Look Twice - Push Once

I bought a shirt at the mall yesterday and decided to change in the public washroom. I was running a bit late so I went into the first cubicle I found and proceeded to change my shirt. While I was there, I thought it would be a good use of my time to use the facilities. As I was doing that, I noticed a small box attached the side wall of the cubicle. I thought it was strange that such a box would be in a men's bathroom. As soon as that thought went through my mind, I realized that I didn't notice any urinals on the way INTO the bathroom. I was pretty certain no one was in the room at that point so I stood on my toes and peeked over the door. Sure enough... all I saw was stalls...

I have not been in this situation before, so it was important to create a workable exit strategy that would allow me to leave the washroom without encountering anyone on the way out. I decided that the best option was simply to make it look like I knew what I was doing and hope like crazy that I didn't meet anyone coming in while I was going out.

In cases like this, timing is everything. The challenge is to time your exit in such a way
that you don't bump into someone at the door. (The less explaining required the better...) I gathered my things, mustered my courage and opened the door. I quick marched across the bathroom and reached the door before anyone came in . (So far, so good I thought...) When I stepped out into the mall hallway, I took a hard right and kept my eyes glued to the floor for the first 20 feet. Thinking the coast was clear, I took a look around me, only to see a very confused senior lady looking at me and wondering which door she should go into. Yikes..

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remember hearing that that if you are well dressed and look like you know what you're doing, most people will simply leave you alone and let you be on your way, so I squared my shoulders, held my head high and looked straight ahead. I was sweating when I got outside, but the wonders of a black shirt are that no one can see... (at least until later...) Lucky for me!

There's probably a great lesson in here if you want to dig around, but I think the best of all might be this:

"When in a strange place, look twice and open once before you choose a public washroom!"