I know that I have talked about the bathrooms here before, but it is still an issue and I feel that it deserves a little more explanation than I have previously given it. Without being too crude or nasty I want to attempt to convey my feelings about missing I had never even considered missing before. I kind of miss the “restroom”. It sounds like such a funny thing to say out of context, but when you are an American transplant in Japan, you understand the meaning completely.
I never really stopped to give a trip to the restroom much thought while I was living in America, but boy am I mulling it over now. It’s right there in the name, “restroom” and yet so many people take this simple little time alone to sit and think or really use a few minutes for whatever you please for granted. In just the polite name alone we are allowed a small pleasure at really any moment in our day when life seems a bit overwhelming or simply when we heed the call of nature. I think that we have all used it to our own advantage at least once in our lives, and some of us are serial offenders. Simply walk out the office door and take leave in the restroom. Silently raise your hand in class and ask the rhetorical question, “may I use the bathroom?” Your wish is granted and taking leave of studies is okay for at least the next five minutes, and ten every once in awhile if you’re a woman. (Sorry guys, them are just the facts!) Yes, those were the days; America, where you can sit down to pee and have a real rest when you felt like it.
Gone are the days when after eight hours on my feet serving drinks in the bar I could slip away for two minutes to sit down in the restroom and just breath, and no more can I steal a rest on the porcelain god as I could back home without thought. What many American’s take for granted I am now remembering with envy; a real trip to the restroom. Here in Japan it is all work when one visits the loo. There is first the pulling, squeezing or grabbing that goes with undressing and then the clutching or hanging up of clothes before you begin. (I have taken to wearing dresses and skirts more often than I did back home for pure ease of the ‘pull-up’ method more than anything. Lord knows how women with panty hose are pulling the toilet off here!?!) Then there is the hard part, squatting. It is not the easiest position to hold or to relax in as one might associate with trips to toilet with if you are American or living in the Western world with sit down toilets. It is hard in fact and not enjoyable in the least. It is not like peeing in the woods when you are hiking and can just go with little care or aim. You have to be precise and get yourself lined up just so, so that you can hit the middle waters with as little disturbance as possible. There are no more moments to zone out, no more fleeting daydreams to have as you just sit, and no more chances of rest while you are in there at all. It’s beyond a bummer for me on days like this one where I feel just a little off and in need of a little five minute getaway. How does one do that with legs flexed and a small river flowing between your feet? Who knew that I would be missing such things? Who knew that it was possible to miss a restroom?
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