Grab a piece of toilet paper to open the door lock and try to open the door by the locking mechanism. This may be difficult as it may require finger strength in squeezing the lock. It may be necessary to use your foot once again to assist in the process. Once out, toss the piece of toilet paper into the toilet.
b) Alternatively, though this may sound gross to some, in an effort to not have the toilet paper used in opening the door left in the toilet upon exiting, you could open the door before the flushing and use the same piece of paper to do the flushing. This can be quite tricky to pull this off as you may have to have a good balance to perform all this, particularly if the door wants to swing one way or another. Standing on one foot, having one foot holding the door open while simultaneously flushing the toilet is a real challenge! Of course you’d want to do all this quickly so no one looks in and sees anything they shouldn’t!
WHEW! NOW THE TOUGH PART IS OVER! Now, we’re onto using the sink.
WASHING HANDS:
a) If the towel dispenser does not require you to touch it to dispense towels, as if the towels are freely hanging, no preparation step is required.
b) If the towel dispenser requires you to touch it to have access to the towels, do this process ahead of washing.
c) Open faucets using bare hands, or if you are an extreme germaphobe, use a towel to do so.
d) Actuate the soap dispenser using bare hands, however, as with the option with the faucets, if the soap dispenser doesn’t require touching the soap nozzle, you may use a towel to get the soap.
e) Once hands are washed, DO NOT turn off the faucet until you grab a towel that is freely available or the one you prepared ahead of time. Use the towel to assist in turning off the faucet.
f) The towel used to turn off the faucet should then be thrown away and then grab a new towel to dry hands. If the towel dispenser requires touching to obtain the towels, use the towel that was used to turn off the faucet on the towel dispenser to obtain a new towel.
g) Be mindful about the restroom door, so that if you know the door swings in ward, it’d be wise to have a towel handy. In case of the towel dispenser needing to be touched to dispense towels, use the towel that you dried your hands with to obtain another towel to get out of the bathroom.
LEAVING THE RESTROOM:
a) If the door opens outward, simply push the door open with your foot or incorporate a technique similar to entering the restroom as described much earlier.
b) If the door opens inward, have a towel in hand to pull the door open. Once door is open, either move fast out or prop open with foot while simultaneously doing the very best you can in tossing the towel into a garbage can.
Wasn’t that all easy? This is probably all second nature to many, but you may know someone who could use this short manual. Feel free and copy or print to distribute to others.
I have developed some useful techniques in using public locker rooms and showers. The methods I employ require one having great balance but if requested I would gladly share them!
HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!
