Most people brush them off as part of the “college experience,” but frankly I could have lived my whole life without stepping foot into a communal bathroom. I would have turned out just fine, if not better.
Most students attend college for four years, starting off living in the dorms and ending their years with either an off campus house or apartment. Before the luxury of an apartment, house, or Greek living is available, you are stuck with dorm life. This means an annoying roommate, loud hallway, and potentially communal bathrooms.
A communal bathroom is everything one should hate in this world put into one, smelly, cramped space. They include small showers, dirty stalls, un-flushed toilets, broken sinks, and molded curtains.
-They say that the floor of the bathroom is dirtier than the toilet seat itself. This phrase becomes extremely evident in a communal bathroom.
-Yes, people come to college to learn, but all of these students should already know how and when to flush a toilet.
-A long shower is already an extreme waste of water, but people insist on leaving sinks on too. The whole pool affect isn’t quiet as appealing in a bathroom setting.
-Each shower stall is extremely narrow and cramped. If your body exceeds a 2 by 2 foot width your out of luck.
-Not only is the water temperature usually 30 degrees, but the water pressure isn’t even strong enough to get the shampoo out of your hair.
-The germs you may be exposed to in a single shower stall completely defeat the purpose of a shower in the first place.
It is essentially one giant health hazard. Those things can be eliminated with a good cleaning staff and some Ajax, but the real problem comes in with the people. The communal bathroom becomes a public meeting place for everyone of the same gender within the hallway. Going to the bathroom or taking a quick shower soon turns into a much longer trip to the bathroom.
-Going in to brush your teeth and head to bed? Be prepared to have a long conversation (more likely being talked to) about any given topic. Small talk is inevitable.
-Going to take a shower and hearing singing from the person in the stall next to you. Not everyone sounds like Beyoncé.
-Walking in the bathroom first thing in the morning and seeing a butt naked person say hi to you. There is no reason one should feel comfortable enough exposing themselves to their entire hallway.
-Lastly is the occasional sighting of the opposite gender using your bathroom, which honestly should be the least of your worries.
Overall, the communal bathroom is a disgusting, overrated concept believed by college students to be a part of their 4-year college experience. If I had known what I was in for, I would have avoided it at all costs. For all of you college students out there who are currently experiencing the true horrors of the communal bathroom, I shall keep you in my thoughts and prayers and wish you the very best of luck.
