Alex Ring
Business Manager
Whether students spend the time catching up with an old friend, reading a flyer about upcoming events or taking care of business, they spend considerable time in the bathroom.
For senior Ian Fairley, the bathroom is “just a really cool place to hang out.” Fairley and a group of cross country runners called “Dream Team” meet every day before practice in what they call “the watering hole.” This is the bathroom behind the cafeteria by the vending machines. They prefer this bathroom over others because “not a lot of people use it and the sink is a nice central meeting place for the bathroom.” Fairley said he is more than satisfied with this bathroom.
Not all of the people who “go” are completely satisfied with the bathrooms. The main problems are the smells and inadequate drying options. The standard paper towel works well, but not all of the bathrooms are equipped with them. Instead bathrooms like the ones across from Roberts Gym are equipped with blow dryers that do not blow hot enough air and with enough force, leaving students no other option but to dry the water off on their clothes. If students have a problem with the bathrooms, they should contact a custodian, and the custodial staff will put in a report for maintenance.
Latin teacher, Jeff Smith said this year was the first out of his 11 at the high school that he has had hot water in the bathroom. The upgrade to the third floor bathroom “thrilled” Smith.
This was one of the renovations that happened at the beginning of the year explained Chester Kennedy, who is the head custodian. Kennedy said, “Each year the bathrooms with the most problems are reviewed and fixed.”
The use of the bathroom has extended past the traditional disposal of waste. Six years ago Taylor Reynolds found that students tend to tune out announcements so Reynolds found that the captive audience in the bathroom is a great place to spread information.
“Students are forced to read ‘Potty Mouth’ because they can’t move when they pee,” senior Cam Hilton said.
According to a report on eHow, most germs on the toilet are found on the handle, not the toilet seat. Another misconception is that the toilet has the most germs when in fact the average office desk has more germs on it than a toilet seat.
According to Kennedy, the procedure for cleaning bathrooms is disinfect, mop and then restock. They disinfect the toilet, the sink, the handles and the stall doors. They then mop the floors to clean any surface filth, and they finish by restocking the towels and toilet paper.
Senior Laura Workman said the girl’s bathrooms are “so awful because there is only one stall, and it is awkward having to wait and listen to a girl pee, as well as the atmosphere just feels dirty.”
After sorting through the bathrooms, we concluded that the nicest bathrooms are located in the basement of the new building.
The worst bathrooms, according the Echo staff, are the bathrooms in the English hallway. This is because they are too small and have a bad smell.
