A lot of public bathrooms these days are switching over to automatic flushing toilets. In theory, this sounds like a great idea, freeing the germ-wary bathroom goer from the chore of touching one of the flush handles. However, in my experience, automatic flushing toilets generally fall into one of the following two categories:

1) The Lazy One: The Lazy toilet really misses the point of the automatic flushing toilet. Well beyond the time when the user has “done his business,” the toilet sits there, happily doing absolutely nothing, while the hapless bathroomer waves his or her hand in front of the sensor like a fool until he finally gives up and presses the button in disgust.

2) The Overachiever: The Overachiever is the opposite of The Lazy One. Not wanting to leave the user dissatisfied, The Overachiever flushes at every chance it gets, whether or not the user is actually done or even standing. The causes problems especially when the bathroomer is using toilet seat covers, and The Overachiever attempts to suck her down along with everything else.

However, ever so rarely, the vigilant bathroom user will happen upon that shining beacon of hope, that diamond in the rough called the Just in Time toilet. The Just in Time toilet never tries to suck you down, nor does it leave you hanging, so to speak, waiting with baited breath for it to flush. The 2nd stall in the 4th-floor EA women’s bathroom is one such JiT toilet. Always right on time, this beloved 2nd stall toilet flushes right when I’m ready to leave the stall; never earlier, never later. I can always count on not having to press the flush button or fearing for my life as the toilet flushes when I’m not ready for it. If I could take 2nd stall toilet with me back to school, I would. So here’s to you, 2nd stall toilet. I salute you.