On Shared Bathrooms and the State of Nature

I have lived in the residence halls for three years. All three of these years I have shared a bathroom with all of my floor mates. I have heard people say that public transportation is the great equalizer, but I would challenge that notion, public bathrooms are the great equalizer. Please allow me to elaborate, and as I elaborate, relate to our dear friend John Locke.

There is never a space less filled with human conversation than a public bathroom. It is a black hole of conversation. As soon as you enter the room, accompanied or otherwise, you will more likely than not fall silent. As soon as you are in that stall you may as well be inside a cone of silence. If you are standing at a urinal you run a slight risk of catching a drunkards attention, but never in a stall. This runs as a perfect metaphor for the state of nature as Locke saw it. People taking care of their own business, and not working together or talking about their business. Now it may be inappropriate to discuss one’s business while in the bathroom, but bear with me. People in the bathroom are still impacting one another. Gentlemen I am certain you have walked into a bathroom before to find the seat covered in another man’s urine. And we can all relate to having a person in the stall next to us relieving themselves voluminously. Although their actions can effect us, we are in a state of nature, and therefore do nothing to adjust any of these experiences.

The question then becomes “Is it possible to bring a contract to this lawless land?” Is it possible for the public bathroom, even in a dorm or residence hall, to become a place with a viable social contract so that those who have to live in this space can coexist in relative peace? Had you asked me three days ago I would have been skeptical, but since then a contract has began to form in the bathroom on my floor. A resident came to me the other night with a suggestion, one that all of the guys on the floor agreed to, one that Locke would be proud of. We have instituted, after a vote from the people, a peeing stall, and a pooping stall. You’ll forgive my bluntness I’m sure once you hear the simple brilliance of this social contract. If the pooping stall is reserved exclusively for sitting down to take care of your business, the seat will remain clear, and urine free. Bloody brilliant. That’s not to say the peeing stall is a free-for-all, spray-and-pray type senario, it just brings peace of mind to the pooping stall.

Is the metaphor perfect? No. There is no government to enforce these agreements other than common courtesy. Does it illustrate the simple beauty of a Lockian Social Contract? You bet. Locke you fine man you, well done again. Keeping our seats urine free for over 250 years.

Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself

And more importantly introduce what this little blog is about. I am an RA at the University of Colorado at Boulder. This means that I see the best and the worst of Freshman year of college repeatedly, and there are some great stories to tell. More than a venue for stories that are amusing this will be a place for me to write about that I am thinking, and probably post some things I think are cool or inspiring.

Lets begin with my title shall we? I think it is deserving of some explanation. Ever since high school I have been madly in love with social contract theory. I think it is the best way for us to explain human society and is brilliantly elegant. More specifically I love John Locke who lived in the 17th century and was the source of inspiration to the American founding fathers. I wont bog you down with the details but Locke will show up more in my posts I’m sure.

This is only the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship I think.

I don’t imagine many people will read my humble blog, and I may just end up shouting into cyberspace. Even if that is the case, since you stumbled across it, I hope you enjoy your stay, and come again real soon.