Is it just me or does it seem like mermaids have been sneaking into public restrooms everywhere? That’s the only possible conclusion I have been able to come to in an educated manner given the data. Either that or people are bringing kiddie pools with them for a quick bio break. Who needs a purse when you can have a plastic pool to hold your things? If neither of those things are true, then how? How are the floors of public restrooms always wet?

Doesn’t matter where you go. Gas station, rest area, shopping center, airport, restaurant, park, train, etc. The only public restroom that always does, and should, have a wet floor is the public restroom at a pool. That makes logical sense. You get in a pool, you get wet, you go into the locker room to change, probably in a stall for privacy because you’re not a heathen, and the floor ends up collecting the excess water. No questions asked. Everywhere else, did you let a catfish loose in the toilet bowl?

Maybe it’s just me, but when I have to use the bathroom, I use it in the same way that I do at home. In a manner where all of the liquid stays where it belongs – in the loo. I actually can’t think of a way for me to create a puddle on the floor without actively deciding to squat in mid air and not over the potty. I suppose another option would be to fill up a cup with water and throw it on the ground … on purpose. Or when washing my hands trying to splash my sink neighbors. Or dumping my water bottle on the ground.

All of that to say, literally what are people doing to make the floor wet to the point where there is standing water on it? Who? What? When? Where? Well, we know where. How? Why? I’d like to focus on that last project question here. For starters, we have to assume the floors end up in the state that they do because people don’t care about them at all. They literally treat them like garbage. If you notice you’re spilling water in some manner, would you not stop what you’re doing to prevent more from spilling? The answer there is clearly no.

Moving on from the how, I’m very curious what the puddle consists of. It’s very obviously not drinking quality. That’s safe to assume from the fact that a) you’re in a public restroom and the sanitation level is rarely 5-star restaurant status and b) the water has been on the floor of said restroom for an undetermined amount of time. Needless to reiterate the health quality of the floor of a public restroom. Plus stagnant water in general is always icky.

Have I been ranting? Feels a little like I’ve been ranting? Do you also struggle internally when you see water on the floor of a public bathroom? I often debate whether or not I can hold it, or if I need to risk putting even the bottom of my shoes in it. If it’s the latter, I always move like a ninja and take the slowest steps to avoid splashing anything up onto the rest of my shoe, or even worse, my leg. Just because it’s on the floor does not mean it also needs to be on me. What about you, though? When put between a toilet and a wet place, what option do you lean towards? Hold it, maybe pee in a bottle if it comes to that, or risk it? After all, it could be water, it could not be. And I don’t like to think about what it would be if it’s not water. In a bathroom, there are only so many potential options.

Alright, jumping off my pedestal for now. If you know someone who would enjoy this post and want to share it with them, that would be awesome. Sharing is caring, after all. Don’t forget to subscribe to get these in your inbox twice weekly and follow TRP on Twitter for frequent musings. Thanks for reading!

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