Thursday, July 28, 2005
Face to Face
Today, I trail jogged and hiked out to the "property line" and back (about 4 miles round trip). The cool sea breeze made the jogging seem almost effortless, but I returned with a heavy sweat. As I pushed open the door to the men's bathroom/locker room to take a shower--surprise! I found myself standing face to face with a cute young woman. (They were holding some job interviews in an office next to the bathroom, and she probably dipped into the nearest bathroom before her interview.) After staring at me for a second with a look of embarrassment, she quickly exited the bathroom saying, “Sorry about that.” I replied, “No harm, no foul. But if you come in again, I won’t have any clothes on.” She smiled (but didn’t come back in).
This reminded me of a bathroom incident that I had several years ago. It happened when I was visiting another department in a different part of town. Not being that familiar with their building, I dipped into the nearest bathroom without looking. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was the women’s bathroom. But by then, I already was well inside. And worse yet, I heard the noise of someone starting to enter the door. What should I do? For some crazy reason, I made a snap decision to hide in one of the toilet stalls until the woman exited the bathroom. Recalling a scary scene from the movie "Witness", I locked the stall door, stepped up on the toilet seat, and crouched down, so no one would see me. It worked. Fortunately for me, the woman finished quickly and did not notice me. A few seconds later, I sneaked out of the bathroom, and no one was the wiser.
As I think about this now, I must have been insane. If someone had noticed me, they might have thought that I was a vouyeur or a peeping tom. I would have been much smarter to do like the young woman above–-look embarrassed, apologize, and get the hell out of there. In any event, as I looked into the young woman’s eyes, I could relate to her situation, because I had experienced it myself.
When I go to HK next year, I will have to be especially careful to watch for the right bathroom:
男 廁 laam4 chi3 men's bathroom
女 廁 leui2 chi3 women's bathroom ¶ 7:00 PM
This reminded me of a bathroom incident that I had several years ago. It happened when I was visiting another department in a different part of town. Not being that familiar with their building, I dipped into the nearest bathroom without looking. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was the women’s bathroom. But by then, I already was well inside. And worse yet, I heard the noise of someone starting to enter the door. What should I do? For some crazy reason, I made a snap decision to hide in one of the toilet stalls until the woman exited the bathroom. Recalling a scary scene from the movie "Witness", I locked the stall door, stepped up on the toilet seat, and crouched down, so no one would see me. It worked. Fortunately for me, the woman finished quickly and did not notice me. A few seconds later, I sneaked out of the bathroom, and no one was the wiser.
As I think about this now, I must have been insane. If someone had noticed me, they might have thought that I was a vouyeur or a peeping tom. I would have been much smarter to do like the young woman above–-look embarrassed, apologize, and get the hell out of there. In any event, as I looked into the young woman’s eyes, I could relate to her situation, because I had experienced it myself.
When I go to HK next year, I will have to be especially careful to watch for the right bathroom:
男 廁 laam4 chi3 men's bathroom
女 廁 leui2 chi3 women's bathroom ¶ 7:00 PM
