Mexican Living: Bathroom Warnings

You potential male expatriates must bear something in mind if you plan to move to Mexico. Apparently it is a normal sight to see women walking into men's public rest rooms while one is trying to take care of business.

I don't see this happening daily but often enough to warrant a warning. I have, in fact, experienced this four times since our moving to Mexico. It is strange, unnerving, and takes some getting use to.

The business of women entering men's public bathrooms is because of two necessities. One is that they hire women janitors to clean them and the other is when some gal needs to make potty really badly!

The first time I saw this was on my 50th birthday. My wife and I went to Leon, Guanajuato, to celebrate. We were eating at a steak place when my 20th glass of iced tea finally demanded to escape via my bladder. Finding the men's room, I got a little surprise.

It was a fair-sized bathroom with the usual wall lined with urinals and three stalls. The urinals were “occupied� with a row of middle-aged gentlemen. Directly behind these guys was a woman dressed in a janitor's uniform mopping the floor! Neither the men, who kept on tapping their bladders, nor the women acted like this was an unusual event. I was freaked out!

When one man finished his biological duty I knew that I could not step up to the vacated slot. I would have had bladder lock or died of embarrassment, so I ditched it into a stall.

I was sitting there taking care of business when I heard, in the next stall, a woman talking on her cell phone. At first I thought I was hallucinating but it was a lady (or some guy sounding much like Michael Jackson)!

I left the stall at the same time she did and, though I felt weak from the shock and almost swooned, she exited while more men entered the bathroom like this was an everyday occurrence.

The other three times were at this local department store where you can, for three pesos use their bathrooms. The first time I walked in, I found two female janitors talking together. Apparently the “janitor's closet�, where they store supplies and equipment, is in the men's bathroom. Can you believe that?

We stood there for a brief moment staring at one another when they said, almost in unison, “¡Buenos Dias!�, and then resumed their conversation that my presence had interrupted. My goodness!

So, once again, I ditched it into a stall, which by the way was built for midgets, and took care of my waste disposal while they kept on talking as though this was a normal event.

I cannot possibly explain this since I am much too embarrassed to ask anyone about it. I am sure there is some culturally specific explanation. I don't know. I don't know if I want to know. Don't let anyone tell me!

This would not fly in America. I can recall that some lady once got arrested for entering a men's room for a pee-pee emergency. The women's room was either out-of-order or occupied. The poor thing could not wait.

What am I to make of this? I guess that we Americans are anal (absolutely a pun intended!) about our bathroom needs and habits--we should get over it.

Meantime, perhaps Mexico can have mercy on us male expats and put warning signs on the doors:

“Caution: Women may be working or using the bathroom. Prepare for a shocking experience. You may be prone to fainting to the floor.� -- Vicente Fox, President of the Republic of Mexico.

Doug Bower is a freelance writer and book author. His most recent writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Transitions Abroad. He lives with his wife in Guanajuato, Mexico.

His new book Mexican Living: Blogging it from a Third World Country can be seen at http://www.lulu.com/content/126241