Bathroom etiquette you say! Yes I do say. Well, what is it? It is the courtesy practiced when using the lavatory before others. One area in particular that needs addressing is the use of the toilet. While we have come out the dark ages of going in the woods, at least some of us that is, others of us are still in the dark about showing proper manners when relieving nature. When using the John good manners is always proper especially if you are using a community or public restroom.

When nature calls we all have to go, man and beast. But don’t go like a beast. Go in a way that makes it less of a dread for the one to follow you. It is just good manners.  Actually bathroom etiquette starts before you feel the urge to go. When our body “composts” the food we eat we will soon need to go. Remember though, the sooner we go the less time your bowels will have to fester inside of you. Using proper bathroom etiquette calls for using the toilet as soon as possible, immediately if you can. Stuff festers inside you and gets worse the longer you procrastinate. So When you enter the den of ill repute show some restraint on grunt and growls that’s enough to make the baskerville hounds howl, especially when using a public restroom. How disturbing it is to some when we make such offensive sounds. Once you use the toilet drop your load and flush like lightening until it’s gone. Do not wait till after you clean to flush the toilet, but do so immediately so that the bowel fumes do not permeate the bathroom. Also when you use toilet paper do so conservatively. This can be done by taking only about a foot to a foot and a half of paper and fold it over each time you wipe yourself until you are wiped thoroughly. After you finish wiping yourself clean flush the toilet once more. If the toilet that you use has a full cover close it down before you flush the final time, but before you go to wash your hands check to see if your waste has completely gone down the toilet. A good idea for ridding the air of any residual odor is to have some matches with you. If you light a match and immediately put it out, waving it back and forth in the area, it should obsorb the lingering odor.

Now on to one of the most important rules to bathroom ettiquette, washing the hands. Residue of human waste as well as items that we touch in the bathroom should always be washed from the hands immediately after and before we leave the restroom. To avoid passing on genital sweat and body waste from residual urine and feces please wash your hands thoroughly. It is good hygiene when we do. Hands carry a lot of germs and when we shake the hand of another individual we can pass on germs. We have a community responsibility to practice good bathroom etiquette with our fellowman in mind, as each person should keep you in mind.  So then let each one of us show bathroom etiquette to our fellow man but especially our family, it’s just good manners!