I am not a man of stone. I have concern for other people. So if someone is suffering from a medical problem, I am happy to lend a sympathetic ear.
That said, my tolerance for half-full Preparation H tubes sitting in a bathroom stall is very low.
But like I said, man of flesh, not stone. So I did my best to come up with reasonable excuses for this behavior.
Perhaps this man was miraculously cured. With just a small application, he found himself 100% relieved of 100% of his symptoms. He expressed this with a closed-lipped smile and a confident walk, as I’ve come to understand is the standard way of expressing self-satisfaction in medical commercials. Because he was so overwhelmed with his new lease on life, he simply forgot.
Perhaps this man was not at all cured, and instead was in terrible pain. Feeling so betrayed by a product that he was assured was THE product for his particular need, feeling upset that he left the store with this conspicuously bright yellow tube, feeling a lot of feelings, he just couldn’t bear to once again heft that tube and put it back in his pocket.
Perhaps this man is so embarrassed by his condition that he feels compelled to go out under false pretenses, go to a Walgreens two towns over, buy the tube with cash, and then abscond to a public restroom to apply the medicine, soothing himself for a brief period. This little tube may be much more than litter. It might be the token left behind by a man so ashamed of himself and his body that he is keeping it all a secret, hiding himself from even those who love him dearly.
Perhaps he is an asshole.