things kevin hates

I was on vacation (to Six Flags Over Georgia) a week and a half ago. I saw something I hadn’t seen in quite some time: automatic hand dryers—you know, the annoying machines that blow hot air at your hands but never manage to dry them off. I’m surprised how rare they’ve become. Maybe it’s just because I don’t go into public restrooms to often, but in my childhood it seemed like they were everywhere, despite the fact that you’d just have to wipe your hands off on your clothes to get them dry.

Now, let me say that I have no idea whatsoever whether hand dryers are better for the environment, or whether they are more cost-effective for businesses. What I do know is that hand dryers suck, and paper towels work a hell of a lot better. Every time you try to use a hand dryer, the first push of the button (or activation of the motion sensor) never keeps the dryer on long enough to dry your hands. So you have to push the button again. Also, if you’re slightly OCD like me and you like to use a paper towel to grab the door handle of the bathroom as you exit, you don’t have that choice if there are hand dryers but no paper towels.

Finally, although I admit this is a conjecture, it seems like the newer public bathrooms (the ones with automatic faucets and soap dispensers) have paper towels instead of hand dryers. So presumably, it’s either less costly or greener than hand dryers; or perhaps everyone else is just fed up with hand dryers too.