Tapping and Touching in Public Spaces

Larry Craig's bathroom visit at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport continues to dominate the news.

His encounter with an undercover police officer has done for bathroom sex what President Bill Clinton did for oral sex. It's in our living rooms and a topic of current events discussions.

Naturally, knowing the protocol of anonymous bathroom sex has become a concern for many Americans. If you don't know the signals, you could inadvertently give a stranger the wrong impression. For that reason, I think it's vital that this information be taught in the schools. It's a public health issue and should be incorporated into sex education classes.

I've always thought of going into a public restroom as risky business. Now, it seems even more dangerous.

Yesterday, we were treated to the audio of police Sgt. Dave Karsnia interviewing Craig. That helped bring the lurid episode to life.

Craig told the officer that he travels almost weekly through the Twin Cities airport and that he uses that particular restroom "regularly." Craig suggested that the matter be settled quietly. "Am I going to have to fight you in court?" he asked Karsnia early in the session.

"No, no. I'm not going to court unless you want me there," the officer replied, to which Craig told him: "'Cause I don't want to be in court, either."

He later told Craig: "You're gonna get out of here. You're gonna have to pay a fine, and that will be it. Okay. I don't call the media."

But the interview soon became an argument over the details of the incident and whether Craig's actions were those of a man seeking a sexual encounter or whether he merely misunderstood gestures.

"I am not gay; I don't do these kinds of things," Craig told Karsnia. The officer replied that he did not care what the senator's sexual orientation is but that Craig was not being candid about the incident in the restroom.

In the police report, Karsnia wrote that based on his experience, Craig's touching his foot to the officer's and running his hand under the partition separating the stalls are well-known signals among men who use public restrooms for sexual encounters.

Craig vehemently denied that interpretation of his actions.

"Your foot came toward mine, mine came towards yours. Was that natural? Did we bump? Yes, I think we did. You said so. I won't dispute that," he said, explaining later that he was not sure how their feet came to bump each other. "I'm a fairly wide guy."

Craig also disputed that he swiped his left hand under the partition, which would have shown his wedding ring to Karsnia. He said he bent down to pick up a piece of paper with his right hand, adding that to get his left hand under the partition would have required him to "turned sideways" because his stall was on Karsnia's left-hand side.

The officer said he saw the wedding ring on Craig's hand, and challenged the senator's version of events.

"I expect this from the guy we get out of the 'hood," Karsnia said. "I mean, people vote for you."

Read the transcript of the creepy interview.
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Here's another reported case of touching between strangers:

NEW YORK—During a crowded rush-hour subway ride Monday, an inadvertent brushing of one human being's hand against the forearm of another elicited a swift, contrite apology, subway sources reported.

"Whoops—sorry," said proofreader Heather Wright, 32, immediately following the intrusion into 20-year-old Hunter College student Chris Franek's personal space, which occurred as Wright tried to turn the page of her book with one hand. "Sorry about that."

Responding to Wright's apology, Franek almost inaudibly mumbled, "It's okay."