Minor things that bother you

[kkt]

Drivers who don't turn their headlights on when it's raining, and cops who don't enforce that law.

That's not a law in every state.

Did I say it was?  It's the law here, and I see a whole lot more cops running speed traps that I do stopping people for a significant safety violation.

[1995hoo]

States that don't have a law requiring the use of headlights when it's raining or snowing hard enough to require use of wipers beyond the intermittent setting.

[dlsterner]

What if I told you, my junior high school bathroom didn't have doors on the stalls.  And one of the bathrooms in my high school didn't even have dividers between the stools at all.

Not only that, I bet that they didn't have dividers between the stalls at all.   

That said, the junior high school I attended had one older construction boy's room that had no dividers, just six or eight toilets in a row against the wall.  I avoided that one, opting to take my dumps in one of the newer rest rooms.

[vdeane]

Is this a "before my time" sort of thing or a "different part of the country" sort of thing?  I find such things inconceivable, but if that's common elsewhere (or was in the past), that would certainly explain some of the discourse around transgender rights and school bathrooms.

You know as well as I do that many urinals don't have dividers between them, and pretty much none have doors.  And tell me I'm not the only one who used a communal shower room adjoining the high school locker room.

We weren't required to shower after PE when I was in school.  It's not like they gave us time anyways, and most people were self-conscious enough to not want to expose themselves in front of others (even going so far as to wrap themselves in towels or change in bathroom stalls when we had the swimming unit).

As for urinals, these debates tend to center around bathrooms that don't have them, but now you've gotten me thinking about this scene from Boston Legal...

[CoreySamson]

The solution to this that my dorm mates have found is to turn the dryer 90 degrees so the door is out of the way in the bathroom and shove the bathroom trash can in front of the door to keep it closed.

Wouldn't it be easier to just put a laundry basket in front of the dryer so that the clothes drop into the basket rather than on the floor?

It would be easier, but the dryer is located in a narrowish hallway with a ton of foot traffic, so the basket would probably get kicked away or stepped on/over. The point is moot now, though, because they just fixed the dryer door and the vent.

Wow, they don't even give you a dedicated laundry room?  That sucks!

It's really not that bad:


I prefer the laundry situation in my current mostly upperclassmen dorm to the majority freshman dorm where I lived last year (which actually had a dedicated room for the entire building). That was kind of a nightmare at times:

[Beltway]

We weren't required to shower after PE when I was in school.  It's not like they gave us time anyways, and most people were self-conscious enough to not want to expose themselves in front of others (even going so far as to wrap themselves in towels or change in bathroom stalls when we had the swimming unit).

We were required to shower, and the schools had gang showers, and most guys didn't like them a bit. Girls from what I heard had individual shower stalls.

This was in Florida, so warmer climate and more sweating, but they had PE in the first period, early in the day, when it was cooler.

[Rothman]

We weren't required to shower after PE when I was in school.  It's not like they gave us time anyways, and most people were self-conscious enough to not want to expose themselves in front of others (even going so far as to wrap themselves in towels or change in bathroom stalls when we had the swimming unit).

We were required to shower, and the schools had gang showers, and most guys didn't like them a bit. Girls from what I heard had individual shower stalls.

This was in Florida, so warmer climate and more sweating, but they had PE in the first period, early in the day, when it was cooler.

How was the requirement to shower enforced?

[Max Rockatansky]

Speaking of showers a small leak from ours kept waking me up in the middle of the night.  I haven't gotten around to fixing it yet and I forgot to put my muffling scrub out. 

[Rothman]

The Muffling Scrubs is a good band name.

[1995hoo]

We weren't required to shower after PE when I was in school.  It's not like they gave us time anyways, and most people were self-conscious enough to not want to expose themselves in front of others (even going so far as to wrap themselves in towels or change in bathroom stalls when we had the swimming unit).

We were required to shower, and the schools had gang showers, and most guys didn't like them a bit. Girls from what I heard had individual shower stalls.

This was in Florida, so warmer climate and more sweating, but they had PE in the first period, early in the day, when it was cooler.

I remember Fairfax County school policy said students were "required" to shower after phys ed in junior high and high school "for obvious health and cleanliness reasons," but I don't ever remember it being enforced. Sometimes I wished it had been because there were some kids who needed to use deodorant but didn't. In junior high, I recall there were a couple of individual showers (with no doors) and then the gang shower room; in high school, I only recall the gang shower. But we also only had to take two years of phys ed in high school. I seem to recall that except in 7th grade I normally had that class either at the end of the day or one period before the end of the day. If it were your last class of the day, requiring showers would seem sort of pointless when you could just go home.

My 8th grade gym teacher didn't understand why guys didn't want to use the gang shower. "What's the big deal? We all got the same thing."

[kphoger]

States that don't have a law requiring the use of headlights when it's raining or snowing hard enough to require use of wipers beyond the intermittent setting.

Laws that require headlights "when wipers are required".

I use my wipers a lot less than most people.  In fact, I only even turn them on if it's a steady downpour.  Otherwise, I find the wiper blades more of a distraction to my view of the road then the actual rain.  So what does "required" mean, then?

[kphoger]

What if I told you, my junior high school bathroom didn't have doors on the stalls.  And one of the bathrooms in my high school didn't even have dividers between the stools at all.

Not only that, I bet that they didn't have dividers between the stalls at all.   

That said, the junior high school I attended had one older construction boy's room that had no dividers, just six or eight toilets in a row against the wall.  I avoided that one, opting to take my dumps in one of the newer rest rooms.

