You know I love signs. Many of the best ones express one person’s frustration at something that’s beyond his or her control. More often than you’d think, this relates to another person’s (or dog’s) bodily functions. I get such perverse pleasure when I walk into a new (to me) public washroom and see a sign like this. I can’t help but wonder how long and often the sign-writer has had to put up with the problem before going back to his desk, selecting a 44-point font in Word, printing out a shaming notice, and taping it up outside the stalls. But I’m even more curious about whether shaming notices actually work. Anecdotal evidence would say that they don’t, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to track down the person who made one of these signs and ask if it generated a concrete result beyond the short-term satisfaction of calling someone out for anti-social behaviour.
Today is your lucky day. You have found such a person.
Probably about 1.5 years ago, I got fed up and hung “Please do not pee on the toilet seat!” signs in the bathroom at work. Complete with some ripped-off internet clip-art.
And I’m very happy to announce that these simple signs have been a resounding success. Almost immediately, the “pee on the toilet seat” problem went away, mostly. And the signs are still there! Although someone very recently scribbled a comment on one of them (pointing out a flaw in the clipart. Nerds.)
Awesome! I’ve always figured such signs to be more about letting off steam on the writer’s part and less about actual results. I mean, if an adult really needs to be told not to pee on the toilet seat, is a printed sign really going to do the trick? As with many behaviours, it’s one thing to think that someone else is paid to clean it up, but another when you’re confronted with the knowledge that someone else is watching. Until now, I would have put a “do not pee on the toilet seat” sign in the same range of effectiveness as a “no dumping” sign surrounded by mounds of garbage. I may have to start printing up some signs of my own.
Well, put me in the “it kinda worked” category. Basically it did for a few weeks…I guess its time for a reminder:
We have a problem with toilet paper all over the (mens) washroom. For the life of me, I don’t really have a concept of “why” (well, I do, but I don’t think too hard on it).
So, I put this up:
“Toilet paper belongs in only three places in this washroom:
1) in the roll before use
2) in your hand during use
3) in the toilet after use
IT DOES NOT EVER BELONG ON THE FLOOR”
Like I said, it worked for awhile. Maybe next time I’ll forge a building logo, make it look official. I mean, the janitors can’t be having fun.