Coed bathrooms

I recently watched a TV show that mentioned in passing the concept of co-ed bathrooms at colleges. A few colleges are trying it at their co-ed dorms and with mixed success. So this post is my thoughts on co-ed bathrooms. Lucky you.

Currently most bathrooms are divided into men and women because men and women are sexually attracted to each other. This division totally ignores gays, lesbians, transgenders, and intergenders.

Instead of dividing bathrooms into men and women I would much prefer we redesign the bathrooms for personal privacy and make them work for everyone. Make the stall door and walls run from floor to ceiling. Add fans and noise cancellation. That would be my ideal, but if I can't get privacy then making the bathrooms work for everybody at least acknowledges the existence of the groups that have been ignored for so long. They may be a small percentage of the population, but they exist and we should acknowledge that fact.

My issue with the concept of Authority

I do not agree with the concept of Authority. At the root of the concept is the idea that one person or group is superior and one person or group is inferior. Being a firm believer in equality I reject the idea that anybody is superior or inferior to me. Since I reject the root of the concept I can't agree with the concept itself.

Now I have no problem working for others, I have worked for individuals and large corporations, but the root of these work agreements is mutual respect and negotiation as equals. If you look up respect in wikipedia it discusses the idea of respect for superiors. I don't believe in the concept of superiors so I have to reject this form of respect. Never the less I do respect others, but I respect them for who they are and what they can do not for some position or job title they hold.

This is a problem of course. I could never be in the military because I do not agree with the concept of respect of superiors, something the military is based on. I wisely chose never to join the military, although many times I wish I had been able to serve in some fashion. I avoid contact with the police and courts because people in these institutions expect respect based on their job title and I cannot give it. There are people in the police and courts that I have respected, but because of who they are not the job title they held.

The concept of authority is a very old concept that should have been eliminated long ago. Perhaps some day society will advance far enough that we can eliminate the concept, but for now the concept seems well entrenched.

Bye Mom

My mom passed away this morning at the age of 90. She lived a full life and had been in declining health for many years. It was time. She had learned everything she was going to learn and had overcome every obstacle that she was going to overcome.

With some people you can't win I guess

As the two of you that actually read this know I have a lady that comes in to clean every week. She doesn't normally do cleaning but she knows me from work and cleans to help me out. She is close to my age and we like to talk. Today I noticed that when she talks to me she always has her hands near her face. I thought that was odd, when I see her at work she doesn't do that. After thinking for a few minutes I realized she was using her arms to cover her breasts. Now this bothers me because I take a lot of care in not looking at women's breasts. When talking I look at their face or to the side.

I don't think I have ever given her reason to be uncomfortable around me. I have been careful to never stare at her, I clean the dirty clothes out of my room before she cleans, I have been very careful about what I say, etc. Yet she is clearly uncomfortable around me. I find this very frustrating. Sure it may have nothing to do with me, she may be this way with everybody. I still find it annoying that I haven't succeeded in making her comfortable.

A follow up to a previous post

This weekend I read that 60% of men and 50% of women will have affairs during their marriage. I find these numbers very discouraging. It seems more and more people are focusing on themselves and their own self gratification. Marriage is about commitment, if you can't stay committed then you shouldn't marry.

Gays in the military, gay marriage, etc.

I really don't understand the problem people have with gays in the military. It is a job just like any other. Gays can be firemen, policemen, or congressmen. Why not soldiers? I have read a few of the arguments but they don't make any sense.

With gay marriage I can see where a church might have a say they won't conduct a gay marriage, but I don't understand the government saying they won't issue a marriage certificate. Marriage is a legal contract. Gender shouldn't play a part in this.

More on trust

I said before that the lack of trust is add overhead to everything. I think this needs a bit more explanation.

If you try to buy something at the store and there is absolutely no level of trust then the checkout person has to check every bill you hand them to see if it is a fake. That adds to the time you spend in line and the extra time the checker spends will eventually be added to the cost of the items you buy. You will need to check every bit of change you receive. The items you buy may be used, mislabeled, or not weigh the amount printed on the package. All of this adds to the amount of time you spend at the store. Overhead.

If you are in a relationship and you have to constantly monitor your spouse to ensure they aren't cheating on you this time spent is overhead. If your boss has to pay somebody to make sure you are putting in a full day and you in turn have to argue with your boss to make sure you are paid what they are supposed to this is overhead. If everybody is cheating everybody else and you have to spend all of your time making sure you aren't cheated this is overhead.

All of this overhead (wasted time and money) takes away from productive time and productive uses of money. It also takes away from the quality of life you experience and adds a lot of stress. This wasted effort and added stress means humanity as a whole isn't going to be making the progress it should. New inventions won't be made, new music won't be written, and new ideas won't be spread. Basically the dark ages.

I don't know how we are going to turn this around. People have to start being less self centered and more trustworthy, but our society is actually heading in the opposite direction right now. Our entire culture seems to be pushing us into being less trustworthy and I don't know how to change that.