My company recently relocated our corporate headquarters. It is awesome. It's new, clean, open, has lots of windows, there is very little to complain about. One of the repercussions of the move is that we hired a new cleaning company. In general, they seem to do a great job. Except for one thing. They hang the toilet paper with the paper coming out from under the roll vs. over.
This post serves 2 purposes. The first is a very important PSA (Public Service Announcement) that QueenB feels the need to address. Toilet paper should be hung OVER, not under. The biggest reason for this is sanitary... next time you have to tear off your toilet paper on a roll that is hung from UNDER notice that you must touch the toilet paper roll to do this. TOUCH THE PART THAT THE NEXT PERSON HAS TO USE. Do you see my point??? I don't want you touching my toilet paper. And I am not going to say "no offense", because I don't care if you are offended! Keep your hands off my TP! Especially after you have done your business. Which is when you tear the TP!!! GROSS!
Okay... much better.
The second reason for this post has to do with complaining. Here are some of my criteria.
I try not to complain about things that I can fix myself. A couple of examples: The coffee vendor we had in the old building was sub par. I didn't complain, I just brought my own coffee. Easy. In the gym, I don't know if other people clean their equipment after they use it. I have no reason to complain about something I cannot prove and it's easy enough to do a quick wipe down before I work out. It takes 21 seconds. No biggie.
I also try not to complain about things that have a low possibility of happening again. Like when you go out to eat and they tell you 20-30 minutes and you happen to wait 35. Complaining seems unnecessary. The hostess can do nothing about it, she has no control over how long people sit after they are done. In fact, I've probably been one of those sitters that makes your wait longer. The waitstaff doesn't care what the hostess told you or how long you had to wait and they can't really do anything about it anyway. In general, I'm just going to be easy going about things like that and let it go.
I'm not going to complain about things that are insignificant. You can think of dozens of these. Someone talking on their phone while walking slowly in front of you. Someone standing in the middle of the aisle at the grocery store. Not being able to find your size at a store. In these type of scenarios complaining just forces you to focus on the negative for longer than it warrants.
So where does the toilet paper hanging under at work fit into this?
Can I fix it myself? Yes. I can tear off the outer layer of toilet paper, throw it away, and go from there. Problems with this solution: wasting paper means killing trees, I leave my germs for the next person.
Does this have a low possibility of happening again? No. I use the restroom multiple times a day and I use toilet paper every time.
Is this insignificant? Yes. In the grand scheme of things it is insignificant. It's annoying, but I've probably already spent too much time on this.
Here's why I'm not going to complain:
First, 2 out of 3 of my reasons don't stack up.
Second, if I complain, I become one of "those people". I hate "those people" and you do too. And "those people" don't get any hall passes or favors when the time comes.
Third reason, it will keep me on a list of people that can be made fun of, probably indefinitely.
Fourth, I'm not sure that I know exactly who to complain to. Facilities? The cleaning company?
And last, I'm correcting someone on their job. That they do full time. They certainly carry the expertise title in toilet paper hanging. And I'm okay letting that title go here at work...
...QueenB Says
21 seconds is how long it takes to wipe down a machine? That's very specific!
ReplyDeleteAlso, you are a strong, strong woman. I personally complain about all of those things. A lot.
Life is too short to spend time complaining! The worst is when people complain about other people's driving. There is absolutely nothing you can do about what the car in front of you, behind you or beside you is doing. The only thing it will do is put yourself as well as your passengers in a bad mood. Just. Let. It. Go.
ReplyDeleteAmen?!
You should have been a lawyer! Such an argument.
ReplyDeleteI read your blog and pondered over the section that said “Can I fix it myself?”. It only took a nano second to realize that the answer to that question was yes. Yes I can fix it without having to waist trees. The reason that I can fix it is that the facility guy gave me the keys just yesterday to all of the dispensers in the bathrooms. I just went into the bathroom and rotated all of the offending rolls in the Marketing/IT bathroom (the closet restroom to QueenB).
ReplyDeleteSometimes even the insignificant things are worth a moment in my busy day to set right and remove an annoyance in QueenB's life.