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The broken bathroom door


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I'll throw up these few anecdotes all together as they are all somewhat short and not terribly exciting. Here goes...

-Arriving at the gas station I found a middle-aged woman approaching the bathroom. She was average height and build with shortish dark hair and was wearing white pants and a flowered top. I had no idea what the status of the bathroom was but I went to get in line and she found the door locked. As usual I took the opportunity to strike up a chat

"Someone's in there?" I began.

"Seems that way."

"Do you have to go really bad?"

"Not REALLY bad," she said. "But I definitely do have to go."

She was showing no signs of being desperate and I barely had to go myself. But whoever was in the bathroom was taking their sweet time--or maybe it was locked with no one in there--and so I kept pushing my luck.

"They're taking a long time," I said. "I hope you really don't have to go that bad."

"Well," she began. "Right at this moment I don't."

I found that interesting because it suggested that condition could change at any moment. She then offered to let me go ahead of her which I declined and said I was fine. Shortly after the door opened, she went it, and that was that. She was friendly again when she came out and after my turn I saw her in the passenger seat as she and I assume her husband and she gave me  a friendly wave as they drove away . It;s so fascinating how asking the simple questions can make you a friend--or can make you come off as a total freak.
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Another time I stopped with a legitimate need to pee and found myself about 3-deep in line on a busy weekend afternoon. A woman in her 30s got behind me. She was wearing black jeans and a light tee shirt. There was nothing striking about her but an an older woman in line ahead of me started discussing the line and the woman behind me said, "I know, I drive this way almost every weekend and I have never had to go to the bathroom before. My husband was like 'really'? But I have to go."

The line slowly moved and the conversation continued even if not all about how bad everyone had to pee. But at one point the woman behind me did say, "We have some mason jars in the car. I was looking at those thinking that might have been a good option."

When I was next in line I took my opportunity to speak and started to ask the woman if she had already started to pee. She cut me off as if to say yes. I asked her to clarify and she got all shy and said it wasn't important. Next the door opened, I took my turn (and my time), came out, and she did the same.
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Another time I was four-deep in line with a young couple ahead of me and a car pulled in and parked. Out walked a hispanic woman with medium auburn hair wearing a skirt, blouse and heels. She walked purposefully toward the line and stood behind me. She immediately began to tap her heels on the pavement. I was trying to gage if this was pee related or just general nervousness and trying to also make it seem like I was paying attention to the young couple chatting ahead of me. When the person ahead of them went in I turned back behind me and by now it was obvious this woman REALLY had to pee.

"You...," I said pausing intentionally, "don't look like you're going to make it."

This was a tactical mistake I will explain in a moment, but she said in a slight accent, "You're right, Can I jump you?" The question was aimed at everyone in line and the couple graciously let her go ahead so she was next. Moving toward the door she continued tapping her heel and shaking her leg frantically--and I do mean frantically--until the door opened and she rushed in. When she came out looking way more relaxed I asked if she made it to which she said, "I made it," and got back in her car and drove away.

Why was it a tactical mistake? By telling her she looked like she wouldn't make it, it opened up the discussion to everyone else and easily allowed her to get the others involved in the discussion. I essentially gave her the out to ask to move to the front of the line. A better approach would have been to ask a general question to start a chat like how long she had been in the car or where she was going. These are the things I ponder in this life!
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Another time I was driving in from the side that requires me to pass the bathroom first. There was a lady standing there with her hand on the door bouncing frantically like she was literally about to go in her pants. A guy came over and as I drove by he opened the door for her, she went in and he held the door closed.  I was confused here because the door had been open and the lock always worked from the inside and there is even a bolt in there in the event the traditional lock breaks.

I parked and wandered over and the woman came out as I got there. It was dark and she had on jeans. A quick glance revealed no damage.  But as they went to their car, he went into his trunk and appeared to pull out a towel that she was going to sit on.

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