As the Quilted Northern toilet paper commercial so beautifully says, “It’s time to get real about what happens in the bathroom.” Community bathrooms in a dorm building aren’t a joke.
One of the most horrifying parts of moving into a dorm is knowing that for the next year, you will be sharing a bathroom with about 30 or so other people. And as much as we would like to think that our fellow hallmates will be clean and respectful, they won’t be. The community bathroom most likely won’t be as bad as you’re thinking, but the ugly truth is that it will still be pretty gross.
Here’s what you should be prepared for:
- People won’t always flush the toilet. This shouldn’t come as a shock because we’ve all encountered this anytime we’ve gone into a public restroom. Nonetheless, it’s still a nuisance.
- The bathroom is going to smell…and not just because of bodily functions. If your bathrooms have trash cans in them, your hallmates are guaranteed to throw away their personal trash in there, and if they’re throwing it away in the bathroom there’s probably a reason: it smells. People will also probably bring food to pour down the sink as well, adding to the already nasty mix of smells. And the swirl of bodily function smells, stinky food and steamy showers can be a bit overwhelming.
- The biggest enemy, however: the shower stalls. Regardless of how often they are cleaned, the showers are going to be a hairy mess. The drain will more likely than not be home to a large clump of hair, and to make things worse, girls tend to have a tendency of painting the shower walls with their hair as well. And there’s nothing worse than being surrounded by other people’s hair while trying to shower.
Staying clean in an environment that’s not so clean can be tough. In order to improve the situation, it is important for you to remember proper etiquette while using the bathroom because one person doing the right thing really can make a difference. It’s also important to make sure you always wear shoes when entering the bathroom, especially when you go to shower. Community bathrooms can host lots of bacteria such as staph or athlete’s foot.
Community bathrooms can be super awkward at first and make you feel really uncomfortable. Most of us are used to having our own bathroom or maybe only having to share with one sibling, so having to share with over 20 people can be overwhelming. The good news is that it won’t take you long to adjust to this new part of your college life. Community bathrooms may sound extremely repulsive – and trust me, they’re not pretty – but typically they’re not as horrible as your imagination makes it seem.
What horror stories do you have about community bathrooms in your dorm?
I’ve seen what looked like an entire serving of Ramen noodles in the sink of my dorm bathroom. That was pretty gross. It left a stain that I think is still there today.
You would think that girls would be clean and proper, the sad thing is most of us aren’t. Everything you said was so true! And, those were some great tips to be prepared for community bathrooms.
I had a really tough time freshman adjusting to the community bathrooms. I remember sometimes no showers being open and I hated having to wait until one opened up! I enjoyed all the links and tips though! Great post!