March 19, 1999

The Graffiti on the Wall

From now on, when I think of graffiti, it will not be some festive gangland non-United Nations censured boundary marker or a criminal act of Jesus telling me he loves me. To me, graffiti in all its spirit will be the Grout Walls.

No, they are not found in China. In two guy bathrooms at Butler, some humorist in the spirit of genius or stupidity began writing on the grout between the tiles that make up the wall a series of grout puns. Over the years, it seems various urinators have added to the collection: "Grout Wall of China," "The Grout Muppet Caper," "Grout on, Grout off, the Grouter," and "Oscar the Grout." Needless to say, they are grout.

Some time recent, though, after years of being there, the grout wall was cleaned away from the bathroom I commonly use. The thin tracings of ink can still be seen, and a few persevering patriots of the pun have tried to recreate the original, but it has been lost.

I see no reason why this was done, and it was a loss of faith for me. A legacy of humor wiped away with clorox and a sponge. So much destroyed with so little. Then, I used another bathroom one day and discovered that like all grout things good and small, the grout wall came in two, just like the animals on Noah's ark during the Grout Flood. There, living on its own was another grout wall.

I will help nuture this other wall for the other generations. My pen and ink will stain the caulk in the name of humor. I carry on tradition. A stranger will read those, and will laugh or think they're stupid. But the Grout Wall carries on. Why? Because it's humor, and laughter is grout for what ails you.