NEW YORK — 26-year-old Michael Reyder reportedly had his mind blown late last night after quickly using the women’s restroom at the Blarespace DIY music venue and seeing the extremely supportive graffiti consisting of inspirational quotes and general affirmations.
“I really had to pee, and my friend Brianna told me to use the ladies room and offered to stand by the door. I saw a whole new world in there. It was like The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, only with toilet paper on my shoe,” said Reyder, still shaken.
Reyder allegedly spent the rest of the night talking to anyone and everyone about the magical words he read.
“[The graffiti] was so supportive and loving — it was such a change from the men’s room, where some douche just writes ‘UR GAY’ under every tag,” Reyder told a group of male friends at the bar. “I mean, this room had ‘UR GAY,’ too, but it was followed by, ‘And I totally support you and wish you nothing but love and wonderful things in life. There’s an LGBTQ music night on Tuesdays if you’d like to go, or if you want, we can just go to a different show — I don’t want to pigeonhole you. Either way, I’m here to be your friend. Call me!’ It was insane. It must have taken forever to scratch that into the stall.”
Reyder recalled the bathroom graffiti also contained some sage relationship advice. “‘Someday, someone will see that you are more than something to use. Until then, remember: YOU ARE WORTHY,’ is one that stands out,” he said. “And ‘Love Yourself First’ was written basically everywhere.”
Reyder relied on his female friends to watch the door for him as he made multiple inspirational trips to the bathroom throughout the night.
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“There were these beautifully illustrated self-care diagrams — I had no idea how to do a self-breast exam,” said Reyder, running three fingers down his chest with one hand behind his head. “I kind of want to take a photo of the vaginal diagram to hang in the men’s room. There’s an arrow pointing straight to the clitoris — it was extremely helpful.”
Reyder was most proud to see one of his best friends mentioned on the wall.
“It said, ‘For a good time, call Brianna Meli,’” he recalled. “‘She’s a wonderful friend and an amazingly talented individual.’”