I presented at a conference today. It was awesome, but I am tired and not ready to slice about it. Here’s a story about break time:
We had 30 minutes to spare in the lobby of a fancy hotel between conference sessions. Naturally, I had two things on my mind. 1. Coffee 2. Bathroom.
Much to my dismay, the line for the ladies’ room was long. Sigh.
As so often happens in this situation, a small community began to form. 6 women with a common mission, to pee.
The bathrooms were single stalls. One for men, one for ladies. The men’s room door had been shut for several minutes. We started analyzing it and realized that the door handle was green. Unocupied.
A short woman in a bright pink top turned back to us and said, “Well, it’s a shame we can’t just use that one.”
We all started scanning the lobby. Try not to be too shocked by this: at a conference for reading teachers, there weren’t too many men to be found.
The same women suddenly shouted, “Well, I’m going for it!” She peeked in and then her head popped out, “It’s fine in here!”
I’m not sure why two single-stalled restrooms needed to be gendered in the first place, but I was just fine being the next lady in line to be a rebel. Pretty soon, the system was defined: one line, two stalls. No more long line.
Just another example of how a group of women can solve just about any problem in their path.
We had 30 minutes to spare in the lobby of a fancy hotel between conference sessions. Naturally, I had two things on my mind. 1. Coffee 2. Bathroom.
Much to my dismay, the line for the ladies’ room was long. Sigh.
As so often happens in this situation, a small community began to form. 6 women with a common mission, to pee.
The bathrooms were single stalls. One for men, one for ladies. The men’s room door had been shut for several minutes. We started analyzing it and realized that the door handle was green. Unocupied.
A short woman in a bright pink top turned back to us and said, “Well, it’s a shame we can’t just use that one.”
We all started scanning the lobby. Try not to be too shocked by this: at a conference for reading teachers, there weren’t too many men to be found.
The same women suddenly shouted, “Well, I’m going for it!” She peeked in and then her head popped out, “It’s fine in here!”
I’m not sure why two single-stalled restrooms needed to be gendered in the first place, but I was just fine being the next lady in line to be a rebel. Pretty soon, the system was defined: one line, two stalls. No more long line.
Just another example of how a group of women can solve just about any problem in their path.