Surprise Potty

I always try to pee before any kind of important event begins...like a meeting, or a graduation ceremony, or a Bon Jovi concert. I especially keep to this practice before classes.

Nothing...absolutely nothing...makes me blush faster than getting up in the middle of class and going to the bathroom (except maybe not getting up in the middle of class...and going to the bathroom). I mean, everyone knows what's going on when you do that. And they're all asking themselves the same question: Number 1? or Number 2? It's a heinous experience, and I avoid it as much as possible.

This morning, my pre-class pee was an experience I'll never forget.

I know...what a statement.

I entered one of the three stalls in the ladies room, closed the door behind me, and sat my bag (against my better judgement) on the tile floor. I was beginning to fiddle with my belt when I noticed a post-it note stuck to the inside of the stall door, about eye-level. It read: "No TP. Have a good day."

It was the greatest public bathroom moment of my life.

Someone had obviously been in the stall before me and probably suffered the mortification of discovering a toilet paper shortage post-poo. Most likely, she had to throw out an "excuse me," to a perfect stranger in the neighboring stall and ask for an under-the-wall hand-off. Ugh...I'm embarrassed just thinking about it.

The difference between this girl and the rest of us who've experienced the same thing is this: she had the character and presence of mind to think outside herself in the middle of a, well, crappy situation. This has happened to me before, and all I could think about was getting the heck out of the bathroom before I could make embarrassing, "yeah, it was me" eye-contact with anyone. Forget washing my hands; germs don't scare me nearly as much as awkward social interaction.

Not so with my post-it pal.

She must have stuck around AT LEAST as long as it took to rummage around for a post-it in her purse, to write a note (including a word of encouragement) on that post-it, and to stick it in a place where she knew it would be visible.

Awkwardness be damned! She couldn't let this happen to someone else!

After reading the post-it, I snatched my bag back up and moved stalls. I was able to enjoy an embarrassment-free bathroom experience because of the sacrifice of one of my predecessors. Wherever you are, Post-it Potty girl, you've inspired me. If you can do something like this for a perfect stranger...well just think of the possibilities.