Is that spray paint all over the boys bathroom stall? Again? When male students walk into a bathroom at Benilde-St. Margaret’s, at first glance they may seem well kept, but once they look further, they see the opposite. Students who have been at BSM for a while notice details about conditions that visitors or new students may not.

For example, the Great Hall boy’s bathroom is presentable at first look, but when you try and wash your hands, you end up walking all the way to the end of the sinks to use the only working soap dispenser. Then, when you try to use the sink, you will find the only one that works is always the last one you try out of the eight that are there. When your hands are all wet and you need paper towels, good luck. Most of the time there are paper towels available; they just happen to be in the last dispenser you try.

But many who enter need to first use the restroom before getting to the whole hand washing thing. The urinals are very reliable, and I’ve never had any problems with them. The stalls, on the other hand, have some issues. A couple of the stalls don’t have doors, and the others either don’t lock or take some time to get the locks hooked properly. They also are normally vandalized with Sharpie and sometimes even spray paint. Sometimes in the Great Hall it takes a while for graffiti and other things to get cleaned.

The Haben bathroom, being the newest bathroom in the whole school, is obviously going to look the nicest. There are normally never any paper towels on the ground, toilet seats are clean, and there is never any vandalism. Although it isn’t nearly as big as the Great Hall bathroom, what it lacks in size, it makes up for in cleanliness. And for many people, this is more important.

Another bathroom that is clean and up to date is the theater bathroom although I have only used this bathroom a handful of times. It is definitely the cleanest. Students are generally not allowed to go in there, at least the boys aren’t. I believe it was misused in the past and is now only for adults and teaching staff. But the girls bathroom by the theater is open for student use, which is a little unfair because if you have a class nearby, it would be nice to use the closest bathroom.

Generally, be careful about your bathroom choice at BSM, and if at all possible, just wait until you get home. You’re not always guaranteed a safe bathroom trip, or a clean one.