Twilight Zone of Public Restrooms

[leftywoody]

On my way back from Walmart this morning , I had to use the bathroom and my old bladder couldn't wait any longer . I have used the public restroom in the town of Howe at Steel City gas station before and it was on the way home . The men's room is a little dirty but you can pull up around back of the station and jump out of your truck and go right in . When I got to the door it was jammed and I had to get mean with it to get it to open . When I stepped inside I noticed it was as dirty as usual and that was OK by me . When the door slammed shut it was pitch black in the room . I had to jerk the door open again to get some daylight in there and find the light switch . The light bulbs were burnt out . I scoped out the location of the urinal let the door go shut and did my duty in the dark . I wanted to wash my hands and needed some light to find the sink . I noticed a half of a cement block on the floor when I opened the door again and used that to block the door open a little . As I was making my way to the sink a gust of wind came through the door and the hole room filled up with the smell of Pig Poop . A livestock truck full of pigs had pulled up outside to fuel up . I got to the sink and found a cheap tube of hand and body soap and began to wash my hands . The water was nice and hot . When I finished I turned around to the paper towel dispenser and found that it was empty and broken . I went outside to my truck and got a shop rag and dried my hands , all the time smelling Pig Poop and listening to pigs squeeling . I think that has to be a portal or pothole , to the Twilight Zone if ever there is one .

 

[2door]

Rats! I thought you were going to tell us that when you went out you saw the tags on the pig truck were 1962 and your car was the one you had in highschool. Or something to that affect. At least something more spooky than pig poop.

Tom

 

[rustycase]

Rod Serling's program was among my favorites, way back when.
Don't recall a bathroom episode, though...
Maybe you got a chance here writing for hollywierd!

rc

 

[bluegoatwoods]

It's a small world. I know that gas station. The John Deere dealer next door was a good customer of mine, back when I was in a business that catered to farm implement dealers.

I'd walk over two or three times a day to get a cup of coffee. And the place never seemed quite well-kept enough for me to be completely comfortable with it. I don't recall ever thinking about it before, but I'm glad the customer had a restroom so that I didn't have to rely on that one.

 

[leftywoody]

That John Deere store is being relocated about 1.5 miles south of the present location in a brand new building . Wow I can't believe a member here has been to Howe and knows the territory .

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Yeah, they were really good folks. I'm glad to hear that they're still around and doing well enough to justify a new building. Way back when they were called "Sherman's". Does that sound right? Then about 10 yrs ago they were bought by another outfit. Can't even remember the name, except it was 'Someone & Something'.

Farm implement dealers are, on average, fine folks. I'd write about $50,000 a year in invoices. My terms were 'net 30 days'. About half of those checks would come in within two to three weeks. Among those that went over a month, one phone call would get most of them in the mail immediately. I only wrote off an average of $300/year in bad debt.

I was in that business a long time. After I got over youthful dumbness and made a few errors, I can only think of two guys who gave me trouble or got mad at me. In one case it was entirely his fault. The other guy did have a small, but justifiable, beef over a product I sold him. I made it right in the end, but maybe not as right as I should have. Overall, though, those guys treated me like a king.

And Sherman's of Howe IN stands out in my memory as a great bunch among a great bunch.

Also I grew up not all that far north of you. And I remember as a kid having a vague fear of being sent to that military academy just around the corner from where we're talking about. I don't really know why. It's not like my folks were the type to send me off to what I would've though of as a concentration camp. And it might have even been good for me, for that matter. But that place intimidated me as a kid.