Giving waste the brushoff

You know how some guys flush as they approach the urinal? And they flush (and flush and flush again) while they're going? I suppose the sound of running water triggers a Pavlovian response with their bladders. Or maybe they think that the sound of running water will mask the noise of their peeing so nobody else in the bathroom will know what they're doing.

We all have our little idiosyncrasies in the bathroom.

There's another one I've never quite understood. In these times of water restrictions we are being reminded that we shouldn't leave the water running while brushing our teeth. I never knew we were supposed to run the water more than what's needed to wet the brush before brushing, rinse it afterwards, and to get a mouthful or two for rinsing and spitting.

I'll bet people leave the water running through all those steps because it's just so much trouble to quickly turn the knob or slide the lever twice between each of the steps. (Think of all the calories that would be burnt if we all did that! The nation's obesity epidemic could be cured if we all turned off the water while brushing.)

So imagine my bewilderment when I encountered someone brushing his teeth at work. Our bathrooms have faucets that turn themselves off after they've run for a few seconds. This guy mashed on the knob to get the water running, wet his brush, pasted it up and started brushing. The water turned itself off.

He mashed the knob and continued brushing. The water turned itself off. He mashed and continued brushing. Again and again.

So much for my theory that it's too much effort to turn the water off. This guy spent extra effort to keep it going.

My head reeled.

(He set a notebook on the shelf by the door on his way in. It had his business card taped to it. It had "Ph. D." after his name. My head reels.)