Toilet humor and some

I went to use a public toilet today. It was not in a place where many people are so that I was alone when I went in. There were two cubicles and I chose the one at the end. I was only half-way through when I heard voices of two women talking as they got in. One of them exclaimed “Ay may lalaki!” (Oh, there’s a man!).

There’s a man in the ladies room??? I stiffened a bit and hurried up. When I got out, I saw the two women outside the door. I looked around to see if there was a man and there was none. The two women were waiting for the person in the cubicle to get out and that was me!!! They got in only after seeing me. They thought I was a man earlier because of my rubber shoes which they saw from the opening below the cubicle. They were deceived by my feet since they are not the normal size for Filipina women plus my rubber shoes are not really feminine rubber shoes (but hey! Those are unisex shoes). I no longer said anything since I was in a hurry then to get my ride but when I was already comfortably seated in the bus, I thought about the incident and other similar incidents.

There are actually a lot of times when women would be surprised to see me come out from one of the cubicles in bathrooms then say “Ay, babae!" (Oh, a girl!) or oftentimes just smile to imply it after really seeing me. This is especially true for cubicles that are just a little above 5 feet in height. There would usually be some reaction (sometimes a gasp) after my head and some part of my body starts to emerge from the cubicle… they would only smile and relax when they see me. I also remembered going inside one of the public toilets in Baguio market a long time ago. I could no longer hold my pee so I decided to get in even if the cubicle height was only up to my chest. My upper body was shown even if I was seated (well almost seated, couldn’t really bear sitting in a wet bowl). Suddenly the cleaning woman started shouting at me in her Ilocano dialect. I didn’t get it much but she was scolding me for squatting! I wasn’t squatting but again, I hurried up. When I got out she laughed and apologized after seeing my height! She thought I was squatting on the bowl since she saw a big portion of myself exposed while in the cubicle earlier.

Well I wasn’t but had I got hold of a material I read a few months back on how to use the bathroom, I would have told her that she shouldn’t stop people from squatting since it could be good for their health. Well informing her would just be for “talks” and probably impart some knowledge for I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable stepping on an elevated toilet bowl and squatting even if it is in my home.

Actually I hate it when I see messy toilet bowls. I don’t really know what goes on in the mind those people that steps on the bowl with their dirty slippers or shoes on. Maybe they read the article? Hehehe… if they did, They probably did not read it completely for there’s actually a way to imitate a squat without really stepping on the bowl. I think that would be a good compromise. As for me, I’m at an advantage! Most of the bowls here are low and I’ve got long legs, so I could easily simulate a squat! Of course, I would still prefer to do my squat exercise as part of my morning exercise!