the bathroom situation

after a semester under my belt here at MSU, i have one question.

why do people hang out in the bathroom?

the first time i noticed this was in the building called the computer center (which, interestingly enough, houses the computer help desk and the computer personnel for most of campus). in the bathroom, there was a girl sprawled out on the very small two seater chair/couch in the bathroom. arms and legs sticking out, face pressed into the vinyl. i ran into her three times. the third time admittedly wasn’t an accident.

here in the engineering building (which houses the...engineering college) i have noticed a penchant for lounging in the bathroom as well. in the bathroom on the second floor (my main bathroom if I am in my office—yes i have an office!) there is a girl who often sits in the bathroom, while working on her computer. i am impressed with her diligence (sometimes it really smells in there), if not annoyed at times because i can’t shake the feeling that she is listening to me pee.

often there are the people that are just sitting in the bathroom on the first floor by the coffee stand, just chatting.

this makes me wonder. why are bathrooms such a draw? i realize that MSU does provide chairs in all the bathrooms, which does invite people to sit. but to study? to chat? to sleep? an explanation is what i want.

in general though, i feel that i think too much about the bathrooms at MSU. perhaps most people here do, and that is the problem. when i was assigned an office, the first thing a senior student told me was where the closest female bathroom was. this might sound odd but bathrooms here are oddly placed, so it was valuable information.

(and in case you were wondering, to get to the closest female bathroom, turn left out of my office, go down the first staircase one flight of stairs, and turn left again)