Is there anyone else out there besides me who is unable to work those automatic towel dispensers in public restrooms?  You know, the one where you wave your hand in front of it and the paper towels magically roll out.  Maybe I’m the only one who can’t seem to get them to work.   I swore both of them in the restroom at the Fort Walton airport were broken, as I stood there with wet hands which were now dripping down my arms in an attempt to retrieve a paper towel.

I waved my right hand across the sensor as shown on the front of the machine.  Nothing.  I waved my left hand across the sensor.  Nothing.  I waved my right hand under the machine.  Nothing.  Same with my left hand.  I did jazz hands, mime hands.  Nothing.  Thankfully nobody else was in the restroom observing my bizarre dance maneuvers to procure a blasted paper towel.  I moved over to the other machine.  Same routine.  Nothing.  “Hmm,” I said to myself.  “They must both be broken.”  (FYI, I talk to myself a lot.  But seeing as I’m often the only one who listens to me, I figure it’s okay.  At least I can have an intelligent conversation.)  By now, I had mostly dripped dry, so I gave up.

Shortly before our plane boarded (as we had gotten there early in order to get through the two hour security process), I decided I should “go” once more, since I hate having to use those claustrophobic little airplane restrooms.  BTW, don’t get me started on airport security.  That’s fodder for another blog.  Anyway, I digress.  Back to the restroom towel dispensers.  I noted this time that apparently other women were capable of getting the things to work.  “Hmm,” I said to myself.  “Apparently the dispensers are NOT broken.”  Until I tried to use them again.  Nothing.

I might add, the same thing often happens to me with the automatic faucets.  I wave my hands underneath.  No water.  I move to the next sink.  Same thing.  However, the faucet in the sink next to me comes on.  What the heck?  It’s particularly aggravating when I manage to get the first squirt of water, soap my hands up thoroughly, and then I am unable to get the water to come on again.  Or I get two seconds of water, which fails to rinse off the soap.   I can’t even wipe off the soap as I can’t get a paper towel!

I’m really not that stupid!  Honest!  (However, as nine out of ten people don’t consider themselves stupid, maybe I’m missing something.)  But I choose to believe it’s either something wrong with the aura my hands are putting out (or failing to put out), or it’s a conspiracy because I voted for Trump.  Anyway, from now on, I’m sticking with hand sanitizer.   At least I can usually get it out of the bottle.