Bathroom Issues 3

[ManagerJay]

Recently, I was asked to stay after a Manager's meeting to discuss an issue with my Executive Director and the Business Manager.

Once everyone had left I was handed an e-mail, from an employee, stating she belived some of the male employees were intentionally urinating on the floor in one of the bathrooms. She went on to state in the e-mail, that she belives this is a direct attack against her since she is responsible for cleaning the office.

I was asked to help with the problem since the employee is more comfortable speaking with me than anyone else on the Management Team.

After conversations with the employee, she told me she believes it to be one of two men in the office. She belives this based on comments made in the office by male staff. The comments range from, "I'll show them," to "If we had a urinal, this would not happen."

I understand there may be medical reasons for this happening. Does anyone have any suggestions how to address this? Since there is no proof this is intentional, at this point, should this be addressed in a group to the entire office staff, or should it be addresses directly with the individuals who may be responsible?

My intention is to get the situation resolved without offending anyone, or demeaning anyone. Any suggestions anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,




Jay

 

[svanels]

Flapeyre, maybe the EPA not, but perhaps another "Sanitary Watch Dog" or "Public Health Vigelance".

By the way:

They have too much else not to do

I liked that!!

Steven

 

[flapeyre]

OK, I see we're getting into the split infinitive argument again.

This is something, up with which I will not put!

Feles mala! Cur cista non uteris? Stramentum novum in ea posui!

 

[RCorrigan]

[tongue in cheek]

Wasn't that [Yoda] not WC

[/removes tongue]

<Do I need A Signature or will an X do?>

 

[h0h0h0]

I would suggest the book "How to seduce Women"

 

[Stella740pl]

h0h0h0,

This would be rather an unusual way to solve a problem of dirty men's bathroom.

 

[h0h0h0]

Man - i must be completely anchored to that suggestion.. dang.

 

[lespaul]

are you on a mission to accomplish the task of seducing a woman?

 

[BocaBurger]

No, he is writing a program to do it for him



BocaBurger
<===========================||////////////////|0
The pen is mightier than the sword, but the sword hurts more!

 

[h0h0h0]

i got the specs from langley

 

[Dollie]

LOL I just love this thread! I can completely relate to the subject and to the poor lady who has to deal with it. (Is she an employee earning extra hours from cleaning or has she just taken it upon herself to clean up, or is she a full time cleaner?)

It sounds like my own arguments with the hubby. I've tried everything from putting a bottle of spray cleaner with paper towels right next to the commode, to a "If you sprinkle when you tinkle, please be neat and wipe the seat" sign, to threatening to withhold some of the benefits of marriage if he peed on the floor one more time. What worked best? Nothing, absolutely nothing. If a man can't direct a small stream into a large round bowl by the time he's grown, he is NEVER going to learn. However, I have not looked into the toilet bowl with the fly painted at the bottom of it. From what I've heard, it's improved men's aim immensely. I guess I just never thought I'd have to go find something to entertain him.

We had an issue like this at the current job, although this was the first time I'd seen it on the walls. After a while it became quite obvious who it was. One of the gentlemen in the office went to him and discussed it with him and actually offered him some tips. Same results: None, the tips did not correct the poor aim.

At another job in another life, as I was technically the whole office (bunch of guys working out in the field), and we had one communal bathroom. I was actually able to get through to this group, however. I refused to clean it. There was all sorts of foul stuff on the floor (gee those uniform shirts of yours really cover the whole floor, John), to the remnants of the fire extinguisher spray from a practical joke. I tried everything from making their job simple by providing all the cleaning stuff and creating a cleaning schedule (everyone got to help out, thankyouverymuch), but it would still turn into a nuclear waste dump during the week. The final straw was when the centerfold appeared on the wall. I pulled it down immediately qnd took it into my office. I used a piece of paper for tracing, and was nice enough to make a little cut out dress for her. And superglue it on. After hearing a loud rrrrrrrrrrriiiippppp and a child-like scream, I walked out of my office and had a little "conversation" (read: Yelling including language that would make a pirate blush) with the guys. The guys decided they should be nice and clean up after themselves from that point on. Thank you, Pamela Anderson.

 

[Dollie]

Oh goodness, now there's something I had never, ever, ever planned on discussing with anyone. Tek-Tips Toilet-Tips?

 

[rosieb]

It seems to me that there's one critical question; Is it deliberate or is it accidental?

If it's accidental/a result of a medical problem then signs and making cleaning equipment available in each cubicle may help.

But if it's deliberate, you've a major problem. If someone messes on the floor to make a point, what else might they do?

A private, apparently spontaneous, chat (say, during a regular catch-up meeting) with each of the potential suspects along the lines of "I don't know if you're aware, but we had complaints about bathroom hygeine from the cleaners - have you any suggestions about how we can improve the situation?" might give you an idea of what kind of problem you face.

Rosie
"Don't try to improve one thing by 100%, try to improve 100 things by 1%

 

[langleymass]

Largely because of my poor aim, I often sit down on a toiler to urinate. But sometimes this can even result in your aim going out between the cracks. This really isn't an easy issue to deal with.

 

[flapeyre]

Largely because of my poor aim, I often sit down on a toiler to urinate.

Yeah, it gets more difficult once you hit 40 or so.

Feles mala! Cur cista non uteris? Stramentum novum in ea posui!

 

[ManagerJay]

I agree 100% that it has to be determined whether this is is intentional or unintentional and it must be delicately addressed.

If this is an intentional act, it really makes me wonder how the individual is representing the organization when they are out of the office.




Jay

 

[Dollie]

I've got five bucks that says whoever is doing it has a cell phone in the other hand....

 

[Stella740pl]

langleymass,

OMG, I didn't think I would learn something this personal at the Corporate Water Cooler, either real or virtual.
Do you really think we need to know this, even in this thread?

 

[chiph]

I've got five bucks that says whoever is doing it has a cell phone in the other hand....[/Dollie]
You've seen that too? (but in the ladies room!)
I used to wait to flush until they were done with their conversation, but they would just keep on talking. I finally decided I had more important things to do than to be courteous to an idiot, so now it's just too bad for them.

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[Dollie]

Chip, it's more fun to start coughing, making gagging noises, noises of ecstatic enjoyment, sticking the hand in the armpit and making funny noises, etc, than being polite while someone is on a cell phone in a public area such as a BATHROOM. If they can't stop talking for 2 minutes while they take care of their constitutional, I don't see why I should stop being a goofball for two minutes either.

 

[phuzzy42]

Whether it's intentional or not, if the perpetrator isn't physically handicapped, they can and should clean up their own mess. If they just walk away, they're not somebody I'd want to work with anyway.

Tell everyone there's a vandal in their midst because that's exactly what this is, and remind them this is a punishable offense (vandalism is probably in the employee's handbook), up to and including termination (and they deserve it in more ways than one). Also remind them this behavior is a health risk to each of them - make this personal and something that directly involves them.

Employees should be responsible to report vandalism when they see it - that's also probably in the handbook. Eventually someone will say, "It was a mess after ___ came out and he didn't report it, so it was probably him." You still have to be careful, but more than likely the problem will stop (I'm trying real hard not to say peter out ) if the perpetrator knows somebody will report him.

Can you 100% eliminate all women from suspicion? In my college days I worked as a janitor in a medical building, and the women's restrooms were always messier than the men's, especially with "hovering" (gentlemen, you may need a woman to explain that to you). Given the anatomical structures, there were very strong odds of "misses" (no pun intended).