Please wash your hands after peeing. Thank you.

Finding beauty in an unexpected place
Woodstock, ON
December 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Notes from the road: It's a dark, cold night, and my wife and I are in the last highway rest stop before home. We've been driving all day, so we're tired, and I'll admit I'm probably slightly cranky.

As I walk into the washroom, I notice an unshaven man in a dirty ball cap trying - and largely failing - to do up his threadbare jeans as he walks away from a urinal. As he approaches me, I notice he's headed straight for the exit, and not the bank of sinks.

My eyes lock on his as I silently try to will him to shift his direction and, you know, wash his damn hands after handling his unmentionables. He just as quickly looks away and continues out the doorway. Mission not accomplished.

I'm not one to judge, and I'm not a venom-spewing germophobe, either. But when science explains how simple hamdwashing saves lives, and failure to do so risks them, I get my back up. Be as ignorant as you wish if only you must face the consequences. But when you threaten innocent strangers with your stupidity, we've got a problem.

Fast-forward 5 minutes. After washing my hands for an extra-long time, I emerge only to see my new dirty buddy purchasing dinner from the Wendy's. I realize this just as he hands the cashier his money, and she gives him his meal. I resist the urge to scream.

The photo? I snagged it in an OnRoute bathroom, because I was intrigued to find such a perfect little bouquet in such an imperfect place. Troglodytes aside, you can find beauty anywhere if you take the time to look. Maybe in the coming year we can all try a little harder..

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