PUBLIC BATHROOMS

By Izzah Kamran

There was a sausage. The child stood in a stall in the middle of the crowded women’s public bathroom and stared at a half-eaten sausage laying on the toilet paper dispenser. Later, after actually using the toilet, her waste wasn’t flushing. She had to quickly run out of the bathroom after washing her hands, before anyone noticed. 63% of Americans,  like this child, have at least one horror story from a public restroom based on a national survey. A student says, “Public bathrooms in general are very dirty…People  don’t flush the toilets, leave tissues everywhere and that makes using the bathroom really uncomfortable. Oh  and not to mention the stench, it smells disgusting!” According to the same survey the top restroom complaints were: unpleasant odors (82%) and clogged/broken toilets (79%). How can we prevent scaring our children this way? We can start to flush the toilets whenever possible. And clean the toilet seats before and after using it along with generally cleaning the stall. According to Dr.Nkechi Asogwa, President of Doctors Health Initiative, “Toilets generally should be neat, hygienic, well ventilated and free of agents carrying diseases. They should be washed regularly with disinfectants. Wiping the toilet seat with tissues, saliva and water before sitting is very essential, because saliva contains enzymes capable of fighting  bacteria and virus. The hands should be washed before and after cleaning. The toilet seats should not be sat on directly. Tissues can be laid on the public toilets, if it cannot be avoided.” So we can start by taking small steps, to at least stop scaring children with sausages.