Another Human Moment

Every one of us, every last one of us has these moments from time to time. Things just happen. You have absolutely NO control really as to when or if things like this happen, but you can blog about it - and that makes it so much nicer for those who don't blog - because they realize that they are NOT the only ones experiencing these events. If I can spare a life, or make a smile just by letting you know how freakin' human I am, I have completed my life's tasks for the day!

I work in a building where the restrooms have little dial-up light saving mechanisms so that when you enter the restroom you simply turn a little dial (on the outside of the room) to turn on the light and the fan for a specified amount of time - not to exceed 5 minutes. I suppose if anyone was in the restroom for any longer amount of time it would be a real problem for the landlords and their wallets. When the timer runs out of time - you run out of lights.

I entered the room because that's what I do. I turned the dial -it's expected. Obviously, as it turns out, I didn't turn the dial far enough, because as I was .... well, you know ... making a decision about how I was going to change the paper roll from the right side to the left so that it could be utilized - pull down and actually used, as opposed to hidden behind a metal protector - the lights went out. OUT! Now, at first I thought it was my boss - young man that he is, he could have taken the opportunity to play a little joke on me. Hahahaha....no, I was as they say "You-know-what Out of Luck" - with my pants pulled down, on the toilet, no lights whatsoever, not even coming from under the base of the door because the lights in the hallway are also rather ergonomically designed to save the building owners a little money from time to time. If you're not in the hall the lights dim a bit - Fun times for me!

In order to move the toilet roll from the left side to the right side, one has to rip the cardboard roll off the right side. Not an easy task if you can't find the little roll-away corner that pulls and then easily unwinds the cylinder of the roll - making it an easy task. Then there's the little metal button that you push on while you slide the fuller roll over the metal bar to the right - locking it into place to use. I was still fiddling with the corner (are there corners on cylinders) of the little cardboard roll that wouldn't give up its secret edge so I could pull it. The event was coupled with a bit of irony because I came to work early to get some things done before my boss arrived, so I couldn't even call him on his cell from my cell phone because my cell was in my purse, which was on the cabinet, which was about 10 feet from the toilet. Eventually I had to make a decision to leave the toilet to retrieve the cell - which I ended up using as a pseudo light source so I could somewhat see the corner that I needed to pull. FINALLY - the task was accomplished, and FINALLY, I was able to exit the restroom - unscathed.

Upon my exit I ran into my boss - he was coming into the building - the lights came on in the hallway when he entered the door of the building - how special. I just nodded a good-morning nod, and told him I'd be back - I deserved a little Starbucks break after that one.