Urinal etiquette explained
Integrated Spatial Judgment Without the Invention of Additional Hazards
QUESTION 20/20
The final scored arrangement combines occupied termini, a substantial visitor, a partition and a wet fixture. Its difficulty lies in keeping their separate effects separate whilst comparing the whole room.
The situation
The Stadium · Entrance: Middle right.
| Position | State |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ordinary visitor |
| 2 | Available |
| 3 | Large visitor |
| 4 | Available |
| 5 | Available |
| 6 | Wet floor · unavailable |
| 7 | Available |
| 8 | Ordinary visitor |
Protective partition: 3–4.
Recommended position: 5
Eliminating the obvious compromises
Position two lies between the ordinary visitor at one and the substantial visitor at three. Four is screened from the substantial visitor but still physically adjacent. Seven directly adjoins the ordinary visitor at eight. Six is wet and unavailable. These observations reduce the plausible candidates without requiring a new scoring formula.
The dry interior reserve
Position five leaves four unused before the substantial visitor and remains farther from the ordinary visitor at eight than seven does. The partition supports privacy towards the left; the puddle closes only six. Five is also clear of the immediate entrance-side end. Its selection follows the combined facts rather than the visual prominence of any single prop.
Conclusion
Position five completes the scored examination. Advanced judgment consists less in discovering additional rules than in declining to forget the elementary ones when several objects appear at once.
In plain language
Five. A gap from the big bloke, distance from the man at eight, and dry ground. The screen is useful; the puddle is someone else’s problem.