Carol had a brilliant solution! Put my right hand into a spare poop bag, and then insert that into the mitt! This would keep my hands warm while protecting the mitt lining.

We arrived at the Town Square and another dilemma presented itself. If I went into the washroom wearing the poop bag and mitt, then I would have to leave the bag in the small garbage container which would be rather “anti-social”. Ray’s poop is not pleasant on the nostrils and the odor would probably not go away until the container had been emptied. A better strategy seemed to be to leave the poop bag in an outside garbage bin. I just then had to make sure that I did not touch anything with my right hand until it had been cleaned.

To get to the washrooms, one has to go through a heated lobby (which provides elevator access to some apartments), and then down a short hallway. We entered the lobby with me being very careful to only use my left hand and, while Carol stayed with Ray, I walked down the hallway and pushed on the washroom door. Locked! Knowing that these washrooms should be open, the logical conclusion was they were occupied and I would simply have to go back to the lobby and wait with Carol and Ray …. with my left hand in its mitt, and my right hand consciously being held slightly elevated and away from my jacket. Fortunately, nobody passed through the lobby at this time!

After what seemed like forever (probably only 4-5 minutes) we heard the toilet flush, soon to be followed by the sound of a hand dryer machine. A man came out. At last, I was able to take care of this unpleasant situation. I put my right hand underneath the automatic soap dispenser. Nothing came out. I waved my hand all around it but to no avail.

This was now getting frustrating as I certainly would prefer something more than water to clean my hands. Does the sensor work on the faucet? It did, so I just had to persuade the soap dispenser to give up some of its precious contents. I tried to find a way of opening it so that I could help myself but to no avail.

With no way of opening the container, and as no amount of frantic hand movements beneath the sensor did anything, I resorted to an act of desperation. I pushed two fingers of my left hand up into where the soap should come out and felt around for anything that moved (the logic being that there has to be a mechanism that allows soap to be dispensed).

I located a small flat surface and pushed it up as far as I could, and was rewarded with a handful of soap froth! I then proceeded to wash my hands multiple times because I always seemed to be able to smell the poop after washing and drying. Perhaps there were traces under my finger nails? Force the soap dispenser once more and give my hand another wash! The electric hand dryer worked as expected and so, without further issues, we then made our way home.

“Yup ……….. the plant on my left. Sorry Dad!”

For a planned uneventful walk, it really did get complicated and all because of Ray! I still love you buddy, but is there any chance that you could use open flat areas for your “business”?