You’re out with some friends at a restaurant. You walk to the bathroom and are faced with two doors, one for the men’s room and the other for the women’s. But instead of being clearly labeled as such, you see the following pictures on the doors:
Door #2:
Which do you go in?
“Hmm? Feathers are sort of feminine, that must be the female peacock. Wait wait wait, doesn’t the male want to attract the female with the feathers? Hold up, are these even peacocks? Oh man, I wish I’d done that zoology minor in college ’cause I really gotta pee right now.”
No! This is not how going to the bathroom should work. I should not have to be familiar with the mating rituals of the peacock to pick the right restroom. There should be no entrance exam! (though providing reading material via a handy peacock quiz inside the bathroom would be perfectly acceptable) These photos (actual signs on the bathroom doors at The Helmand in Baltimore) had me so confused that I ended up going in the wrong door. Luckily it was an individual bathroom, but maybe next time I won’t be so lucky.
Restaurant owners of the world, listen to me: KEEP THE BATHROOM LABELS SIMPLE! There is nothing wrong with using an M or a W to label the door. A stick figure of sorts has never done anyone harm. And if you want to get creative, please be sure to add a clearly identifying label as well. Because what might seem obvious to you, might not be so clear to everyone else.
What would the N mean on a bathroom door?
“not sure” for those that are having second thoughts.
Or maybe it’s been fixed. I’m a bad self editor.
Here, here!
I can’t stand it when people get cute with the restroom labels. They can be all design-y or interesting while still being clear.
Try working in out in Ireland where they commonly use the Gaelic words on the toilet doors. Unfortunately in Gaelic it goes like this:
Mná = ladies
Fir = gentlemen
Now could that be any more confusing…?
I would like to say that I had this same delima in The Helmand bathroom. I ended up using the one with the peacock (not the pea hen) on the door because I decided the picture was pretty like a girl. It was the wrong bathroom, if I recall correctly. I did get to pee, though and that was the important thing.
I just came across your post. I’ve written about the same dilemma (and just added a link back to you).
http://petercherches.blogspot.com/2007/07/my-karzai-bathroom-confusion.html