Sometimes the most mundane activity can become the most talked about event of the day. Case in point: here is the true, unembellished story of my recent trip to a local gas station/convenience store bathroom.

It may sound made-up, but I promise, I’m just reporting what I heard.  

Warning: this story is rated PG-13 for adult subject matter. 

So I pull into the parking lot at one of these really nice gas station/convenience store places, enter a sandwich order at the kiosk, and head into the bathroom, which is empty.  As I’m standing there at the urinal doing my thing, I hear a voice behind me say, “Ok- get your thing out.”

I thought I was alone but apparently somebody had come in.  It sounded like they were standing a few feet behind me.

Then the voice says, “I’m gonna stick it in and shake it all around until the stuff comes out”.  

I’m thinking , “What the hell is this?” and finish up quickly. 

When I turn around, I see that there are actually 2 men standing beside each other, a few feet behind me and off to the side a bit.

One has some sort of plumbing snake. They continue their conversation, which was about fixing the urinal beside mine; the one with the “out of order” sign on it.

I washed my hands, grabbed my sandwich when it was ready, and left as if everything was totally ok and normal.  And, everything really was totally ok and normal despite my initial perception of the situation.

Perceptions can be tricky.  That’s why we have tiresome cliches like-don’t judge a book by it’s cover; what you see isn’t always what you get; things aren’t always what they seem; etcetera.

May we all go through life recognizing the truth in these sayings, while avoiding weird bathroom experiences like mine.

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