CanBeBetter: Restroom Doors
- π₯«πbetter: a series where I write about how small improvements of everyday objects make my day flow a bit smoother.
Buildings at my university have a restroom-door problem. Restroom doors where I am swing one-way. This is signified by the handle of the door; if there is a handle, you need to pull it towards you, but if there is only a metal plate in place of it, then you push.
My ideal door to a restroom is:
- I pull the door towards me, touching the handle. This does not matter if I touched the handle, because I'll wash my hands when I leave.
- I push the door away when I exit. This makes sense because I don't want to touch the handle that everyone touches with a washed hand. I don't even need to touch the door with my hand for this; I can kick it open with my leg or push it with my arm.
However, the architects or whoever put these doors in place did not think about this; they put them the other way. I either use a paper towel to grab the handle, fumbling to throw it away while the door is slowly closing, and run out, or hold a piece of tissue paper exiting a restroom.
Switching the hinges of these doors might be more costly, so "creative" solutions popped up. There is a door handle for the foot. It is a small metal plate that people can step on and use their leg to open the door. Because you need to be relatively close to the door to use it (and because the plate is usually so small), you cannot really open the door big enough to fit through. The result is an awkward combination of movements, including trying to pull a door with a foot, having it directly in your face, and trying to use your body to open it.
I have seen another solution: the arm opener. It is a U-shaped plastic piece that is usually stuck at eye level, where you can use your entire arm to open the door. It has two problems. The first being a personal one, I am bony, and it hurts to use a piece of bone to open a door. The second is that some people grab it with their wet hands, so I have a 50/50 chance of having a wet arm (with liquids from someone I don't know).
I don't think this problem will ever be addressed formally. Just bear the doors.