This [plagiarized] note comes to us from a staff restroom at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “This is just great,” says our submitter. “We can put a 7-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm in space that can build a space station, but we can’t get a ‘wall robot’ to work…or even send in a work order request to get it fixed.”
Neil DeGrasse Tyson, would you care to test out this motion sensor hand towel machine for yourself?
Aaaaand…there you have it.
related: It’s not rocket science.
extra credit: “Nice Work If You Can Get It” [This American Life]
33 responses so far ↓
#1
Chris
I swear I was in that exact same bathroom about a week ago. The note wasn’t there though.
Jun 11, 2012 at 7:26 pm rating: 2
#2
Chris
And yes, I am an astronaut.
Jun 11, 2012 at 7:27 pm rating: 7
#3
Jon
What’s facilities going to do, reengineer the wall robot? What actually happens are that those branded wall dispensers (this one’s a Georgia Pacific) are given cheap or free by the paper company if the facility signs a long-term contract… just like your cell phone. Just like your cell phone, if it sucks, you’re stuck.
Jun 11, 2012 at 7:34 pm rating: 5
#4
Hilary
I always thought the watch out meme was Steve Harvey.
Jun 11, 2012 at 7:34 pm rating: 2
#5
Chris
It’s actually a Canadian robot arm…
Jun 11, 2012 at 7:46 pm rating: 13
#6
Clip Snark
WORLD DRYER FOREVER!!
Jun 11, 2012 at 7:47 pm rating: 2
#7
Slm
somebody stole this from Jimmy Fallon’s Thank You Notes book.
Jun 11, 2012 at 8:57 pm rating: 3
#8
Zorin
It’s funny. I get the point of motion sensor towel dispensers and hand dryers… avoiding having to touch dirty bathroom surfaces after you wash your hands.
But then you look over at that big filthy door handle that you have to pull to get out of the room… that’s been touched by umpteen poeple who didn’t wash their hands. And you wonder what the point is.
Jun 11, 2012 at 9:37 pm rating: 26
#9
kathryn
I put disposable paper covers on the seat, use my foot to flush the toilet, bring my own paper towels, wait for someone else to open the door and sneak through, and use Purell when I’m out of there. Did I miss anything? Oh yeah, I have to pass through the level 4 decon hut when I enter my house. That is, if I ever went out of my house.
Jun 12, 2012 at 6:32 am rating: 14
#10
bitchy the dwarf
we have those same machines where I work. We have the opposite issue- they just randomly spit paper towels out when nobody is anywhere near them. Same thing with the automated soap dispensers, LOL.
Jun 12, 2012 at 7:03 am rating: 3
#11
Dane Zeller
I don’t get the purpose of the towels.
Jun 12, 2012 at 9:58 am rating: 0
#12
Goldie
Somebody needs to tell the rocket scientists that these dispensers have a handle on the side, to be used when the motion sensor fails. Turning a handle is not as impressive as posting a snarky note, but it does the job. On second thought, the snarky note itself can serve as a semi-decent hand towel. Lots of options here!
Jun 12, 2012 at 10:15 am rating: 4
#13
Ginamonster
Actually, Goldie, that model doesn’t have a handle on the side. (I used to work in maintenance) But the batteries do need to be changed once in awhile. It takes DCells…
Jun 12, 2012 at 11:41 am rating: 4
#14
bitchy the dwarf
i think people use fewer towels with these machines. One you have the first one you have to pull forward on the little bar or rip the towel off before the motion sensor resets. I think most folks lose patience after the 2nd towel. Plus you can set the length of the towel on these machines. I know this because they shortened the ones in our bathroom so now instead of getting one towel that would work just fine you end up getting 2 smaller ones that end up longer overall than the single long one you used to need.
Jun 12, 2012 at 12:47 pm rating: 2
#15
Zsa
I would rather walk around with wet handprints on my ass than be forced to acknowledge that the towel dispenser is smarter than me.
Jun 12, 2012 at 6:54 pm rating: 13
#16
Hane
The one at my old office used to go off and spew towels if someone happened to walk by it.
We also had one of those zillion-decibel hand-dryers. I used to love using it whenever someone in one of the nearby toilet stalls was talking on her cell phone. Because I’m a bitch like that.
Jun 13, 2012 at 4:08 pm rating: 11
#17
Tommy
There was a long elaborate discussion in the database at Microsoft when these came out. Was the same time as the Kinect and it’s “Wave to engage” feature.
Jun 23, 2012 at 4:47 pm rating: 0
#18
Stefani
The robotic space arm is, in fact, Canadian. Coincidentally, I have never met a Canadian hand dryer I didn’t like.
Jun 25, 2012 at 10:09 pm rating: 0
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