When Nature Calls

The word Bathroom, can evoke many different emotions in different people, and even none in some, yet it remains as the most important room in the building.

If you do not agree with me completely, do ask yourself the question .

Would you rather work in an office with no conference rooms , or in an office with no Bathrooms ?

Though it may seem like a superficial question at first. After a little deeper introspection, you will surely realize which of the two is more important.

So now that we both agree that Bathroom is one of the most important rooms in the Building, and it certainly is more important than the Conference room, which itself is quite important.

And yet, we also realize that the same time, that it is often quite neglected. I have heard several executives boast of their swanky offices, airy cafeteria, posh leather seats. But no one boasts of their bathroom. No None. That would be considered as a social vulgarity.

So I have decided to dedicate the rest of my article to this, most neglected room in every building.

Whats in a name ?

This usefull little room is often attributed with many names like bathroom, restroom, comfort room, powder room, toilet room, washroom, water closet, W.C., public lavatory etc…
But for our article let us refer to it as the “RestRoom”. Corporate Bathrooms are rarely, if ever, used to take baths. Though I am also not sure, if it can be considered to give rest to exhausted employees, but for our discussion , the name “restrooms” seems be a bit more appropriate. So lets go ahead with that.

First look:

For me, personally , bathrooms are quite important. In Fact , I often judge an office or an institution by their Bathrooms.

By that I do not mean they should be posh and ornamental and must reflect the latest achievements of the organization. To me they are like clothes. They should be clean and neat, properly complementing the office housing them. However ,many offices do take the sentiment a lot farther and make it a point to marvel their clients while on a innocuous trip to the bathroom.

This has not only raised the standards of corporate bathrooms all over the world, but also added a lot of amusing complexity. And that brings us to the most complex and allegedly the beautiful tool in the bathroom. The Faucet.

Gone are the times when opening the Faucet was a simple and single step process. Taps now a days require analysis. I have often come across taps with fancy IR sensors which some times work delightfully but most of the time are quite tricky to operate. It seems they are hellbent of making the faucet as voodoo looking as possible. Some times, they are activated by a metallic button which often, has a tendency of not looking like one, causing many helpless people to grope around it before the secret is finally revealed.

Apart from, faucets, rest rooms now-a-days have a generally pleasing structure , with tiles of soothing colors and toilets with a respectable claim to privacy.

Social effects:

This bring me to the general social impact , or rather indicators of society that rest rooms often turn out to be.

Have you ever noticed that Restrooms , some how enforce absolute equality in how people are treated. First Come First Serve, is the rule here.

Even the tail end seats of a Conference room is booked for the senior most official in the meeting, such a scheme does not hold good in the rest room. Even the CEO waits his turn. Perhaps it is the unconscious sanctity of the place that causes humans to treat all others equally within its domains, but this effect definitely exists.

Networking opportunities galore:

And this brings me to my last observation. Now a days, large floors in offices have limited the employee–employee interaction. And the onus of developing spirits of teamwork and interaction is falling on the Human Resource Department. This is often done through games or events. Though these activities have their place, nothing can replace the candid talk and friendly conversations that often take place among people of vastly different Lines of Businesses aggregating in the relaxing environment of the rest room.

And so, finally we come to end of my thoughts about this nice little room, for now.

So next time you visit a rest room, take a moment to ponder over its true importance and its various aspects.