We’re not big on etiquette in this country. The word itself brings connotations of ladies’ manners schools or Downton Abbey-type stuffiness. Use the correct fork. Embroidered hankies. The whole bit. That’s not us. America is a take-care-of-yourself, free-to-do-what-you-want sort of nation. While I tremendously enjoy that in almost every facet of life, it does not serve dorm life.
Everyone knows floor mates can be hard to deal with. As I write, I’m listening to my entire half of the floor singing, or perhaps more accurately, shouting, “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls. Every floor of a residence hall has the creeper, the screamer, the hermit and the clique. It can be difficult to find a place of balance amidst all these personality types, and the biggest hurdle to dorm zen can be the bathroom.
We all begin and end our days in this location. We wake up, shower, brush our teeth and prepare to face the day. We go in to splash our face with some water and brush those teeth one more time before hitting the hay. Depending on one’s floor, this can be a place to note the passing of another day and wind down or a source of great disgust and distress.
While I cannot think of any reason why it should be so, there are students who make the bathrooms their personal dumping ground. They leave their shoes out to air, leave the dishes they mean to wash someday next to the sink and leave their hair on every inch of every surface in the room.
Perhaps it is the lack of responsibility which makes them act so. Students who live in the apartments, like senior Ellyn Frisch, feel a sense of ownership and thus take better care of their living area. “I think it’s different because we’re all friends sharing a living space. We know one of us will have to clean the bathroom, so we make sure to keep it as clean as possible,” Frisch said. Those of us in regular dorms, however, are not responsible to clean the bathrooms daily or weekly. If you know you will have someone to come pick it up, why crouch down to grab that dirty cotton ball you just dropped? Why not leave entire clumps of your hair in the shower? Besides the fact that you’re disgusting everyone around you and being disrespectful and discourteous to the people who will actually be responsible for the cleanliness of the space, of course.
It does not have to be this way. By taking a few simple steps, the college bathroom experience can be less harrowing for all involved.
First, do not leave your personal possessions littered all around the bathroom. While leaving your dirty dishes by the sink may make your life slightly easier, it does inconvenience those around you. In a Founders floor situation, your dishes would be annoying seven people and benefiting only you. In the immortal words of Spock, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” You are the few.
Secondly, please be water-conscious. I won’t tell you to avoid hour-long showers; your shower length is your prerogative. I will tell you to leave the water in the sink. If I can’t set anything down without it being dripping wet when I pick it up, something is going awry. While I’m on the subject, please make sure you turn the faucet all the way off. Many people I’ve talked to seem to agree that every time they step into the bathroom they’re pushing down faucets. This is harmful to the environment and the College’s budget.
Thirdly, be mindful of others’ schedules. If there is someone in every shower, do not stand there and contemplate the meaning of life. Get in, shampoo, condition and get out. This kindness is especially important if there may be people waiting to clean up before class.
While these are the three biggest offenses I’ve personally encountered, everyone shares one big bathroom peeve. When I was asking fellow students about this topic, I kept getting the same response. “Please flush. Is that asking too much? It does matter! Just flush the toilet!” junior Jacob Jones said.
“The one thing I absolutely hate is when people don’t flush the toilet when they’re done. And I’m not solely talking about number one,” sophomore Jason Mountain said. Royer RA junior Nicole Curcio sees the same problem constantly. “We’ve had some interesting things people have tried to flush down the toilet which have ended up clogging the pipes and flooding Royer basement,” Curcio said. “I also find it strange that college students don’t always understand the concept of flushing a toilet when they are done. It’s gotten so bad that it’s now a community standard in my building.”
By making miniscule changes to the way you behave in your dorm’s bathroom, your floor mates may be able to maintain their sanity.
