A New Discovery--A Hidden Pet Peeve

Today, I rushed to the bathroom because, like always, I had to go RIGHT before class. This bathroom trip was like every other bathroom trip--until I opened my bathroom stall door. I literally almost collided with a girl that I recognized on campus. I won't mention names because I obviously wouldn't do that...but what happened next just really bothered me.

Let me just set the scene for you (so you aren't confused at my frustration later on).

I was in an academic building in a bathroom with four stalls. Four. Just remember that when I tell you the rest. The bathroom was empty when I entered it which meant all of the stalls were empty except for mine. I don't know about anyone else but I have a routine whenever I walk into public bathrooms.

Courtesy of The Blog O'Cheese

Routine

1. Look at every toilet to make sure no "unmentionables" are present in or around the toilet.
2. Make sure toilet paper is available, if not, move on.
3. The next step is pretty self-explanatory.
4. Wash my hands
5. Leave

Well, just as I was opening the door to head to the sink, I ran into this girl I vaguely knew. We didn't exchange words, we just awkwardly went around each other. That's not the weird part though. As I moved away from my stall, she instantly bolted in it (I'm exaggerating, it was a fast-paced walk) and slammed the door.

Didn't catch the weird part?

Let me elaborate. There were THREE perfectly good, empty stalls (I know, I checked) next to my stall and the fact that she was waiting for my stall when the others were not occupied, struck a nerve with me. I don't know why I am so freaked out by this, but I am. Since I have a routine for bathrooms, I guess I just assumed everyone did. I am not saying I am mad she took my stall, I don't care what stall she uses. I personally don't jump to the only stall that is occupied in a bathroom (when the others are fine) and use it right after someone else does.

To me, it's like an unwritten rule just like guys have in their bathrooms. For boys, you don't stand next to an occupied stall when others are open. I feel like the same should apply here.

I know I am tidy and I know I left my stall just fine, however, how embarrassing would it have been if I was still washing my hands and she decided to go the next stall after walking in mine? Yeah, I thought about that...awkward.

I know this may be a stupid pet peeve, but I can't  help it. If you are ever in a public bathroom, please don't stake out an occupied stall while someone is in it, wait for them to be done, and then go in their stall when there were others available at the time. Just a thought...

Let's just say, next time I see her, I am going to try not to maintain eye contact. It's weird. She will be forever known to me as "the girl that almost pummeled me in the bathroom to get to my stall". Unless this stall has some Harry Potter magical power, I will never understand the importance of waiting for it after me. Okay, my rant is now over.

Does anyone else have really weird pet peeves?

Confessions Of A True Email Hoarder

Inbox: 1035 messages

Yeah, that is the actual number in my email inbox right now. All of them have been read, however, they are just left out in the open because I have something I like to call "Email Hoard Syndrome (EHS)". 

It all started my freshman year of college when I decided that email was actually going to be important. After all, it was my main source for communication between professors and organizations I was involved in. Since then, email has become even more important. 

I have developed a really bad habit of keeping emails in fear that if I delete a message, I may need it again some day and I won't be able to retrieve it. This obviously isn't true because I have gone to my trash before and retrieved emails I "happened" to delete. I just can't shake the feeling I am going to miss something important--so I always try to keep my emails in the same area (which is such a bad idea). 

I am going to give advice to others that may be suffering from EHS. I should have taken this advice a long time ago, however, I am still working on this very task. 

• Create folders for different organizations/subjects: This will make life so much easier for you and plus you can keep emails related to that specific subject for future reference without cluttering your Inbox. 
• Delete pointless advertising emails: You know those emails, the ones you KNOW you won't ever read again but you may need to (or so you think). Just delete them, if you really need them--you can go back to it in the trash folder later. 
• Check your email often: The more you check your email, the more you will be able to keep up-to-date on the emails you receive. The more emails I have, the more tempted I am to just click on them and leave them in Inbox. Don't do it--put them in FOLDERS! 

Take my advice, it will really help you in the future! Plus, you won't spend hours trying to find an email from way back six months ago.

Do you have any advice for email hoarders like myself? Share it with me!