I’ve spent much of my life working in Corporate America, and as you know from my blog I am a huge advocate for small business and for entrepreneurship. I’ve always thought it is because I don’t want to be micro-managed (I’m not by my current boss, but I sure have had my share), I don’t want to have a set schedule (I’m not a morning person), and I want to do what I want to do!
I wonder, however, if the real reason I want to be out of Corporate America is the shared office bathroom! I’d love to share with you the e-mail I recently sent out to the ladies on the floor of my office. Sadly, it’s out of necessity that I sent this out. We just renovated our building and our floor was the last one completed. We are all moved back into the building/floor and we are one big, happy, bathroom sharing office family.
Hello Ladies!
Well, it’s time for us all to relocate and join forces on the 5th floor. There are sparkling clean walls and floors and bathrooms with automatic paper towel dispensers and automatically flushing toilets. The excitement can be a bit overwhelming, I know!
I am hoping we can all make it a goal to avoid signs on all the bathroom stalls, mirrors, walls etc and just strive to keep the area clean. How can you help, you ask? Well, I don’t mind sharing some ideas…
- Automatic flushing isn’t the end all be all – please check behind you before you leave the stall. Sometimes flushing twice is a courtesy and sometimes is a necessity.
- We all try to look nice when we come to work (and have our own private fashion show in our head as we walk down long hallways – oh, is that just me?) and the last thing anyone wants to do is come out of the bathroom looking like someone squirted them with water because there was water left all over the counters. Please be kind to the person who comes in after you and wipe the sink down when you are done washing your hands.
- I admit I’m not a basketball star so attempting to toss my crumbled up paper towel even 1 foot to make it into the trash can is not a great idea. I’m thinking none of us really have that talent since we all work here. Please make sure your paper towel ends up in the trash before you leave the bathroom.
- There are now chairs in the bathroom – this is great if you are clumsy like me because there will be at least one time during the day when I will need to sit down and put a bandaid on something! However, please, please, please refrain from using them to have cell phone conversations. The bathroom should be a sacred place (like church) and cell phone conversations should not happen in there. Your family, friends, accountant or attorney does not really need to hear anyone else using the facilities.
I tried to make the idea of keeping the bathroom clean a fun subject – making fun of myself. However, keeping it clean is a matter of good hygiene and important to everyone’s health and well-being. Please be kind to those you work with and keep it clean in there.
Thanks!
I’m not a fan of Port-a-Potties, but sometimes the way the Corporate Shared Bathroom looks – I’d rather use a Port-a-Potty!
