Shyah...Right

I saw this ad in the bathroom at yet another local bar. What made me chuckle was the line second from the bottom. The one asking patrons to photograph the poster to get some pittance off the first class.

I don't know about anyone else, but I (normally) would never even think of pulling a camera out in the men's restroom. I know I did here, but it was because I happened to be the only one in there at the time. Which is why the photo isn't that good. I grabbed my cell phone and snapped before anyone could walk in, and I still feel uncomfortable with it.

I'm sure that it's a great way to learn kickboxing and such. However, if it's after you get your ass kicked for taking a picture near another man at the urinals, it's a little too late. It's certainly not worth the $20 or so they're offering.

Although part of me wonders, where does this rate in the list of men's room ettiquette? I'm thinking somewhere between selecting the correct urinal and "No talking"...

No really I'm fine..

Thanks to everyone for the good thoughts over this weekend. I promise I'll move away from doom and gloom on the blog soon.

However, this weekend has made me very aware of something in our society. I have been asked a thousand times, "How are you?" by complete strangers. Every time I walked into a Starbucks, grocery store, or restaurant I was asked how my weekend was going and of course I answered "Great!". I know that this is nothing new, but I found it interesting that I would respond with a "I'm doing good" without a pause.

It made me start to think. I know that they really don't care. I know I don't really want to know how someone's life is when they walk into our shop. I find it interesting that we've moved away from a simple "Hi" to a false impression of caring about each other's lives.

I say false because I know that if I were to tell them how I was really doing, I'd get a strange look and a response of "Oh" or "Sorry" or "Huh...What can I do for you?" We like to ask, but we don't really want to know.

Anyway, it's just something that made me go "Hmmm", and this is supposed to be my random thoughts right? Though I do think I'm going to try to only ask if I want to know, just my little contribution to a better society...

A question for the misses

The other day I was in a bar that had a unisex bathroom. I like to think that I'm fairly well trained, and always lift the lid and then put it back down (although I've always thought that it's not my fault if some one doesn't look when sitting - you look behind you when backing the car up don't ya? ;) ).

Anyway, it made me wonder about what I should really do in that situation:

• On the one hand I know that it's polite to put the seat back down in case the next person is a woman.
  
• On the other, if it's a guy I would think that it would be better to put the seat up. I've seen the results of poor aim, and it disgusts even me. I can't imagine that it's better to deal with a wet seat than laying the seat down.

Basically that's my question; up or down, wet or falling in?

These are the things I think about while peeing...

Baggage Claim Etiquette

OK, so Sunday night I picked my wife up at the airport and noticed something while we were waiting for her bags. We were standing in the baggage claim, maybe two feet from the carousel, and a couple walked up and stood directly in front of us. Now, there was a crowd gathering around the carousel, but there were definitely other spots available, some not 6 feet from where we were standing. I didn't think too much of it at first, and we moved to a clear spot and continued our conversation about her trip (once again, standing a couple of feet from the carousel). Not a minute later, another couple came and stood in front of us without a word.

My question is this...am I wrong to think that I shouldn't have to stand against the carousel to be able to have a clear view of the bags coming down the line? Plus it seems to me that a simple, "Excuse us" would have been out of the question either.