I Have a New Mantra
READER ALERT: This one is a bit of ramble; hang in there.
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“Flush Gently.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t take my phone into the gas station bathroom Sunday morning. And I say “unfortunately” not because my phone is required (or even “comes in handy”) when I visit a gas station bathroom. Fact is that I find that cell phones and bathrooms (both public and private) are something less than a “match made in heaven.” (You may disagree; that’s your prerogative.)
No, it’s simply unfortunate that I didn’t have it (my phone) with me because it kept me from getting a photo of the hand-written sign taped above the toilet. (I did my best to recreate it for you above.)
But trust me, that’s what it said, along with a smiley face and interestingly, a small drawing of a flower. (I guess the sign maker thought the graphics would be the tiebreaker for anyone who considered defying the request, cajoling them to “think twice” before “flushing with force.”)
Anyway, as you can imagine, I had a couple of thoughts about this curious (or at least curiously written and decorated) toilet sign:
What was at play that required a “gentle” flush? and
“Hell with that … I’m want to taste the forbidden fruit. I’m gonna flush hard to see what will happen next!”
Maybe it was the smiley face, or the flower, or maybe I just let my better judgment take over. When I finished what I had come to do, I obliged “the management” (I presume it was the management making the request … isn’t it always?) and put a light touch to the handle. It flushed in accordance with what I would consider normal plumbing standards. No muss, no fuss. I then “gently” washed my hands (keeping with the theme) and exited.
When I left the place, part of me was tempted to let the guy behind the counter know I took the directive to heart, maybe wanting credit for not requiring him to find out (likely the hard way) that he had a mess on his hands (quite literally) because somebody was 1) a non-reader, 2) rebellious, 3) completely unaware of his surroundings or 4) simply a a-hole.
I didn’t want to be any of those (though I have played all of the four aforementioned roles at some point in the screenplay that is my life, often giving award-worthy performances).
But I thought that would be weird, acknowledging that I had cooperated with something so basic … well not really basic but … anyway, you get the picture. And he seemed just fine paying absolutely no attention to those coming and going from the place, so I’m pretty sure he would have ignored any banter from someone like me.
Case in point, when I selected a pack of gum and took it to the counter (for the record, I don’t believe one should use a restroom at a retail establishment without purchasing something), he didn’t speak to me, didn’t look at me, and come to think of it, I’m not even sure he completed the transaction. But that’s beside the point.
“So Dave, what is the point?” Yeah, I have to admit, I’m taking a long and winding road to get to it, aren’t I? But I have one (a point, that is), and it’s this:
That simple request, handwritten over a toilet in a “less-than-clean” gas station bathroom (we can talk about that fact on another day) is, if you think about it, a solid mantra for life.
“Flush gently” (flower, smiley face).
Seriously, if we all were to get up every morning, and the first thing … the VERY first thing … we said to ourselves was “Flush gently,” I think it would always start our days off on the right foot.
It’s short, positive, polite and prescriptive (I just violated my own guideline of not using alliteration; forgive me). And admit it, if you said that to yourself in the morning, it would make you chuckle, wouldn’t it?
“Flush gently” is a light-hearted, fun way to say, “Go easy … on yourself and others.” And over time, “flush” can really become a placeholder for any other word you want. It’s the “gently” that gives it meaning (along with the smiley face and flower).
And isn’t that the way for just about everything in life? It’s not always the what we do (the “flush”), it’s how we do it (the “gently”).
Then, adding the smiley face and the flower (which now that I think about were really the critical elements to get patrons to cooperate with the gentle directive in that bathroom), just makes you smile, and think, “You know, it’s going to be a good day.”
I get called out now again (usually by my own stupid self) for overthinking and making too much of the little things that come and go every day. And maybe this is textbook case. But I’d love you to try it for a day or two: When you get up, before you do anything else, just say to yourself, “Flush gently” and see if that doesn’t get your day started on a good note.
What could it hurt, right?
Enjoy the day, friends, and remember … flush gently. (I’m thinking of putting it on a t-shirt.)
© 2026 David R. Haznaw
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