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| Renowned author Michael Herr is back guest-blogging on this awesome Aloha Friday talking about the number one problem, that's right you got it! "To pee or not to pee," That is the question? check out Michael's website at; http://www.michaelherr.com/ |
It's Aloha Friday.
Got to Go? Which to use? His or Her's (Herr's)? Right to Pee.
As a person gets older they leave many problems behind them — "Am I pregnant?" "Did I get her pregnant?" "What will I do if they fire me?". But new problems crop up. One that I've had to deal with more in the last couple of years involves restrooms. Toilet facilities. My wife is in a wheelchair. When she has to use the toilet, into which facilities do I wheel her? Men's Restroom or Women's Restroom?
In some places the decision is easy. At San Francisco International Airport, after you pass through Security, there is a Companion/Caregiver Restroom. It's wheelchair accessible, has a curtain you can pull once you're inside so that no one can see anything through the frosted glass of the door and it has good grab bars. In fact it's so attractive that once I had to reprimand another traveler for using it in order to change his clothes. I'm not sure he spoke English, but I think my frown conveyed my message even if my words did not.
But at other airports, and other venues such as theatres, there are no similar Companion Restrooms. So, I'm faced with the question — Men's or Women's bathroom?
So far my answer has been to push my wife's chair into the Women's Restroom, head straight for the largest handicap staff, get inside and lock the door behind us. I get some looks at times, but so far no screams and no calls for Security. I choose the Women's Restroom for two reasons. My wife is more comfortable around other women, and the chances of us seeing something we would rather not see are much less there than in the Men's Restroom.
In deciding not only which restroom to use I also have to decide when to enter. So, like a stalker, I try to estimate the number of women left in the room from the numbers I count entering as compared with those leaving. Last time I got very lucky and there was no one in when I pushed my wife's chair inside. But there were many women there when we exited the stall. At that point we skip the hand-washing exercise.
It's a small inconvenience, but it's a question that I and my wife have learned to think about whenever we go out.
And it's so much better over here than in other parts of the world. Right now in India there is a movement gathering momentum. The "Right to Pee" movement. It seems India has fewer restroom/toilets and while men working out in the fields can simply step behind a bush or tree, women have much more difficulty relieving themselves. And part of that problem is that many of the men think it amusing to watch, and sometimes even assault, a women who is forced to relieve herself out in the open. Do an Internet search for "Right to Pee" and see what you find.
Oops, another aspect of growing old has just hit me. I have to end this article and go quickly to our bathroom myself.
Okay folks, see you next week.
http://www.michaelherr.com/
Hana Hou (Encore) http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/blog/morning_call/2012/07/hearst-time-warner-cable-dispute.html
Local cable company blocks out ABC affiliate from all Time Warner cable customers in the state of Hawai'i.
"Oceanic Time Warner rips me off for close to $100.00 a month on cable and I cannot even watch my favorite show for the hot topics "The View." I will wait one week and if this blackout is not resolved I am cancelling my cable. Most network shows like "The View," "Bachelor," etc. are available for free online anyway, so Oceanic, get your act together, otherwise remember what goes around comes around, and my crystal ball is telling me you are going to lose many customers."
James "Kimo" Rosen
