Public bathrooms are very rarely pleasant. My personal measure for if one is actually nice is if I can get in and out without a wave of revulsion—not the highest of bars. However, there is one bathroom sin that is unforgivable, that results in immediate damnation through failure of my nastiness measure: an automatic flushing toilet.

Many may disagree with this; automatic flushing means that you do not have to come into contact with the dreaded toilet handle. The fear of the handle has never made sense to me: What is so bad about touching something dirty when you are mere seconds from (hopefully) thoroughly washing your hands? But hey, automatic flushing means that you don’t have to walk into the stall and see whatever gift the last person left and neglected to flush. Seeing another person’s “waste” is never pleasant, but the encounter can end with ease through simply giving a flush before you get down to your own business.

I hate automatic toilets. I really, really hate them. This may stem from my anxiety and the fact that I had an irrational fear of toilet flushes as a child and thought I would die if I did not sprint a safe distance from the toilet before it finished flushing. Automatic toilets just flush so much, as anyone who has ever changed clothes in a bathroom stall with one would know.

There you are, just trying to change quickly and go on your way, but there is the toilet, just flushing over and over again, flushing impossibly loud and spraying poo water all over the place. No thank you. This ick factor is not limited to using the stall as a dressing room. Automatic toilets also tend to flush if an individual happens to be utilizing the porcelain throne for an extended period. If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of being on a public toilet for this long of a period, the last thing you need is the toilet rushing you and spraying your bottom with the germ-infested water of judgment.

My hatred for these pushy potties became cemented after I made the mistake of taking a new medication on an empty stomach on my way to go to brunch with friends. Beginning my day kneeling on the floor of a public bathroom while my friend took a poop in the next stall whilst checking in on me was a rough enough start to my day, what made it rougher was the nonstop spray of poo water. In the end, I was worn out and water was just dripping off of my face. Made my food just a little less appetizing.

Outside of the inherent grossness of these fecal fountains lies the environmental factor. All of this unwanted flushing wastes so much water and energy. Each flush uses about one and a half gallons of water, and changing in front of a toilet can easily cause four unwanted flushes, often more. That’s at least six gallons of water that were used for nothing but to make your day a little more unpleasant.

Dear university overlords that control toilet choices, I implore you: Stop putting in automatic toilets and instead expand the usage of those pleasant toilets with green handles that allow you to use an appropriate amount of water for your business. They don’t spray poo all over your face.