A BATHROOM ENCOUNTER

I had to use a public bathroom one day. As I walked in, another lady walked in behind me that I knew. We smiled and said hello to one another. I ran into one of the stalls first. This is not a pretty picture folks but you have to picture this...I began hopping around in my stall while trying to get my pants down...just as the waterfall started to flow into the toilet the lady in the next stall blurted out, " Hey Modolly, I've been meaning to ask you...Are you OK? When I saw you at the coffee machine the other day I didn't want to ask you then. I didn't want you to feel awkward. We both flushed our johns simultaneously and walked out of the stalls. As we met at the sinks to wash our hands she looked at my reflection in the mirror and said, " You know, when you see someone with a scarf on like that you feel so bad. You feel their pain, but I want you to know that I think you are very brave. Also, can I ask if what you have is fatal?". She began to tear up. We dried our hands and she hugged me soo hard she almost broke my ribs. I looked at her and grabbed her forearms as if to say, "Get a grip on yourself". I explained that I wasn't dying and that I had alopecia. This was a weird encounter indeed, but not because I had to explain to yet another person that I didn't have a fatal disease, but because I couldn't figure out why she felt that while I was taking a leak in the toilet was more of an appropriate time to ask me if I was sick rather than asking me that question when she saw me at the coffee machine the other day.