Stalling

Yesterday I was kind of nonplussed by some encouraging magazines stuffed in a rack next to the T.P. in the women’s restroom at work. Not just placed on the ledge by the mirrors, but in the actual stall. Who put it there? Someone who longed for the 'good ole days' with an outhouse and the Sears Roebuck catalogue? I glanced at it and immediately felt kind of guilty, like when my mom would mail me articles in the mail because she knew I needed to know. Or probably like my kids feel when I forward e-mails! But in the bathroom stall…at the office? What is wrong with this picture? If we start reading in the bathroom stalls at work …then what? HR will be forced to hide cameras, time clocks or washroom monitors in there to be sure we don’t stall so long we miss work time.

I don’t want to be insensitive about this. I’m sure the intentions were pure. But I can’t even imagine taking time to read in the bathroom at home because it would stall my life! So at the office? No way. Do I just not “get it?” Another reason to revisit Dick Swenson’s hugely popular June Woman to Woman® shows, “Take a Load Off.” Riveting observations on how we choose to use our time. Reading in the office jon!?

Well, there was that time when as a single girl I worked for AT&T #1 N. Wacker Drive in Chicago! I studied guitar in Old Town and the only time I could practice was at work on my lunch hour. Where did I go? To the ladies room, of course. It was private. Thirteenth floor…really quiet. And the echo made me feel like a pro! Yeah, it was kind of weird when women would come in and I’d take my guitar outside in the hall and pretend like I was waiting to scrub the floors in there. You know what…maybe it’s not too strange to read something encouraging in the restroom at work? As long as it’s on your lunch hour!