On the 3rd floor of Thornton Hall on the SFSU campus, there is a bathroom that I have been using consistently for more than 3 years. It's always smelly, and downright foul on a bad day. It's not a very old building (probably erected in the early 60s), but everything inside the bathroom looks original. There are many cracks, crevices, and corners that harbor unidentifiable dark matter. The urinals don't thoroughly flush so there's always a few pints of rotting pee contributing to the bouquet. There is only so much the janitorial staff can do to combat the ambient filth. However, I'm very often in this building and on this floor so it's super-convenient when I've gotta go between classes.

Over the years, I feel like I've developed a relationship with this icky restroom and I have come to respect it. I have appreciated some interesting facets of the place. Seeing as this is my last couple of months on this campus (barring any horrible twists of fate) I thought it would be nice if I could show my respect by documenting the more charming aspects of the 3rd floor men's room.

1. Nifty foot flushing devices for both toilet and urinal. I don't have to touch any vile levers with my hands? Great! Also, they just look plain cool.


2. Chap preventors. This modern hand/face drying unit prevents the dreaded hand chap! Yay, helpful hints!


3. More helpful hints on the light switch. This thing is for energy conservation! It is impossible to ignore the fact that this instruction goes unheeded every day, all day.


4. Really icky, vile hole. Be afraid. If this were in a grade school bathroom, the boys would dare each other to put their hand in. Beware the radioactive sewage eels within!




5. Check out the pattern on these ceiling tiles. I have never seen anything like this. It reminds me of computer punch tape or something. Should I try to decode it? I don't know. I like to imagine that these were engineered to maximize the acoustic quality of this restroom.



6. Grout writing. Wow. This is my favorite part of peeing. I get to look at all this fantastic grout art. Some is dumb. Some is brilliant. Most of it involves wordplay involving "grout" or "tile." I love it all. I'm not sure if grout writing was invented by some innovative restroom patron who was sick of their graffiti getting cleaned off or if it was just a courteous person's way of expressing themselves in an inobtrusive way. Tough to say. I photographed every bit that hadn't been crossed out. Check the others out at the bottom.


Note A: Grout writing exclusively appears within an arms reach of either a urinal or the toilet. As it should be.

Note B: This task was fun because I had to make a decision to be overtly documenting a bathroom that people were using. Before I committed, I was trying to be very discreet and felt awkward and creepy. Once I made that decision, I felt fairly empowered and cavalier.

Update: I have carved my words into the very living grout of the sacred restroom.