Author's Note: It's been a long time since I've posted anything here. What follows is an idea I've had for a while for a post, but never got around to posting.
What's the deal with electronic plumbing? At work, the lavatories are still decorated with their original circa 1955 furnishings, except for one area of note. The toilets, urinals, and sinks all have little person detectors, and all work automatically. Only rarely do you get a nice "refreshing" blast when and where you don't expect it.
My question about all this is, what's the point? Who are they trying to protect? I mean, are they trying to conserve water? Or is this to keep me germ-free, so I don't have to touch those dirty handles? (Seriously, I assume that these things aren't very sanity.) And what happens when the electricity goes out?
The paper towel holders are manually operated. Am I putting myself at risk by using my hand to operate them, rather than using my elbow like I've seen another guy doing?
And how will germs deal with the situation?
2 comments:
The restroooms at my workplace have automatic faucets and urinal flushers. In the building in which we have traditional Friday lunch and in which we sometimes have training sessions, the restrooms also have automatic soap dispensers (in addition to automatic faucets and urinal flushers). I guess these devices do save water. As for germs, I don't think they help much. You still have to touch the door handle on the way out, and I have observed that some people have an alarming habit of not washing their hands after doing their duties. After leaving the restroom, I often go to lunch and touch dirty money and then eat, so I'm not all that worried about germs. Also, I've heard that the average desktop in the workplace is as filthy as your average toilet seat.
Oh, I forgot to mention that at my workplace, everything in the restroom still works when the power goes out, because the restroom lights and other electronic devices, as well as the lights in the stairways, run off a generator. We have a really bad problem at our workplace with the power going out. Three or four times a year it seems, the power goes out for several hours, usually for no obvious reason. It happened again today. After waiting around for an hour, I came home and tried logging in every so often. About a half hour after I got home, I was able to get through, and I resumed work from home.
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