Potty Talk

Now, I want you to imagine that you are in dire need of finding a bathroom, and you are pointed to the place where the bathrooms are, and you see these above two signs. Would you know which door was right for you? The answer is listed at the end of this post.

Last night, I had to use the bathroom. It was a half hour before the train taking me to Tver arrived at the platform, so I knew that I would have to find and use a public restroom—something I dread and always, as much as possible, try and avoid. The reasons that this is the case are many, some of which is due to cleanliness (or lack thereof), but the biggest factor is that sometimes there are cleaning ladies mopping the floors right in the middle of the men’s room—just as there was last night. Now, there must be a fundamental difference between Central/ Eastern European and American standards of bathroom etiquette, because no one seemed (besides me, that is,) to mind, or even notice, the elderly lady cleaning our bathroom. It just seems to be an accepted norm in this part of the world—a norm that I am not sure that I will ever get used to!

So, do you know which bathroom is right for you? If you are a male, the door on the right is the one you want and the door on the left is for women. It was explained to me that the symbols are supposed to represent people, which the circle and triangle on the left representing a woman in a dress, and the circle and triangle on the right being a man in a suit.