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The Women's Stairs

We moved into a new office building a while back, and everyone is settled into the new space by now.  It's not as nice as the offices we used to be in, but it's not like it's a horrible place to work.  It's a cubicle farm, it is what it is.

It's a long, narrow building, so there are four elevators.  To either side of the elevator, there are also stairs that take you to the other floors.  So far, so good.  However, the bathrooms are also laid out to either side of the elevator.  One side has the men's restroom, and the other side has the women's restroom.  This, I have discovered, results in a couple of little quirks.

If you are taking the stairs, you have to walk directly towards one of the two bathrooms, and turn off before you actually enter the bathroom.  I'd guess that the door to the stairs and the door to the bathrooms are probably about two feet apart.  Given that, and the fact I don't really want to cause any awkwardness with some lady walking out of the bathroom, I usually take the stairs on the same side of the men's restroom.  I figure it's the safest plan; it's not likely, but it's within the realm of possibility that really unfortunate timing could lead to an interesting exchange.

What's even worse is that the stairs & bathroom that are closest to me are on the end of the building.  That means you have to come around a corner to get to them.  More importantly, that means that anyone coming out of the women's bathroom or the stairs on that side are coming around a blind corner.  Knowing this, I usually look over that way when I'm walking in the opposite direction, to avoid walking into someone.  You know what's also unfortunate timing?  Making sure no one is coming around a corner when the door to the women's restroom opens.  It almost looks like I'm trying to peek in there.  Great, just great.

Anyhow, I was walking to dinner with a coworker one night, and we decided to take the stairs.  I was walking to the stairs on the far side of the elevator (the side with the men's restroom), and he commented that I was being a little inefficient.  I told him my reasons for avoiding the stairs on that side, and he laughed at me. He also dubbed that particular staircase, "the Women's Stairs."

Still, I'll take a little bit of teasing if it means I don't have to worry about getting a call from HR.
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