Tim and Jen Live Here

to automatic things in public bathrooms?

I’m sure we’ve all been subjected to the over-zealous auto-flush toilet that flushes several times while we’re still mid-go. This is beyond frustrating and, of course, wasteful. Especially considering you still have to flush when you’re finished, when, inevitably, the auto-flusher will decide it’s already performed its final duty and has headed out for a smoke break.

But today in two airport bathrooms (both in Memphis) I indirectly caused quite a lot of waste. First was the bathroom where the toilets flushed as soon as you opened the stall door. I chose a stall and was greeted with a flush, and a huge mess, so I promptly chose another stall, where another flush was ready for me as soon as I arrived. It did deign to flush again at the end at least.

Then I headed to the sink, which had auto-soap and auto-water. As I was beginning to get my hands wet, the auto-soap, apparently located too close to the faucet, spit out soap, leaving a gooey pink puddle in the sink.

Later, just before boarding, I chose a bathroom that at least didn’t pre-flush upon entry. Still, while I was getting my hands wet in the sink after - really, this does not take long - the soap dispenser spit out soap not once, not twice, but three times. Do the soap people not realize that wherever there are auto-soap dispensers, people will be moving their hands nearby under the faucet? To make matters worse, the auto-paper-towel-dispenser that time gave me my towel as requested, then gave me another after I had backed up three feet to dry my hands. Sigh.

All this does make me wonder how difficult these are to design, though. I’ve certainly used auto-flush toilets that worked perfectly. Was that random luck? Or is it up to the installer to get the right settings? This is mostly a matter of curiosity - I’m not off to learn more about auto-flush toilets - but today certainly had me thinking.