Caution: This story is so humiliating that I didn’t even tell it to my husband for several days. And it took me all of a month to come back and read it and decide whether I’d cringe too much to share it here.
(I will, for the record, but alas. I am a blogger. And I have a duty to overshare.)
(But fortunately for you, you have no such duty to read. So turn off your computer now before it’s too late.)
I’ve been sick. A lot. Sickness tends to wear at you in many ways, and those ways are sometimes in conflict with one another, creating unsavory circumstances.
This story is a cautionary tale about one of those situations.
I was on my next-to-last day of antibiotics and worse than ever. My cough had kept me up half the night for the past four nights, I was an emotional wreck, and fearful that my lungs were completely full of pneumonia and I was going to die at any moment.
I had called my Mother that morning crying, because that’s what I do best when I haven’t slept in four days. And she, being the good mother that she is, was already making me homemade Chicken Soup, offered to keep my kids so I could return to the doctor, and visited every avenue of potential cough suppressants.
“You know what? I think I still have some of your Grandmother’s cough pearls…I need to check. She used to take these pearl thingies that worked WONDERFULLY. I’ll find them. I wonder if they’re still any good…?”
My Grandmother died SEVEN YEARS AGO.
I think I’ll pass. But thanks, Mom.
So I dropped my kids off at my parent’s and left before Mom could find her moldy drug stash, went to the doctor, discovered that I was not dying of pneumonia, and then went to the drug store to get my new prescriptions – prescriptions which, perhaps, my life depended upon.
I was careful not to breathe the air at the doctor’s office or in the pharmacy because I’d found out the day before that in addition to Dysautonomia, I have a seriously compromised immune system, so I would continue to catch every bug that floated along my path until they could decide on a treatment plan.
Must avoid all paths.
As I waited to pick up my prescriptions, I found myself in an extreme dire need of visiting the little girl’s room.
Stupid Dysautonomia water intake requirements.
I followed a giant, serious-looking, radio-chattering policeman down the restroom hall. Where I discovered that the bathroom available was one. And it was co-ed.
So I was going to have to wait.
I did a jig in the hallway, fearing how long that wait might be depending on the nature of his business inside. I tried not to listen to his radio chatter through the door.
Fortunately, he emerged quickly, so we crossed paths (me holding my breath in case of germs) and I went in.
And this is the point in the story where my lapse in judgment occurred.
I sat.
I’ll admit it. I’m a public restroom sitter. Despite the fact that it’s unsavory to think about and one of my friends ruined me forever by forcing me to consider all of the butt-to-butt contact one does with other people by sitting on toilet seats, I will never be coordinated enough to be a squatter. And an uncoordinated squatter can lead to a significantly high amount of bathroom injuries…and therefore germs.
So I sat. And I was in such a Red Alert State of Need that I forgot to look or wipe the seat first.
And as fate would have it, that law enforcement officer had not been enforcing his own aim.
That horrible feeling of warm moisture crept over my being. Very moist moisture. Dank moisture even.
If you’ve never experienced the sensation of a stranger’s urine making contact with your backside, then God Bless You. Because you are Fortunate above all others.
I, however, was overcome with horror. I jumped up and panicked. What does one do in this situation?
The first thing I did was look at the floor around the toilet. It was quite soggy also, confirming my fears that this wasn’t just a case of a self-moistening toilet seat.
(They exist, guys.)
I repeated the mantra of my nurse friend.
Urine is sterile.
Urine is sterile.
Urine is sterile.
But my head did not buy it, because my compromised immune system was performing a death wail over the top of my chant.
I waddled over to the sink, where the soap dispenser bladder was out of its container and lying in a puddle of pink soap in what looked like a cleanliness murder scene, and there were no paper towels, pre-moistened wipes, blow-torches, or other items that would have been helpful to me in that moment.
So I waddled further, over to my purse, frantically digging around, and finally finding my hand sanitizer.
And I emptied that bottle onto my hands. And slathered my butt cheeks. Both at once.
Wax on, wax off.
Sanitize on, sanitize off.
I doused my hands and arms with the remaining droplets in the bottle and then scraped soap out of the leaky bladder and washed them again with searing hot water.Then I washed my arms. And my hands again. Then once more, my hands.
I slumped out of the bathroom to pay for my prescriptions. And in an act of absolute compulsion, bought four bottles of hand sanitizer.
If only I’d skipped the pharmacy and taken my Grandmother’s petrified pearls.
Bwahaha, that’s hilarious! (So sorry, but it is :)
The image of you slathering hand sanitizer all over your butt is an instant classic.
I could have never had the bravery to share that image without the collection of images I have of you in my brain.