If it doesn't have dividers, then it's not a stall.  So your first point is meaningless.

Your second scenario is exactly what I was describing.  Four toilets (stools) or so, in a row without dividers (no stalls).

How was the requirement to shower enforced?

In my case, the gym teacher was in the locker room to make sure everyone showered.  I actually didn't have to for most of the year because I was excused for having gotten athlete's foot.  One classmate asked me one day why I didn't have to shower, and I told him it was because of athlete's foot.  He replied, "I've got athlete's foot too, and I still use the shower." 

[kphoger]

My 8th grade gym teacher didn't understand why guys didn't want to use the gang shower. "What's the big deal? We all got the same thing."

A world of maturity happens between 8th grade and age 30...

[elsmere241]

When I haul the (plastic) garbage bin out to the street for the next morning's pickup, only to find out later that night that collection's been delayed a day.

[wxfree]

We weren't required to shower after PE when I was in school.  It's not like they gave us time anyways, and most people were self-conscious enough to not want to expose themselves in front of others (even going so far as to wrap themselves in towels or change in bathroom stalls when we had the swimming unit).

We were required to shower, and the schools had gang showers, and most guys didn't like them a bit. Girls from what I heard had individual shower stalls.

I saw a detailed drawing for old state park plans, from the 1930s.  I was interested in the evolution of the road through the park and the original plans for different areas.  The dam plans were also very interesting.  The dressing areas were unexpectedly interesting.  The men's side had a large open area, as expected.  The women's side had individual enclosures.  I wondered why.  It may be that women were expected to be more likely to have children of either sex with them.  I don't know if that was the thinking, because that would require that women be out driving and going to parks without their husbands.  I don't think in the 1930s the world was ready for such things.  Either way, that wouldn't be relevant in the design of school facilities.

[kphoger]

When I haul the (plastic) garbage bin out to the street for the next morning's pickup, only to find out later that night that collection's been delayed a day.

I may have mentioned this before, but that doesn't bother me one bit.  So the bin just stays out at the curb an extra day, oh well.

[JayhawkCO]

When I haul the (plastic) garbage bin out to the street for the next morning's pickup, only to find out later that night that collection's been delayed a day.

I may have mentioned this before, but that doesn't bother me one bit.  So the bin just stays out at the curb an extra day, oh well.

Similar story. My recycling is every other week but I can never remember which week, so I just lug both out and bring it back if it wasn't picked up.

[Takumi]

Radio edits of a song where you can clearly hear that the song isn't finished yet. For example, the radio edit of Rio by Duran Duran.

[elsmere241]

When I haul the (plastic) garbage bin out to the street for the next morning's pickup, only to find out later that night that collection's been delayed a day.

You're all right, it's the same amount of energy regardless of which day I take it out.  The thing is, it now has to block the sidewalk for a day, as there's still snow on the curb, and on that part of the street.

[Beltway]

We weren't required to shower after PE when I was in school.  It's not like they gave us time anyways, and most people were self-conscious enough to not want to expose themselves in front of others (even going so far as to wrap themselves in towels or change in bathroom stalls when we had the swimming unit).

We were required to shower, and the schools had gang showers, and most guys didn't like them a bit. Girls from what I heard had individual shower stalls.
This was in Florida, so warmer climate and more sweating, but they had PE in the first period, early in the day, when it was cooler.

How was the requirement to shower enforced?

Back in those days coaches would be monitoring the locker room and said that they will drag you in there if you don't comply.

Coaches back then were typically of the caliber that could play on a minor league baseball or football team. Not one to trifle with.

[Beltway]

I seem to recall that except in 7th grade I normally had that class either at the end of the day or one period before the end of the day. If it were your last class of the day, requiring showers would seem sort of pointless when you could just go home.

As I mentioned in central Florida it was first period in order to have it in the coolest part of the day. Mid-October to mid-April was generally cool but the other times were hot enough to have a policy like that and everybody appreciated that.

First period also means the rest of the day you may stink if you don't shower. So there wasn't any non-compliance I was aware of.

We also did things that cause sweating -- track and field, flag football, wrestling, and to a lessor degree softball, weight lifting, volley ball, etc. Everybody take a lap around the field at the beginning. About 1/2 mile.

[1995hoo]

Right, I saw your comment about the first period. It wasn't practical at my schools for everyone to have phys ed—or, really, any other required course—first thing in the morning. Just too many kids at the school to make that work. (I say "required course" because there were some elective classes only offered once a day.) Either way, though, surely you can recognize the validity of my statement that if phys ed is your final class of the day, showering at school becomes far less important.

[kphoger]

Coaches back then were typically of the caliber that could play on a minor league baseball or football team. Not one to trifle with.

I think ours had actually done a stint on the 49ers.

[Beltway]

Coaches back then were typically of the caliber that could play on a minor league baseball or football team. Not one to trifle with.

I think ours had actually done a stint on the 49ers.

I think at least one of ours had played pro football, but I don't recall what team.

[hbelkins]

States that don't have a law requiring the use of headlights when it's raining or snowing hard enough to require use of wipers beyond the intermittent setting.

Laws that require headlights "when wipers are required".

I use my wipers a lot less than most people.  In fact, I only even turn them on if it's a steady downpour.  Otherwise, I find the wiper blades more of a distraction to my view of the road then the actual rain.  So what does "required" mean, then?

I use RainX on my windshield, so technically I wouldn't have to use my wipers during even a moderate steady rain. That stuff really does work. If you're driving at even a minimal speed, the water will bead up and shoot off your windshield.