please do not throw towel in toilet
In public restrooms, have you noticed the direct relationship between where the hand-towel dispenser and trashcan are located to whether or not there is a sign begging customers not to throw the towels in the toilet? I have.
Last night Bob (my partner) and I went to dinner at a slightly passé hipster "Asian Fusion" restaurant on Smith Street in Brooklyn. I say slightly passé because, like most of the restaurants on Smith, it's past its "surprising-to-find-such-cool-good-food-in-Brooklyn" phase and has moved on to an absentee owner and its third or fourth chef.
Anyway, the restaurant's restroom is one of those dimly lit designer restrooms, complete with an oh-so-trendy ultra-chic sink that looks like a large wooden bowl on a cement slab. (In restaurant bathrooms I half expect to find large leafs of iceberg lettuce and a sneeze guard over these kinds of bowls.) After washing my hands I had to look around a couple seconds to find the towel dispenser, which was all the way over above the left side of the toilet, with the trash can to the right of the toilet. A hand-lettered sign was taped to the dispenser that said "dear customer: please do not throw towel in toilet."
This only confirmed something I've been noticing for years: the further the towels and trash are from the sink and the closer they are to the toilet, the more chance there is for customers (all be it stupid ones) to toss their garbage into the toilet rather than the can. Who knows why this happens? Maybe they forget where they are for a moment. Maybe they've done their duty, as it were, and their minds have moved on to Jennifer and Brad or real estate, or whatever.
But I believe the fault lies primarily with the restaurant owners themselves. Feng shui notwithstanding, if the towels and the trash are right by the sink where they belong I will mindlessly dry my hands and toss the towel in the appropriate receptacle while I check for stray nose hairs and think about shoe molding for my dining room.
Anyway, look out for it yourself. Next time you see a hand-lettered sign on the towel dispenserer take note of where the towels and trash are and let me know if you notice a pattern too.
This is Jay Woolsrake: In the Thick of It
Last night Bob (my partner) and I went to dinner at a slightly passé hipster "Asian Fusion" restaurant on Smith Street in Brooklyn. I say slightly passé because, like most of the restaurants on Smith, it's past its "surprising-to-find-such-cool-good-food-in-Brooklyn" phase and has moved on to an absentee owner and its third or fourth chef.
Anyway, the restaurant's restroom is one of those dimly lit designer restrooms, complete with an oh-so-trendy ultra-chic sink that looks like a large wooden bowl on a cement slab. (In restaurant bathrooms I half expect to find large leafs of iceberg lettuce and a sneeze guard over these kinds of bowls.) After washing my hands I had to look around a couple seconds to find the towel dispenser, which was all the way over above the left side of the toilet, with the trash can to the right of the toilet. A hand-lettered sign was taped to the dispenser that said "dear customer: please do not throw towel in toilet."
This only confirmed something I've been noticing for years: the further the towels and trash are from the sink and the closer they are to the toilet, the more chance there is for customers (all be it stupid ones) to toss their garbage into the toilet rather than the can. Who knows why this happens? Maybe they forget where they are for a moment. Maybe they've done their duty, as it were, and their minds have moved on to Jennifer and Brad or real estate, or whatever.
But I believe the fault lies primarily with the restaurant owners themselves. Feng shui notwithstanding, if the towels and the trash are right by the sink where they belong I will mindlessly dry my hands and toss the towel in the appropriate receptacle while I check for stray nose hairs and think about shoe molding for my dining room.
Anyway, look out for it yourself. Next time you see a hand-lettered sign on the towel dispenserer take note of where the towels and trash are and let me know if you notice a pattern too.
This is Jay Woolsrake: In the Thick of It
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home