Whilst in the USA as one might imagine I had to use the restrooms (well we were there a month).
It seemed that for the first three weeks of our trip all moving parts were automated: the flush, soap, taps and dryer or hand towel dispenser. I guess it's a partial advance towards complete sanitisation although someone evidently forgot that we still have to touch the door handles. It also leads to a dread of shuffling during a performance, just in case the flushing starts prematurely and don't start me off on the hand flapping that goes on in an effort to trigger a trickle of soap or even water. It all gets dreadfully complicated especially when you fail to realise that you are actually waving at a bolt on the splashback rather than the magic eye itself.
In any event I had just got the hang of distinguishing sensors from nuts, bolts and blemishes when we landed in California and a much more laid back approach sent us back to a land of pressing, pushing and twisting. Regrettably I repeatedly found myself mechanically moving first one then both hands to and fro in the forlorn expecation that a conventional tap might suddenly produce a stream of water. Oh well at least it provided me with amusement; there is after all nothing better than laughing at one's own inadequacies (again and again, because some people just don't learn).
I must however praise the Americans for not only providing copious numbers of restrooms (their description, not mine) but also without charge and with only rare exception generally of the cleanest standard. I also congratulate their innovation in the field of automation and where those conveniences found on garage forecourts in the UK may not be the most inviting I could not resist snapping this wash basin found at a service area in South Carolina. Note how spotless and polished it is.
The item on the right of the synthetic resin basin is not a baby changing mat but instead an ultra violet hand dryer. As you can imagine I had copious fun with that, working out firstly what it was and then secondly how to operate it.
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