Kroc Spot

Ray Kroc, of McDonald's fame, liked to say that when he and his wife would visit one of the stores, she'd tell him that he could finally retire if she went into the ladies' room and found it clean and well stocked. Each time, he said, she'd come back out, shake her head, and say "Not yet, Ray". I don't know much about ladies' room cleanliness. I know that for guys, it's not a big deal -- hey, just step over that, wouldja? -- but I do know that one of the minor pleasures of life is not having to wonder if you'll need a tetanus shot before using public facilities. So when one of the people who occasionally comments on this blog mentioned that she'd be in the area today, and might stop by, I was (and am) pleased, even as a quiet voice said 'It's not the delight of your presence, Bill. At least, not entirely. Part of it is the chance to use a clean bathroom.' Works for me. I'm looking forward to the visit.

I remember when the Nordstrom's opened in Virginia. We had just stayed in the Four Seasons across the way, where you expect that the public facilities will be clean and well-appointed. My gosh, for those prices, you expect a deferential waiter following you around. (I gave up on the Swedish masseuse named Inga.) When we were leaving, we stopped in to see what the big deal was, and were pleasantly surprised to find that, in fact, Nordstrom's was a pretty nice place -- well laid out, nicely stocked, pleasant and effective staff. But what amazed us was the facilities that were down on the floor, near the doors. They were easily the equivalent of those in the Four Seasons. Little stalls? How about a no-kidding room, with enough space to park a VW bug and set up a picnic table? We already knew we liked the store, but if that was all we'd seen, we still would have been impressed. Sort of the equivalent of the SAS airlines 'tray table' story....this must be a good store -- look at the bathrooms!

Wonder if there's a towel in the hall bath?