Let’s play a game! It’s called, find the flush button!
This isn’t my first trip to Japan. And it’s not my first time going to the bathroom at the airport. Actually, after every flight to Japan I go to this bathroom. This specific stall. And every time I do, I completely forget how everything works. This time I almost locked myself inside with the lights off.
As my two year anniversary of being a stay-at-home parent approaches, I realized I have learned many things. I’ve stepped up to the plate and tackled the nitty gritty household chores of cleaning, grocery shopping (with coupons), and laundry. I’ve duked it out in the kitchen preparing meals every day for my family. I’ve faced my insecurities to take Ellie to storytime, Japanese school, museums, and the zoo. And in the process, my confidence has soared leaving me to believe I can and will face any situation without fear or uncertainty. But there comes a day when something takes you by surprise and knocks you off the horse making you wonder, “Do I really have what it takes?” Well that day arrived for me. We ran out of toilet paper.
Bathrooms in Japan are pretty interesting. First of all, the toilet is in it’s own room. You open a door to a room about the size of a linen closet and you’ll find a toilet… and that’s it. I found this troubling on my first trip to Japan to meet Aya’s parents. Not only was I meeting them for the first time, but I’d be living with them for ten days. The bathroom situation can always be tricky when you’re meeting people for the first time. After you meet your girlfriend’s parents, you don’t want to be that guy who kills the bathroom. This was a major concern as I knew I’d be eating all kinds of food I’d never had before, some of which were raw. I had no idea how my stomach would handle that situation. I was really counting on the “shower mist” maneuver. You know, when you “go” right before you take a shower. No matter what happened in there, the shower mist would cover it all up. But with the toilet being in it’s own room the size of a closet located far away from the shower, operation “shower mist” wouldn’t work. We all got to know each other really well.
