Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Making Washing Difficult

I went into a bathroom at a retail store and, before leaving, I decided to wash my hands.  Not a tough decision since it's part of my habit when leaving a bathroom.  Like a lot of public bathrooms, this bathroom didn't have any handles on the faucets.  They just had the little black square sensor that automatically turns the water on for you. I put my hands under the spout and the water started to wet my hands.

Within two seconds the water stopped.  I waved my partly wet hand in front of the black square and the water came back on.  With my hands now wet, I got some soap and scrubbed up.  While I was scrubbing the water was off.

With soap suds now covering my hands I put them back under the faucet and the water started to spray.  This was working out exactly how I thought it should.

Within two seconds the water stopped.  I waved my partly rinsed hand in front of the black square and the water came back on.  For two seconds.  This part was not going as well for me.

I did this three times before I started becoming frustrated.  With soapy hands, standing in a public bathroom, I stood in front of the mirror wishing I wouldn't have washed my hands.  Washing my hands was taking ten times longer than it needed to because of these stupid faucet sensors.  Why isn't there a built in timer that keeps the water on for ten seconds every time you activate it?  There are probably a hundred solutions better than the one that this store had chosen, including the option of installing NORMAL faucets.

After three more times of trying the faucet, I gave up and grabbed a towel.  It is completely unnecessary to make washing my hands this difficult.

I felt like hanging a sign on the mirror that would say, "Wash at your own risk.  Stingy faucet".

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