When using public restrooms

I absolutely hate HATE using public restrooms. Whenever possible I will hold it in till I'm bursting from within and it hurts whether I stand or sit until I get home and can use my own clean and safe toilet. But, this isn't always possible (and not everyone is such a sucker for pain as I am) and there are those times when the call of nature is just too far across the border line of disaster to wait till you get home. And you find yourself being forced to make use of a public restroom. Public restrooms are a major societal facility/issue (I'm sure I don't need to explain myself here...) and therefore, there are certain rules that should be followed/things that should be done when it comes to using these facilities.

This is a simple guide on what do you when you're forced to use a public restroom:

1. Firstly, you need to think of YOUR safety first! These places are a cesspool of germs. (And yes, I know that so are many places and things, such as restaurant menus and tables and money, but I'm talking about public restrooms, so lets just keep it to that for now). So, the first rule to remember is to never touch anything directly! And if you do, always wash your hands or sanitize afterwards (preferably both)
2.  Once you're in, before entering a stall, you glance in. Make sure that the floor is clean! The last thing you want is to rush into a stall and as you get in you realize you're standing in a puddle of what you HOPE is water but looks suspiciously discoloured.
3. Next you check if the toilet lid is up or down. If the lid is down, do NOT risk opening it. I repeat, do NOT lift up the lid of a public restroom toilet! Very rarely does anything good come of it. It's usually been left down for a reason... Common sense people! 
4. IF the lid is up (and the floor is clean) you then step slowly in. Making sure to take in everything of your surroundings to ensure that all is safe. You then glance into the pan. You do not STARE into it because you might find someone else's forgotten business in it, you glance so as to save yourself. In that quick moment you will be able to tell if it's safe or not. 
5. If it is safe, you then go in for a closer inspection. If all is safe at the surface level, your search for a toilet is done.
6. Before you relieve yourself, make sure to thoroughly wipe the pan. You ALWAYS wipe the pan first! (No matter where you are). 
7. You then cover the pan with toilet paper - you never ever sit directly on a toilet pan unless it's your own! (If you live in a more fortunate country I hear they have paper covers provided) You are then ready to use the toilet. If possible you may squat (this is for women, men obviously don't have this dilemma, and only if you are sure that you won't spray or miss target... and also only if you're going for a one, which I assume is the only thing you would do in a public toilet). 
8. Now, you've relieved yourself and can be at ease. But, you have to leave the toilet in the way you would like to find it. First put the lid down, then flush. Flushing without closing the lid is extremely disgusting! So what if you're the one that used the toilet, you wouldn't wanna touch your own pee, would you? So, I'm sure you don't want it being sprayed all over you along with whatever other germ have been sitting in that toilet. Also, the water sometimes has a tendency to splash onto the toilet pan, and you don't want someone to walk in and wonder if that's urine or water. Either way its still gross though. So just close the toilet lid, then flush. 
9. You then lift the lid up and ensure that the toilet has flushed properly, if not, re-flush! If all is in order you may then leave the stall.
10. You proceed to the basins and you wash your hands with soap! If there is any. A lot of times there isn't any so you just have to do a plain old water wash over. I prefer it when restrooms have those sensor operated taps, but that's not very common in South Africa at the moment. So you just have to deal with the normal taps that you have to touch. 
11. After washing your hands do NOT dry them with the hand dryer - hand dryers are unsanitary and actually spread more germs.  Rather use a paper towel, if there are none, just leave your hands wet. They can air dry as you walk or you can get a napkin at some point or use your hankie if you have one (and it's clean). 
12. The best thing to do after this would be to sanitize your hands.

And THAT is a simple guide on what to do when using a public restroom, for both your own safety and others. If you stick to those guides you should find yourself coming out of a public restroom with minimum hassle and germs (obviously this does not include unforeseen circumstances). And please, if you do not already own  hand sanitizer, please do buy some. They are relatively cheap and available in small handbag or even pocket-sized bottles and can be found in most stores like Pick n Pay, Checkers, Clicks and Dischem. You should ALWAYS have a bottle of sanitizer on you at all times.