This is one of those thoughts, apropos of nothing. Or maybe not appropriate a'tall, but it's one of those things that make me ponder, and so I thought I'd talk it over here.
This may be a uniquely female experience, so men, apologies if the content of this post just doesn't compute.
This morning I had a, you know, "need", and as such, made the trek down the long hallway to the ladies room.
When I entered the loo, one of my coworkers was in there at the sink. She was done washing her hands and was taking wads of paper towels and using them to dry up the water on the counter around all four sink basins in the bathroom. She had a quite determined look as she did so, too.
And I thought to myself…"why?" It's the office bathroom. Why do you expend the calories to clean up at work?
We have a pretty good janitor who comes every afternoon and leaves the potty clean and sparkly. It's not like they are falling down on the job.
I mean…cleaning up is a nice thing to do. Considerate of others and all that.
But why? I mean, I try to be tidy when I wash my hands and if I personally make a big mess, I'll clean it up, but I don't take on the role of cleaning up the whole place.
You'd be surprised to know I've seen a LOT of women do this both in the bathroom and in the kitchen/coffee area. I don’t know why.
I suspect, though there is no way for me personally to know, that men don't do this.
The counter cleanup "feels" like a mom thing to do. The lady I ran across today is a mom to five kids and maybe it's just intuitive to her, just happens without thinking. Maybe.
I mean…is this a good thing? Or weird?
I just don't know. To be honest, I was a little afraid she was going to spit on a tissue and start wiping off my face.
I think this need to tidy is probably a harmless thing, but it seems to breed contempt, "Why are people SO messy! Harumph!"
I have enough to get the harumphs about at work. The water splashes on the sink are the least of my worries……
