Using Public Bathrooms

I got a recommendation to "the Mansions" in Newport. Newport is 40 minutes from my hotel. So, I went. I bought a $27 pass. It is a self guided tour. I thought that is kind of expensive for a self guided tour. Quickly, I was happy that it was. I was able to take my time and could sit when I wanted. You could go as fast or slow as you wanted and could listen to as much information as you wanted. Plus, it was a highly organized tour.  I happened to have had my own headphones and plugged in. Some of the pictures are below. This was gratto thing under the grand stair case. It's influence style was from Italy. Talk about opulence.  The Breakers was built by this Vanderbuilt. Apparently, he had lots of money in his day but not a show off.  One of twenty bathrooms. A bathroom for a kid. Lots of Marble. How pretty! Detailed ceiling. Massive Kitchen. I want the pots!  Add caption Kitchen Continued Newport's Harbor

This was a post I wrote a long, long time ago and never posted. Silly me. This is from like 2014. Wow, here you go. Last weekend, I took a mini-trip to Maryland. I went for an event called "Rise for Autism: Bull and Shrimp Roast." I left at a decent hour about 11:30 est. I should've taken me 5 hours to get to Annapolis, MD. As New York traffic would always have it, the Belt Parkway was packed. Then, Staten Island Expressway was packed. Essentially, it took me 2 hours to get to the New Jersey Turnpike. I, of course, had to pee. Since I wanted to make up some time. I decided to go to the second rest stop and not the one that was the immediate one. This was the worst idea ever. As I peered over in the passing of the rest stop, the cars began to pile up. I was in for the long haul. It took me 40 minutes to span 10 miles. For what? The New Jersey Department of Transportation has finally decided to expand the Turnpike. And, people were rubbernecking looking at constructio

Opps, I haven't posted anything in 3 years. How could I have neglected you all these years? I am back now. I promise to never neglect you again. The worst part is that I haven't traveled as much as I wanted in the past 3 years but its not like I haven't been places. Oh that is right, the past two years, I changed positions twice. Therefore, I have been quite busy proving myself. I last minute decided to take myself somewhere. I was getting some anxiety about traveling.  The unknown can be scary. I didn't want to travel to some place new without someone to travel with. But, it makes me mad when I have to compromise while I am on vacation with someone. (I know crazy.) I realized that my momma didn't raise no non traveling punk because of bullshit. I am in the Providence, Rhode Island area now. I managed to get some time off from work finally. I arrived yesterday. I decided to stay in Warwick. Providence, Newport and Block Island, all were too expensive per night.

Although this is post is not about traveling, it is about public bathrooms.  This morning, I am in my local coffee shop. I got here early. There is only one guy here before me. He happened to have come out of the bathroom when I walked in. Fifteen minutes later, I walk into the bathroom. The seat is up. Men, please, put the fucking seat down. I get it you pee standing up. I understand. But the majority of the population doesn't we need to sit down the majority of the time. Help women out. We really don't want to touch the seat either. Y'all don't seem to mind to touch it. 

Okay, I decided to call this blog, "Using Public Bathrooms." Why? When one is traveling, one is often using them. They can be awful and gross, clean, hi-tech and amazing or you have to pay for it. It is a common denominator. Every place you travel to has a public bathroom. One may have to search for one in an urban city. When your are driving on a familiar trip, you might have favorite rest stop.

I travel because it helps me appreciate home. I travel because it makes learn. I travel because to makes me come out of this hard shell I have. For example, I was lucky enough to be taken to South Africa when I was 19. It was an amazing trip for me. First, I am an african american that feels a connection to africa. I feel that is where my ancestors are from despite the diaspora. My mom took me. We went to a place called Soweto. It is a ghetto in Johannesburg. To see how true poor people live. To see people live in shacks along side a major highway with no actual plumbing and watch the waste water flow in the street. I learned so much about myself. I learned that no matter what I had a place to live and food to eat. I learned to appreciate my nationality. I have learned several things from traveling. First, New York City is the greatest city on this planet. I have been to several cities including Boston and Paris. I cannot find anything that remotely matches it. I will keep looking.