The restroom sinks at my workplace are deep half-spheres made of shiny, polished metal set in a tan wooden counter over which hangs, somewhat cheerlessly, a simple metal tube of a faucet. If one places one’s hands below counter level within the basin, the sink is functional as a normal sink would be. But more often, my co-workers are careless with their post-relief ablutions. This results in pooled water across the remarkably level surface of the counter, which could eventually warp the counter but is also unsightly and inconvenient if one brushes against it in the course of restroom business.<\/p>\n
There are many complaints about these sinks. They range from derision of the design to outright anger at its users. I choose to see these sinks as a metaphor for humanity’s great diversity. Without going into detail, as I am already verbose, I will sum it up for you, the Steelbuddha reader.<\/p>\n
There are those who use the sink properly to avoid splashing.
\nThere are those who splash some, but clean up when they are finished.
\nThere are those who are careless and leave their mark in puddles.<\/p>\n
There are those who clean up the mess whether they made it or not.
\nThere are those who seek to get others to clean their mess through group chastisement.
\nThere are those who leave the mess, claiming not to have time or mental space.<\/p>\n
There are those who suffer silently.
\nThere are those who actively seek out the offenders.
\nThere are those who passively assume the offenders.<\/p>\n
I may have missed my calling as a sociologist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The restroom sinks at my workplace are deep half-spheres made of shiny, polished metal set in a tan wooden counter over which hangs, somewhat cheerlessly, a simple metal tube of a faucet. If one places one’s hands below counter level within the basin, the sink is functional as a normal sink would be. But more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73iP8-9m","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=53","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":0},"title":"Where would we be without Czelticgirl?","date":"2\/19\/2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Brilliance comes in many forms. With the virulent nature of the internet, we are lucky enough in this era to have access to it in large amounts. If we can be said to have short attention spans, then we can counter with pride that our brains are so inundated with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Link Larceny"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2591,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=2591","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":1},"title":"A limited word poem as an elegy","date":"1\/22\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Bring me my crisp white shirt let me put on the necessary black and stand somberly as he passes For remembrance sake let me say these words that stand here, black on white a counter-facing of my grief lift them from the page let me also lift your heart to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poetry"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":474,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=474","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":2},"title":"Well said. Well put. Well well.","date":"1\/19\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"There's more to be said on this topic, truly, but I'm glad I am not alone. The Midwestgrrl: Brrrrrrriinnngggggg! Czeltic Girl: Sing it, Sister. It's similar to the mentality of whoever interrupted my restroom break just now. Our building has about three toilets available (one for each floor) for men's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ennui"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3025,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=3025","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":3},"title":"Dream journal","date":"4\/18\/2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I have to relieve myself, so I knock on the door of my dad's house. He has finished a new remodel, with lofty ceilings and dark wood. The rustic quality of it all speaks to him and of him, but the restroom is occupied. I know there is another in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dream Journal"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":178,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=178","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":4},"title":"An old tale, an innocent time.","date":"8\/20\/2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Bill Wilson, who has hipped me to such marvelous pastimes as Tweekend and Counter-Strike, once had this to say. For brevity, Bill Wilson is BW. > BW, SB and MHG are meandering toward their cars in the busy parking lot. BW: Should we get something to eat? SB: Yup. MHG:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Self-service"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":686,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=686","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":5},"title":"I wonder what it means…","date":"11\/8\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"... but at least I am writing again. I think my prose has always been stronger than my poetry, but both need the exercise. This feels inspired by American Psycho, but it really just came out of nothing. -- You wake up because your head has a heartbeat. The throbbing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ennui"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}