Never, ever, ever use the bathroom on a moving vehicle!!!!!!

That has always been my rule. I only break it on rare occasions when I don't have enough time between flights to use the restroom, or if the flight is too long.

This past weekend we were on a bus driving around the various parts of Mexico doing our concert performances. One of the trips was about 5 hours. No stops. No problem, right?? I used the bathroom before we left the house. It's all good. I knew I should not have had that orange juice for breakfast. We had only been on the road for an hour when I had to go (there was a gap in there, so it had been at least two hours since I'd used the bathroom). I was determined. I was NOT going to walk all the way to the back of the bus (I was in the very first row!), and embarrass myself in front of everyone, and use the bathroom (why is it embarrassing to use the bathroom?? everyone has to go sometime). I tried sleeping, but it didn't work very well. If we had been closer to Zacatacus I would have made myself wait, but with another 2 1/2 hours... well, I finally decided I had to go.

I shoved my way through the people standing in the aisles, and made it back to the bathroom. The only problem was that the lock on the bathroom had been malfunctioning, and locking people inside. It only happened to a couple people, so I figured I would be one of the lucky ones. Ha! Think again! When I first got in there I couldn't get it to lock. That should have been a great big sign "DO NOT LOCK THIS DOOR". Well, I thought I finally had it locked, and was free to relieve myself. Just as I'm sitting down (sorry if this is too detailed for you) the door starts to pop open! YIKES!!! I made a desperate grab for the door handle and slammed it shut again. I finally managed to get it locked.

I finished up in there, but when I tried to unlock the door, that didn't work either. Being the Harry family "Screw driver girl", I thought "No problem. I can handle this." Yet another error in my thinking. I could see the bolt if I looked at it from a certain angle. So I was trying everything I could think of. That thing would not budge. At all.

I finally admitted defeat. I knocked on the door, hoping that someone nearby would be able to hear me. Nothing. Great! I get to spend the rest of the trip locked in a stinky bathroom on a moving bus! I knocked again as hard as I could. All the while trying to decide what I would yell if it came to that. What do you yell, when you're not sure if the person/s listening speak English or not?! Still not sure about that one. Much to my relief someone heard me. Why of all people, did it have to be one that doesn't speak English?! I KNOW there were a lot of people right there that could speak English, so why him?! Oh well. After a few minutes of trying all of his suggestions, he finally gave up and went to get the keys from the bus driver. That meant that he had to walk all the way to the front of the bus. Which means that everyone knew what was going on. By the time he got the door open, I think just about everyone had turned around in their seats to watch me be freed from my smelly prison. It was a bittersweet moment.

My word of advice to all of you on bathrooms on moving vehicles?? Avoid them at all costs!