I work in a large building with the men and women's bathrooms centrally located beside each other on every floor.
I work with other people, which means that we:
1) have departmental politics
2) have to pee occasionally
Over the last couple of years I have noticed an important trend happening in my departmental political life: it is improving. It dawned on me today just how important the placement of our bathrooms is to that phenomenon.
I run into lots of my colleagues in the hallway right outside of the bathrooms, male and female. We stop and talk for a few minutes every single time we run into each other. In fact, you can predict our circles of political cohesion more by the floor on which our offices are located than by our research fields. I attribute this to the bathroom.
This raises two important issues about the work place.
1) Social spaces in centrally located places are really important -- not places that you have to go out of your way to get to, but spaces that we all need to pass through regularly. The fact of biology, that we all need to pee, also means that our interactions are unplanned. So, when someone walks by when I am in a tete-a-tete with a colleague outside the bathroom, it doesn't look like we are conspiring intentionally, just that we are having a collegial conversation when we ran into each other by chance. People join in comfortably, as they don't feel intentionally "uninvited" or "invited". And yet, the hallway is quiet enough that we can have pretty intense and secretive conversations. While I run into colleagues at the coffee cart outside my building, that space is too public to converse about departmental politics. Those conversations are very, very different from the bathroom hall conversations.
2) Women who work in places where the men's and women's bathrooms are NOT located side-by-side are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to departmental politics. I know that I wouldn't be a central player in my department if it were not for those hallway conversations right outside the bathroom. I don't really interact with most of those colleagues in other ways consistently. The location of the bathroom is absolutely essential, and in my situation it has improved the quality of my work life.
I am not sure, though, that co-sex bathrooms would improve things even more. That idea just creeps me out.
I work with other people, which means that we:
1) have departmental politics
2) have to pee occasionally
Over the last couple of years I have noticed an important trend happening in my departmental political life: it is improving. It dawned on me today just how important the placement of our bathrooms is to that phenomenon.
I run into lots of my colleagues in the hallway right outside of the bathrooms, male and female. We stop and talk for a few minutes every single time we run into each other. In fact, you can predict our circles of political cohesion more by the floor on which our offices are located than by our research fields. I attribute this to the bathroom.
This raises two important issues about the work place.
1) Social spaces in centrally located places are really important -- not places that you have to go out of your way to get to, but spaces that we all need to pass through regularly. The fact of biology, that we all need to pee, also means that our interactions are unplanned. So, when someone walks by when I am in a tete-a-tete with a colleague outside the bathroom, it doesn't look like we are conspiring intentionally, just that we are having a collegial conversation when we ran into each other by chance. People join in comfortably, as they don't feel intentionally "uninvited" or "invited". And yet, the hallway is quiet enough that we can have pretty intense and secretive conversations. While I run into colleagues at the coffee cart outside my building, that space is too public to converse about departmental politics. Those conversations are very, very different from the bathroom hall conversations.
2) Women who work in places where the men's and women's bathrooms are NOT located side-by-side are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to departmental politics. I know that I wouldn't be a central player in my department if it were not for those hallway conversations right outside the bathroom. I don't really interact with most of those colleagues in other ways consistently. The location of the bathroom is absolutely essential, and in my situation it has improved the quality of my work life.
I am not sure, though, that co-sex bathrooms would improve things even more. That idea just creeps me out.
Tinkle tinkle little star,
ReplyDeletesprinkle yellow from a far...
Sorry, I couldn't resists since you were mentioning bathrooms. It's a stupid little rhyme that cracked my kid and me up some years ago.
Just visiting from Grumpy Rumblings. I'd like to add that this is yet another reason to make sure you drink enough water every day--then you'll be inspired to visit these locations of power more often!
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