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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Bathroom encounters

My office has a restroom but I prefer going down the hall to what I like to refer to as the private restroom.  It is one of those single rooms where you go in one at a time.  It is hard to tell if anyone is occupying the restroom without pulling on the heavy door handle.  As I pulled the handle the door opened and a woman walked out.  She opened the door letting me walk in.  I kindly thanked her.  However to my surprise, instead of closing the door behind her she walked into the private restroom with me, locking the door behind her.  I quickly assessed the situation in my head.  Was I in danger? Na.  She was an elderly woman, perhaps in her 80's wearing a hat with a large brim. I work at a hospital so I concluded she must be coming to the doctor and shouldn't be a threat.  I could take this old lady if I had to, although I would do just about anything not to get into a fight (never happened) and especially with an elderly woman (not sure how my job down the hall would feel about this).  In shock I stood there with my bag in my hand.  She begins to tell me that she is a children's book author and illustrator. 

Today she had a book signing at a local book store.  She also likes to watercolor.  I stood there nodding my head letting her finish, praying for a private moment to relieve myself.  I feared I might pee myself and needed a plan.  As she continued to talk, I unlocked and opened the door for her, gently leading her out as she continued to speak.  I gave her a few "OOoo's and Aww's" before closing the door, and firmly locking it.  Finally alone at last.  After I finished with my business, I opened the door to find her standing there.  As I walked out, she continued to talk to me and followed me back down the hall.  I cut her off mid-sentence, telling her I must get back to work and it was nice to meet her.  This is the kind of nonsense that seems to happen to me on a daily basis.  I started out thinking I was in the company of a crazy lady but after a little reflecting I realized she was probably just lonely and needed a friend to listen. 

1 comment:

  1. Writers are crazy indeed. So are crazy people. I hope you got rid of her without too much trouble.

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