Article posted Thursday, May 23, 2013 3:37pm

Dear Mary Pat,

I’m baffled. After drinking a few cups of coffee in the morning, I was struck with the sudden urge to use the bathroom while browsing in a shop. I rushed to the restroom, where another woman was waiting because all the stalls were full. Then a dainty, bare foot revealed itself beneath a door. The woman was painting her toenails!

I wanted to bang on the door – I had to go so bad – but I was more shocked than anything. Who paints their nails in public restrooms? How should I have handled that situation? I’m lucky I didn’t wet myself.

When You Gotta Go

Ephraim, WI

Dear When You Gotta Go,

I’m wracking my brain to wonder why someone would be painting their toes in a public bathroom and unfortunately the conclusion that I come up with is that this woman must have stolen the nail polish? Otherwise, who in their right mind would choose to paint their toes in a public stall, which in a lot of cases is germ central? I myself can’t wait to get out of a public bathroom; I can’t imagine parking myself there to paint nails. Yuck.

Maybe this woman thought it was the perfect crime – take a bottle of nail polish, freshen up her toes under cover of the stall and throw the “evidence” away before returning to the store. If this was the case, it’s pathetic and shameful, but my only other thought was it must have been some kind of severe fashion emergency?!

If I were you, I would have gently knocked on the door and asked if she was almost done with her pedicure since people were waiting to use the facilities. Then I might have sighed and rolled my eyes since even though passive aggressive behavior isn’t always effective, it’s sometimes gratifying. You can always throw in a toe tap as well.

People never fail to amaze me. Thankfully, they oftentimes amaze me in a good way. Not so much the case here though. In future, try to limit your coffee consumption until you can be sure that you’ll have a bathroom available to you for immediate use.

Good luck,

Mary Pat