Ya know how I thought I was the Queen of Etiquette when it came to public bathrooms?
Yea... well I'm kinda stumped right now.
So you guys let me know what YOU think.
Okay... again this is at work.
I walk into the stall...I head straight for a stall that isn't occupied...making sure to check and see that I can have the one-stall-in-between rule...sometimes you can't swing that because the bathroom is busy.
I was in luck though and only one other person was in the bathroom.
I heard a hiccup when I walked in...but didn't think much of it because, of course, my mind was focused on getting to the toilet quickly because I held it to the VERY last minute.
I make sure to cover the toilet seat with toilet paper, jumping up and down and wiggling all around, and sit down to...well...relieve myself.
It's completely silent, as it should be, because I'm not about to discuss the weather with someone while we are otherwise occupied...that would be seriously uncomfortable.
Then....
From the stall two over from mine, coming from the only other person in the bathroom, a DEEP, heart-wrenching, gut-stabbing, down-from-the-depths-of-her-soul SOB. Then silence...and then squeaks...and then another SOB where apparently the flood gates broke open!
I froze...I froze like Crash's stone cold heart.
I even stopped my pee mid stream so that I wouldn't disturb such a personal moment.
I wished myself out of there.
See, I'm not really a touchy-feel-y person anyway, sure with my close friends I'm as loyal as Nutty Hamster Chick is to her BYU Football or Kritta is to her quilting or Lilly is to her husband and helping to find a cure for cancer or Heidi is to her book tour or Binks is to me (love ya girl!) or Daddy Geek Boy is to educating us about getting snipped... and I'll give ya a hug when I see ya, or if ya need one...
But when it comes to strangers? I'm just not one to walk up to a person in a heart wrenching moment and wrap my arms around and whisper 'it's okay' when I don't know the person...and especially not in a bathroom.
But I felt myself in an awkward situation and not knowing what to do about it. First of all, was it okay to continue peeing? Then if it is, and I finish with flushing the toilet and properly get everything put back together to walk out of the stall...do I say something as I go to wash my hands? Do I say anything at all?
Who KNOWS why she is crying? Maybe it's something I CAN help her with.
Personally, I wouldn't want anyone to talk to me.
Do I break the awkward tension in the room that I was feeling by humming or something?
It really wouldn't hurt to say, 'are you all right?'
But would that make HER then feel even MORE awkward because I said anything?
I DID finish going to the bathroom and I opted not to say anything. Because I'm a coward...and most likely a schmuck.
So does that make me an unthoughtful person? Was that mean?
I mean what does one DO?
What if I could have helped her feel better...made her day or something?
