Yes. That is a picture I took of a toilet. Actually, there are way more photos of toilets on my cell phone than I am comfortable with because I find it amusing to take photos of the random stuff Scarlette throws in the toilet and then text them to my husband. I’ll give you three guesses as to whether or not my husband finds that as amusing as I do.
When I got off the airplane in Chicago I realized that I could no longer pretend that I didn’t drink way too many bottles of water and was going to have to face my neurotic fear of using public restrooms.
Also, I realize that there is a restroom on the airplane but I don’t think I even need to tell you that there is no way I am ever going in one of those, right? I mean, I’m pretty certain that I would either A) somehow get sucked out of the plane through the toilet or B) lock myself in there, go unnoticed by the flight attendants, pass out from fear and wake up having landed in some other country.
So I go into the stall and start to look for the paper seat cover because even though I won’t actually sit on it, I still like the idea of having a barrier between my bum and all of the germs that could jump up off the bare toilet seat and attach themselves to it. That is when I notice that the seat appears to be covered in saran wrap. I’m wondering how to get it off and apply a fresh cover without actually having to ever touch it when I see the sign on the wall.
Apparently, the toilet automatically wraps the seat in a new plastic cover between each use. You wave your hand over the little motion sensor and the clear plastic rotates around the seat, allegedly disposing of the used portion of the plastic while simultaneously applying a new one. ALLEGEDLY.
Because OR!
OR THAT COULD NOT EVEN BE HAPPENING AT ALL. It could totally be the same little plastic cover just rotating around the toilet seat over and over and over again. I waved my hand over the sensor a couple of times to watch the process and decided that since I can’t actually SEE it disposing of the soiled cover, I can not be sure that it is happening. It could just be disappearing into the contraption to be wiped down and then coming back out on the other side. This is not an scenario I am comfortable with.
Needless to say, by the time I got to the hotel I seriously thought I might be the first twenty nine year old woman to wet my pants in their lobby.
About Kayla Aimee
I have a thing about public restrooms too. And this is exactly the sort of thing I would stand in a bathroom contemplating and worrying about haha.
I totally don’t trust those things either. I mean, it is pretty obvious that it is just one roll, spinning around over and over again. You are totally sane on that one
bahahahahahaha!!! a toilet seat cover merry-go-round/carousel! that is TOO much!
You should have taken a pen and made a mark on the “cover” to see if your theory was right!
That’s exactly what I was thinking.
Agreed…IF I ever encounter one of those fancy potties, I will mark it with a Sharpie and see if they truly remove the plastic cover after each use. (Sadly, I always have a Sharpie in my purse.)
However, I might be nervous that even if they did remove the dirty cover that…maybe…the germs wore off on the inside of the gismo and somehow rubbed onto the new “clean” cover. Ugh! =\
That is EXACTLY what I think every time I see these covers…
You’re as sane as I am.
Sorry ’bout that!
Well, I am way intimate with OHare airport since that is my home airport and I can actually TELL you how to know they dispose of the old cover–there is a downward count number for the number of covers left in the dispenser. I have seen them change them and actually talked to the people who maintain the bathrooms at O’Hare. Those are really clean covers (and incidentally–they clean those bathrooms constantly, really. The sinks and changing tables are often disinfected and such.)
I remember the first time I saw one of those. It took a little eyeing it before I decided to use it.
Angela, you are a genius! I have seen them and questioned them but never even thought to mark it to check it out!
I concur. I am now going to add a Sharpie to the things I carry in my purpose.
I want to know before using it that it isn’t the same plastic cover used for everyone. Do you get to wrip off the one before hand or does the automatic refill do it? How do I know it was changed correctly? I’m just not sure I like it.