2024-10-17
This is day 14 of #100DaysToOffload.
I'm sure we've all had the experience of going to a public toilet, and seeing it in... a less than awesome state. Urine on the toilet seat. Clogged toilet. Tissue paper adorning the floor. The last visitor's dinner in the bowl.
There are two possible responses: either, do your business and leave ('they have cleaners to tidy up'), or, do you business, tidy up after yourself *and the last person*'s mess. Well, there is a third possible response, which is to figure, eh, it's a mess anyways, and just piss on the floor and leave, but let's put that one to one side for a moment.
The best of these responses: Tidy up the toilet.
Yes, it's icky. Wiping away another's urine from the toilet seat is... unpleasant, to say the least. Even flushing the chain and seeing... that, go down the toilet is painful enough. But, the end result is a clean toilet. You've broken the chain; you've given the next person a pleasant experience.
Also, this doesn't just apply to the toilet. It's every thing in the commons. For instance, I always try to make sure I don't leave much of a mess when I go to a cafe. I'll often bring my crockery back to the staff to save them having to carry it. It's not much, but it helps a little. I saw a family in the cafe I usually go to make a huge mess, and let their children play with the sugar, getting it all over the floor. The staff had to spend about fifteen minutes tidying up after them. That is not respecting the commons, and the staff have to suffer for it.
I don't always do this. I'm not proclaiming my moral superiority here, or anything like that. For instance, just on my trip here in Italy, I saw a woman trying her best to climb up onto the pavement from the road. I stopped and watched, not having the social ability to go back and help her. She got there in the end, but I didn't do anything to help, all the while knowing I should've. I'm not morally perfect, let alone morally good. Still, I don't think that discredits the advice, and I do try to follow this advice when I can. Not that I don't make many, many, mistakes.