Oh, the wonders of gas stations. There are the dirty floors, the creepy cashiers and most importantly, the disgusting bathrooms. For over a year and a half, I had the pleasure of working at one of these convenience stores. The chore I hated the most while working there was cleaning the gross bathrooms. The topics of the sights, the smells and the people that use these toilets will be discussed.
Now, we’ll talk about the sights I have witnessed in these restrooms. Some days, the bathrooms weren’t very dirty at all. I just need a quick spray of 409 and they were good to go. But on other days, they were awful. There was the dark, course hair and the little brown and yellow dots on the bottom of the toilet seats. On those days, I despised going into the bathroom. Within my first week of working at the gas station, I had a clogged toilet to deal with. Being a 15-year-old girl, I was not very experienced in the plunger area. While tucking my nose into my shirt to avoid smelling the pungent odor, I tried as hard as I could to get the toilet unclogged. I pushed and pushed the plunger into the toilet bowl with all my might. After 10 minutes, I gave up and asked my boss to help me. After struggling, she finally got it unclogged. On another busy day at the store, many females were keeping the bathroom occupied. The girls in the women’s restroom kept trying to flush the toilet and then it started to overflow. Red, yellow and other colors of the rainbow began to sweep across the floor.
Next, the smells of these restrooms will be discussed. Most times when I would go into a bathroom, I would be hit with the “number two” smell. That stench took a very long time to air out and not be so strong. While cleaning the bathrooms, I usually placed my nose under the collar of my shirt to keep from breathing in the nasty fumes. The only other smell that is worse than the “number two” smell is the overpowering scent of $.99 air freshener trying to mask the previous odor. The more people sprayed the air freshener, the more I choked. And even though the spray was strong, you could still catch a waft of the “number two” smell in the air. No matter how many squeezes of 409 and Windex I sprayed, nothing could mask the scent of the men’s restroom.
Now for the people that use these grotesque bathrooms. You all know who I’m talking about: the drunken men, the cowboys, and the jerks that just come into the store to go “number two.” In one instance, the handle fell off the toilet in the men’s restroom. After placing an “Out of Order” sign on the door, a drunk man continued to go into the bathroom and do his business while I frantically called out, “Sir! You can’t go in there!” Five minutes later, he walks out and I immediately go survey the damage. Luckily, it didn’t matter that the handle was broken, he missed the toilet completely. So, off I went to make an extra soapy bucket of water and mop all the pee up. Then, since we are from Nebraska, there’s bound to be cowboys that walk in. Especially the ones with cow and pig manure all over their shoes and dirty up my freshly-mopped floors. After doing their business, the bathrooms start to stink of not only human manure, but also animal manure. And lastly, there are the lowlife 23-year-olds that still live with their mom and play basketball in the city park. Those people have no problem with making a loud ruckus while entering the store and going to the bathroom to go number two and leave without buying anything. I don’t see why they feel the need to walk all the way to the gas station while there are equally gross toilets in the park.
As you can see, the sights, smells, and people that use public restrooms are quite horrifying. Next time you’re about to use one, I hope you remember this essay and be respectful of the restrooms you are about to use.
My favorite sentence was definitely, “Red, yellow and other colors of the rainbow began to sweep across the floor.” It made me literally lol, nice description!