Pages

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

OK Ladies - I Have a Question:

Pam and I were in Costco the other day and she needed to use the restroom so off she went.  She returned and we finished our shopping.  Later, Pam commented on her experience in the restroom and  also asked, "I wonder if I am the only one, or if other women do this:  the toilet wasn't working, so I pulled off the toilet tank lid and checked it out.  Sure enough, the chain was had become disconnected from the flap and was not flushing.  So reattached it and it worked fine."

I stood there a little amazed and thought, "What a woman!"  Then I began to think about my experience.  If I go into a stall and the toilet needs flushing, I flush it.  If it doesn't work, I got to another stall.  I don't think it ever occurred to me to try to fix it.

The more I thought about it, I don't think there are that many places that have a toilet tank.  It usually is a motion sensor - triggered toilet that flushes.  But some places, like Starbucks, I have recently seen toilet tanks.

Pam started out doing a little survey and texted some ladies/girls on the subject asking if they had ever repaired a public toilet? (I will not use their names below, but here are some of their responses):

  1. "Ugh - that is so funny you asked that!  But yes - I remember one time I fixed the toilet at church."
  2. "Yes I have, but I am always afraid I will drop the toilet tank lid and break it and make things worse!"
  3. "Yes" - not a real long answer there.
  4. "Heck No!  With all that poop in that water?  (Pam pointed out the toilet tank isn't the business end of the operation....)
  5. "Two answers.  If I am having PMS, I would take a hammer to it! If not, I'd try to fix it."
  6. "Why do you want to know?" (Pam said she was just doing a survey...) Then the answer came back, "No!"
  7. "No."  (As in no way.)
Preliminary conclusions:  All those with children said 'Yes'.  Those without children said 'No'.

Which brings me to my own survey:  Ladies, what would you do?  Or have you done?  in that situation? 

I feel fairly safe in saying, I think this is probably the first survey of its kind taken among RV enthusiasts and their blog readers?

That's all for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Really looking forward to hearing from you on this one.

31 comments:

  1. OK, definitely the strangest survey I've seen. My initial reaction was "No way!", but then I remember that I have -- once -- in a laundromat, so I guess my answer would have to be yes, but it would definitely depend on the overall cleanliness of the place.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Definitely depends on how clean the place is..if it's clean, yes I would. I know it's not the business end of the toilet, but if the toilet isn't clean I wouldn't want to touch any part of it at all!! End of story.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nope...no looky down any toilet tank but my own!..Move on to the next stall.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well --- each to his/her own... Hopefully the next one is working properly. Thanks for your reply!

      Delete
  4. Always. I avoid leaving an unflushed toilet if at all possible. Return the shopping cart to the store or corral too......figure as long as I'm sharing the planet I'll leave things the way I would like them left for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly. I have a thing about paper towels on the restroom floor, so I decided years ago that my contribution to the planet would be to pick them up every time I see it....

      Delete
  5. Yes! Funny story, at one of our rallies the Ladies toilet kept having problems with the chain staying in place, so we made an announcement to the crowd on how to rehook the chain if it came off. :) Then I assigned a kind soul to check on it frequently during the rally.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yep, I've fixed more than one tank. It's not exactly rocket science stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not really. Kind of depends on where you are coming from I guess.

      Delete
  7. Yes, I have fixed unhooked chains in tank-type toilets at different places....but it seems they're usually in older restaurants or convenience stores. I, too, like to leave it nice for the next person.

    Another quiz to the ladies would be: If you go into a stall and the toilet seat is wet (which happens all the time!!), do you dry it off and use it or do you go into another stall? I've done both. If I can't wait and another stall is available (like at a movie theater), I will quickly rush to a stall with a dry seat. What I can't understand is, if women think they have to pee standing up for whatever reason, why don't they put UP the seat. That way misses would go on the edge of the bowl, not on the seat. Now there's an EWWW for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Next time flush the toilet and watch, its the powerful flush that splashes water on the seat. I read that somewhere and tried it and it is true. I think you can see color if it is urine.

      If I see there were problems with flushing before I go, I move to other stall. If it's after I go, I would fix the chain.

      Delete
    2. True, yes, some toilets have a powerful flush which leaves droplets on the seat. I have noticed that. But sometimes you can just tell it's urine.

      Delete
    3. I just dry it off. I guess it is about half and half for me. My first reaction is someone whizzed on the seat but then some often it is the toilet bowl flush water.

      Delete
  8. Yes! I, too, have fixed a few. You don't know the chain is off until YOU have done YOUR business. I think it's only polite to fix it so someone else doesn't have to deal with your business :) You almost always can tell when that handle goes down and nothing happens :) The water in the tank is clean; probably a rusty looking tank but that's life. It's not an issue for me.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes I have. Pretty easy just have to be careful with the tank cover,

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yup... I would fix it. And I have in the past....

    But I am a Hardware Store Kinda Gal and would know how to do it and take care of it.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    Karen and Steve
    (Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes - like anything else, no so hard if you have done it many times before!

      Delete
  11. No way no how. If I was at home.....probably not even then.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Even though Loyce has passed on, I know exactly how she would have answered... Absolutely not.... She even had me fix the chain at home if it came off.... She was a nurse, and everything was completely full of germs in her book.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Understand -- I see how as a nurse that would be the thought...

      Delete
  13. Yup, been there, done that...especially if it is a one-holer. Can't stand to leave an unflushed toilet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me neither! or paper towel remnants on the floor! I always pick them up. Takes about 1.5 seconds....

      Delete
  14. Yes, I have and will again. And I don't have children.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I won't touch it, but then again I can't fix my toilet at home! (and I have kids).
    :)

    ReplyDelete