I can't remember if my K-2 school had doors on the stalls, but I do know that the 3-5 school didn't. Junior high (6-8) definitely did, though, so either they started trusting us not to TP the entire bathroom, or they decided the privacy was more important at that age.

Oh, yes. Even worse was when I was the first in my 5th-grade class to get her period, and had to deal with pads, etc., in full view of anyone else in that bathroom. Yuck.

Oh holy crap. I would've...I don't know, made my mother call in sick for me for the week or something. I was the first girl I knew to get mine (summer between 5th & 6th), and I was already plenty mortified without that kind of humiliation. Seriously, I'm sitting here infuriated on your (and any other girl this happened to) behalf. (Can I assume you're ok now, 20 or whatever years later?)

I always hang my purse on the hook. I figure the chance of encountering the semi-mythical over-the-door purse thief is tiny and the chance of something disgusting getting on my purse if I put it on the floor is large.

Ginger is wise.

My elementary school had a big, round, communal concrete sink in the boy's room. There was a bar around the base you stepped on, and metal mushroom shaped thing in the middle that spritzed water like a lawn sprinkler.

Anybody know what I'm talking about? In retrospect, it was verra strange.

I got the bathroom that was accessible only because kids made it too ugly for anyone but disabled folks to use in 7th and 8th. "Kathy Mahoney fucks farm animals," if you're wondering.

"Kathy Mahoney fucks farm animals,"

Isn't that the lost Richard Scarry book?

Where did you go to junior high again, erika?

Anybody know what I'm talking about? In retrospect, it was verra strange.

They had those in the football stadium bathrooms at one point. I remember an early problem with them was that the water pressure varied so sometimes they'd overshoot the basin area.

You all had them in your schools?

Yep. From what I remember, though, there were two multi-stall bathrooms in my elementary school, and only one of them had stalls without doors. So we just avoided that bathroom as much as possible. I think it was in the wing for younger kids anyhow, so dealing with periods, etc., wasn't an issue.

They had those in the football stadium bathrooms at one point. I remember an early problem with them was that the water pressure varied so sometimes they'd overshoot the basin area.

You could also screw with other kids by hooking your foot under the bar to keep the water from spritzing, or to keep it to a trickle so the kid leaned in, and then let it go so they sprayed themselves.

That sounds like a sink for doctors, so they can turn the water off and on without touching anything with their hands.