Thoughts

Ladies to the Right….Usually

Everyone has embarrassing moments. They just happen, usually without warning. I had a moment like this not too long ago. I wouldn’t call it my most embarrassing moment ever, but it’s definitely up on the list! So it happened like this: Mom, Wesley, and I were on our road trip to Wisconsin, and we stopped at a McDonald’s restaurant to for a quick restroom break.

Now when taking road trips, we try to hit a McDonald’s for this type of stop because their bathrooms are typically cleaner. We had stopped at a different McDonald’s earlier that morning, so I knew the old routine. Walk to the entrance, past the ordering lines, past the tables of people eating, and – presto! – there are the restrooms! Ladies to the right, men to the left. Just as simple as that…or  so I thought.

Anyway, as we walked into this particular McDonald’s, I happened to be in the lead of our small group. As I walked along, I was contemplating some thought (I can’t even remember it now), and so I was walking mechanically towards the restrooms. I guess my mind remembered that in the McDonald’s we’d visited earlier that morning the ladies’ bathroom had been to the right, and so I walked into the bathrooms on the right. I tried a stall door, and it was locked.

Turning around, I took in a fuller view of the room, and then it hit me. I was in the men’s bathroom. Mom had just assumed that I was going into the right restroom, and so was right behind me. Wesley, however, realized the situation, and tried to warn us of our mistake. We hastily retreated out of the wrong restroom. To make matters worse, there were some elderly people sitting near the restrooms. They were “people watching” as they ate their breakfast, and had quietly observed the entire thing. I was stunned. But my dear Mom just laughed and laughed. Then I laughed too. Wesley said he could hear us laughing in the, ahem, correct bathroom.

Moral of the story: don’t ever assume that McDonald’s – or any –  bathrooms are the same. One simple glance to check whether those little stick figures on restroom doors are wearing a skirt doesn’t hurt anything, and it just might save you a most embarrassing moment ever. :)

7 Comments

  • Hannah

    June 12, 2012

    Oh, you poor dear thing!!!!! :) This is just too funny! I’m glad that you could laugh about it. Embarrassing moments need to be laughed about…usuallly! :)

    Thanks for sharing your story. I needed a good laugh just now.

    To God be the Glory,
    Love,
    Hannah

  • Jill Noble

    June 12, 2012

    I’M just glad that the door that you tried was locked!! :-o
    That trip with you and Wesley was so special! And yes, we had lot’s of giggles along the way :-) So grateful for you, Brooke.

  • Becca

    June 13, 2012

    Ahem! ;) I, too, have made this mistake – and of course ’twas in McDonald’s as well! Thanks for a good laugh! :) It’s always best to laugh at embarrassing moments, isn’t it? It’s better laughing instead of crying, at least! :)

  • Wesley

    June 16, 2012

    Oh, dear Brookie; what hilarious memories. Missing you!

  • Anna

    June 26, 2012

    Oh no! Though I can totally relate to your embarassing experience — that has seemed to happen to me a couple of times!! Love you and miss you!!

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  • Anna

    August 5, 2013

    Oh my. Brookie, I feel so sorry for you! I would just die if I did something like that! (Although I have to admit I died laughing reading this!) Wow, the problem is, it is a pretty easy mistake to make. And I think, Laughing is better than crying in such a situation. One thing I do wish, if only I could have seen those folks faces when you finally came out of the bathroom laughing.

    I really am sorry for you Brookie. ;)
    Love Anna :)

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