To All the Friends I’ve Made in the Bathroom
There’s something magical and mysterious beyond that threshold.
It’s an unlikely meeting place.
But I believe the bathroom is somewhere that elicits true human connection.
The women’s bathroom is a sanctuary.
Something happens when we cross that threshold. It takes our guard down and brings us to the most human level.
I was at a market/café near the border of Montenegro and Albania a couple years ago, making a pee stop and giving my motorcycle a rest.
The workers and patrons of the shop looked at me quizzically when I walked in. They could tell I was a foreigner.
Plus, I was a woman on a motorcycle.
All of them looked perplexed and a little suspicious.
I ordered something at the counter and went to find the toilet.
I wandered into the bathroom in my dirty jeans, riding jacket, and dusty tennis shoes. I was still wearing my motorcycle helmet.
After I relieved myself, I came out of the stall and was face to face with 12 Albanian women, dressed elegantly in long flowing floral dresses and beautiful white headscarves.
