Bathroom.

I have a little obsession with: bathrooms. Or, if you want to be more accurate, restrooms. Or, if you're not from the US, toilets.

I value them highly, and often judge restaurants and other establishments primarily on their Johns and Janes. I think of the restroom as the dirty little hidden secret of every establishment -- either you care about it and it shows, or you don't...and it smells.

I have sometimes considered going into the field of Bathroom Architect. I know it's probably not a real job, but one can always fantasize and use it as a pretense for complaining. Throughout my career, I would boldly and relentlessly pursue the complete eradication of nonsensically built bathrooms. After I was through, all bathroom doors would be push to get out, pull to get in -- no one would ever have to awkwardly navigate themselves out of a door-cramped stall or dirty their hands post-wash again. And all soap would be nicely scented.

That being such, I will go into my main post, which is called:

I JOINED NPR BECAUSE OF THE TOILET

I joined NPR because of its restrooms. This is of course in jest, but also partially true. Since small childhood, I have LOVED almond-scented soap that many restaurants have. I am always disappointed when the soap is pink, but no, not almond, not luscious almond. At the NPR Internship Fair last spring, I went to use the Conference Center restroom and discovered not only did NPR sound gloriously from restroom ceiling speakers, but that this fantastic source of news also had - gasp - almond-scented soap! And not just the pink stuff, but high-quality, silky-pearl-colored almond soap. Truly a rarity in the restroom world.

I think I am over the limit now, and so I'll end by saying that this has left a lasting impression on me, and is another reason why I admire NPR.