What is it that compels a man to take a sharp instrument and scratch his words of undying love for Heather on a Barnes & Noble bathroom wall? Heather will probably never see the words, nor is it a shared memory with her. [The days of carving initials into a tree are frowned upon by nature lovers.] My mind pulls out a mental picture of this guy, so excited about his love for this girl, that he has to tell someone… but no one is around. As he stands there, a smooth white wall next to him, he sees a canvas, perfect for proclaiming his love. “I love you Heather” is what he scrawls in crude blocky print with his only writing instrument – a car key. Oh, they’ll probably try and fix it, but somehow, it will stick around for a while. It always does. I suppose that in the grand scheme of things, there’s a whole lot worse that could have been written there. Bathroom graffiti is a pretty fascinating thing. I wonder, do women’s restrooms have it? I have cleaned many, many restrooms over the years and never came across any.
Yes, women’s bathrooms have graffiti as well. Although from what I’ve been told by my brothers, the women’s bathroom graffiti tends to be be a bit more bawdy then the men’s room.
Really? I find that interesting since women have touted certain bathroom superlatives above the men’s bathroom. Tammy, did you compare messages from the different bathrooms?
I must say I was shocked to see you write anything about the bathroom, but I agree that it seems a bit prosaic (to use Meg Ryan’s terminology).
Liz – i think i was musing more about the motive behind it as to the location of it. it’s like that country song where the guy climbs the water tower and paints ” billy bob loves charlene”. i suppose that is different though as she would actually see that. but still, i suppose there is a “i want to let the whole world know of my love for ____” mentality / desire. just picking a random bathroom stall to do it is what cracked me up.
funny, i totally get it.
a swirling with emotion and passionate young person wanting to make his mark for love in a hidden yet permanent way that is a fun sneak and a memory mark to visit later.
Yuck for the bathroom wall but hooray for the expression of heart. 🙂
I just realized that I never actually took those things seriously. I have actually thought my whole life that it was just stupid kids playing pranks. It never occurred to me until just now that it was actually someone expressing a real emotion. I thought it was just made up stuff, like Billy and Charlene don’t really exist. That’s funny that I thought that. Why did I think that?
When I was a kid I just figured all the writings were from bored people because there were no magazine racks. It wasn’t until I was older I realized people saw the blank wall as an outlet for emotional expression.
Dave – I did not actually compare messages myself, however both of my brothers have done maintenance work for various companies in the area over the last 30+ years. This includes repair and renovation to the company’s restroom facilities. Their findings have been consistent; Overall the women’s facilities tend to run more bawdy then the men’s facilities, although both have their fair share of whimsical thoughts and declarations of love for ever.
I think guys are more shy, so this is their of expressing their love for someone and not getting teased about it. Had to get my two cents in.
Good point Ev.