Sheep. They're All Sheep.

[EvilEmpryss]

I don't think anyone else noticed us and our mass of equipment because noone else came up after us.

I bet they noticed, and griped at each other about why you and your group were so special, or they assumed you were special because of your equipment.

[Nashida]

Ha...here in China, there's almost no such thing as a line. If there's an opening, go for it. I learned that the hard way trying to buy a train ticket to Ningbo, even though I was next in line somebody who just entered jumped in front of me and the lady at the counter served him. Same in places with ticket numbers like the DMV (usually phone companies or ISPs)...you snooze you lose, even if your number's been called.

I remember being completely baffled my second month here when a good Chinese friend of mine took me to the hospital for a sprain and we line-jumped for a few minutes looking for a short line to check-in at. I scolded her and said "You're cutting everyone!" and she said "I am?" She then praised me later for fighting my way up front at the prescription counter (after much prodding, of course).

[Chromatix]

Tonight, my train home paused for several minutes at a station, then proceeded "bang road" (ie. crossed to the opposite-direction track) after another train had cleared it. I assume that one of the points on the usual track was frozen.

Anyway, this put three platforms in a row on the opposite side of the train to usual. The first, normally on the left, appeared on the right. The second and third, normally on the right, appeared on the left. I think you can see where this is going...

My stop happens to be the third of these, after which there is another crossover which the train used to return to the correct track. As I got up, I noticed several groups of people were already waiting near several of the right-hand doors - and *nobody* was waiting by a left-hand door (at least, not at my end of the train). So I positioned myself by a left-hand door and waited to see when my fellow passengers would realise they were staring out at the rails rather than at a potential platform.

The train began to slow down and entered a relatively well-lit area - the tracks must be clearly visible, but no reaction.

The opposite platform appeared with a train-sized gap between it and us, brightly lit - no reaction.

The train slowed to walking pace, still with a train-sized gap before the right-hand platform - no reaction.

Only when I had actually pressed the button to open the left-hand door did my counterparts turn around and face the correct direction. Okay, I'm a bit of a train geek, but how did *nobody* else notice that we had changed tracks?

[Gizmo]

Only when I had actually pressed the button to open the left-hand door did my counterparts turn around and face the correct direction. Okay, I'm a bit of a train geek, but how did *nobody* else notice that we had changed tracks?

I ask myself this everyday - half of the people on my trains seem unable to know which side to expect to get out of or when the doors will actually work (they have a note by the buttons saying "active when lit up" or something. Everyone thumps them in frustration and confusion before they light up and seems surprised when they eventually do!)

I did have one person ask me which direction the train was going to go... when the track had a full track stop and end right behind us. Didn't appreciate my answer pointing that out.

[PepperElf]

Mrs. IA had a similar experience in the women's room once. There was a line, but no one was using the handicapped stall. So she used it, and got fussed at. She had to point out that "reserved for handicapped only" meant parking spaces, not bathroom stalls.

Hah. I saw an SNL skit about that once... bathroom-police beat a guy up for using the handicap-accessible stall. then when he came back in a (full-body?) cast the stall was in use so he ... got beaten up by the bathroom-police for using the non-handicapped stall.

[Chromatix]

Many commuter trains in Asian countries - which tend to run "full and standing" much more often than they do here - announce which side the platform will be before the train arrives. This gives people time to fight their way to the correct door.

In my story, however, these were obviously people who had memorised which side they *usually* got off at, and hadn't stopped to consider that it might ever change.

[wolfie]

I did have one person ask me which direction the train was going to go... when the track had a full track stop and end right behind us. Didn't appreciate my answer pointing that out.

I've had people ask, when the elevator reaches the basement in my apartment building, "Going up?". Of course, since this is the lowest floor, up is the only direction it CAN go.

Hah. I saw an SNL skit about that once... bathroom-police beat a guy up for using the handicap-accessible stall. then when he came back in a (full-body?) cast the stall was in use so he ... got beaten up by the bathroom-police for using the non-handicapped stall.

And I've gotta ask - when a business' washrooms are quite clearly designed for single occupancy (one toilet not in a stall, one sink, and the door to the entire washroom locks), why do they have to mark them as "Men" and "Women"? Since you'll only have one person in there at a time (unlike "multiple occupancy" facilities), you aren't going to have the situation where a person of one gender enters while a person of the other gender is already inside using the facilities.

[Chromatix]

Most likely there's a sanitary disposal unit in the Ladies, and not in the Gents.

[EvilEmpryss]

And I've gotta ask - when a business' washrooms are quite clearly designed for single occupancy (one toilet not in a stall, one sink, and the door to the entire washroom locks), why do they have to mark them as "Men" and "Women"? Since you'll only have one person in there at a time (unlike "multiple occupancy" facilities), you aren't going to have the situation where a person of one gender enters while a person of the other gender is already inside using the facilities.

I don't know, but I generally ignore them if the ladies room is occupied. This happens at the local movie theater, where they have two restrooms by the front door like this. Men are in and out in a snap, but there's always a line for the women's room. I love the look on women's faces when I walk out of the men's room while they're still waiting for the one women's room to empty.

[wolfie]

Most likely there's a sanitary disposal unit in the Ladies, and not in the Gents.

In the "single occupancy" shower rooms at truck stops (truck driving has roughly a 95/5 M/F ratio), there's roughly a 50/50 chance (seems to go by the brand of truck stop) of having a metal bin marked "napkin disposal". Still, for single-occupancy washrooms, why couldn't they put such a bin in BOTH washrooms and get rid of the designations?

[Chromatix]

Probably because dealing with two sanitary disposals on a regular basis is twice as much work as dealing with just one. I don't think you can just empty one into the other as you would with ordinary bins.

At my office we are also overwhelmingly male, with just a small handful of ladies. Accordingly, we have one of the two toilets designated as Ladies, with a sanitary disposal in it, but in practice we all use both of them most of the time.

[EvilEmpryss]

Sorry, not seeing how a simple garbage can makes a restroom for females. I've been in plenty that didn't have one at all: you use the garbage can the paper towels go into, since the other can is just going to be emptied into the same bag at cleaning time, anyway.

The ones I like are the ones marked for women that have urinals in them.

[greek_jester]

In the "single occupancy" shower rooms at truck stops (truck driving has roughly a 95/5 M/F ratio), there's roughly a 50/50 chance (seems to go by the brand of truck stop) of having a metal bin marked "napkin disposal". Still, for single-occupancy washrooms, why couldn't they put such a bin in BOTH washrooms and get rid of the designations?

Around here it's because you rent the bin and, when full, it's dealt with by a specialist company, since it's classed as hazardous human waste (they're full of blood, after all). Renting 2 bins costs more.

[EvilEmpryss]

Seriously? I mean, I get that they're human waste, but you have a special company to come dispose of them? Man, unless you're in a hospital or other health care facility where those services are already being paid for, your company is getting shafted.

So if some SC makes a mess in the bathroom, smearing stuff all over the walls or leaving their used feminine hygiene lying on the floor or counter, do you have to call in a special cleaning crew to take care of it, or are the regular shlubs expected to clean it up?

[KatherineB]

Seriously? I mean, I get that they're human waste, but you have a special company to come dispose of them? Man, unless you're in a hospital or other health care facility where those services are already being paid for, your company is getting shafted.

That's the same with all government buildings, shopping malls, and the majority of public buildings in Australia as well. There are quite a lot of companies that offer the service.