Which sounds way creepier than it is.
Cough pearls? Sounds like something that belongs in the same category as ear candles. Meaning “things some people consider medicinal, but I will never, ever try them.”
I’ve never been a squatter, either. Things, um, don’t go in the right direction unless I’m sitting.
YES. I should have talked about directional problems. Then again, I embarrassed myself enough.
Those caugh pearls though… they are wonderful! You should ask for them next time you have a caugh!
*Cough… not enough caffine yet…
Fascinating. So they’re a prescription?
Oh my! Just… ewww! So sorry. (What is the world is so hard about lifting a seat, watching your aim and wiping up any errant drops guys?)
Oh. My. Goodness. I lost it at “wax on, wax off” and the mental picture of you having to do this. Hahahahaha.
I HATE public restrooms. They will be visited in a total and complete emergency only. If we have to use one, I spray the bottom of everyone’s shoes with Lysol when we get home. I’m just weird like that.
I’ve pondered this Lysol habit of yours for quite a bit and am quite puzzled.
Because the rest of us do not Lysol our feet. So aren’t we tracking public restroom germs out into the main floor of public places and therefore passing them to you anyway?
Not that you needed that visual. I’ll be buying stock in Lysol while you ponder that.
I see your point. And….. I’m off to buy more Lysol. Thanks!
(Lysol paid me to do that. It’s a new trendy form of advertisement.)
Lol… that is horrible. I’m really sorry that it happened to you, but glad that you shared. I will always ALWAYS check the seat from now on… although I’m pretty trained since the girls came along because I can’t stand the thought of them sitting on someone else’s pee.
And leave it to me to catch the post about woodpeckers and complete miss the one about your Dysautonomia. I’m so sorry you had to go through that, it must have been terrifying. Glad they pinpointed the problem though, and that you’re doing better. *hug*
Thanks! It’s much better now. Still a bit of a struggle, but heart medicine ROCKS.
Oh my goodness!! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this! You poor, poor woman!
I have had this experience several times myself, but “fortunately” only at home – we have 3 sons. They’ll hear me scream from behind a closed door, “PUT THE SEAT UP WHEN YOU PEE!!!” And they all snicker.
P.S. I totally get how you had to go so bad that you couldn’t spare the extra two seconds to check the seat. Men don’t get it because they haven’t had babies smashing their bladders. :-)
Yes. Let’s blame the children for all of our pee problems. It is completely legit.
So sorry you are having more health problems. Those cough pearls are the only thing that worked for me last time although I wouldn’t use old ones either. I have a dislike of public restrooms I really only use them in emergencies. I did cringe a little after reading that.
I sit in urine all the time, not by choice, mind you but because I have boys and although they have their own bathroom, they use mine all the time. And they do not have good aim. There’s nothing worse than sitting down and suddenly feeling that puddly feeling under your legs/butt. You had it worse though — it was a stranger’s urine. Gross.
So when do little boys graduate from sitting to standing? My three year old isn’t tall enough to stand, and doesn’t want to anyway. So I guess I should enjoy these days of foolproof aim…
I must have a different definition of humiliating than you. It’s possible that the internet has jaded me but I was expecting something more along the lines of that blogger friend of yours who #2’d herself in the pharmacy.
Katherine is a Goddess of not being easily embarrassed. My threshold is much lower than hers. EVERYONE’S threshold is much lower than hers.
yeah that’s totally disgusting! I’m not a squatter either and, if I’m not careful, have had that happen to me before. But I try to be careful so it doesn’t because it’s just as nasty as you say. Glad you had the hand-sani!
Oh man, I’m sorry that happened to you. Thank goodness for hand sanitizer! Also, you would think that pharmacies would have clean and well stocked on the cleaning supplies bathrooms but they never do.
Seriously! Their bathrooms only beat Michael’s and Staples’ bathrooms. Now it sounds like I visit a lot of public bathrooms….
Stupid water intake requirements.
Lol. Oh I feel for you! I am a VERY careful sitter and I always check to see if the toilet needs wiping off before sitting because I have unfortunately sat in urine more than once. I did not however slather my backside in hand sanitizer. It was more of a total denial situation, “It’s just water, it’s just water” knowing full well it wasn’t. Good to know it’s sterile at least! :)
Oh that is hilarious! But I too am not able to do the whole squat thing. Legs are definitely strong enough for it. My bladder just won’t work unless I’m properly seated. *sigh* But thankfully around here toilet seat covers are a must, it is rare to find a bathroom without them. :)
Oh Lordy am I laughing! That was hysterical! Thank you, thank you for sharing your humiliation with us (and I mean that in the nicest possible way).
I’m here for you!