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What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

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Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#131

Post by charlesdm »

__s wrote: post #89
52-6F-62 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It seems, Americans don't trust one another to sit alone in a toilet; I still don't know if it's for security purposes (to check if someone has a heart failure?) or puritanical reasons (make sure people aren't having sex?) but it sure feels strange, and very difficult to get used to when one comes from a different culture. I've always thought it was far less interesting than that: they're cheaper and faster to inst…

There's regulations on minimum gap size (had a client in the industry) https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/26620/why-do-publ...

We learn something every day

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#132

Post by legitster »

bambax wrote: post #54

> To ancient Romans, the practice of sitting on a shared toilet in an open room full of people was entirely ordinary. That's a funny thing to say for an American, because, to Europeans, American toilets are much too public: doors don't go to the floor or ceiling, and even "walls" are thin sheets of wood/plastic loosely joined together with huge spaces between them. It seems, Americans don't trust one another to sit a…

Like so many things Americana, it's about quantity over quality. Our bathrooms aren't as well engineered as European bathrooms, but they are plentiful and spacious. It's MUCH harder to find a public bathroom in Europe, and I am sure cost is an issue.

And I actually prefer the American bathrooms. I often refer to European toilet stalls as "fart coffins" given how claustrophobic and un-ventilated they are. If you can get over the idea that other people in the bathroom are pooping (gasp!), they are perfectly fine.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#133

Post by Cyph0n »

skookumchuck wrote: post #119
bambax wrote: post #54

> To ancient Romans, the practice of sitting on a shared toilet in an open room full of people was entirely ordinary. That's a funny thing to say for an American, because, to Europeans, American toilets are much too public: doors don't go to the floor or ceiling, and even "walls" are thin sheets of wood/plastic loosely joined together with huge spaces between them. It seems, Americans don't trust one another to sit a…

In my high school, the stall doors were removed because kids were smoking in them.

The "open" design makes sense in schools in my opinion, but not really in, e.g., a professional environment.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#134

Post by Balgair »

krrrh wrote: post #124
bambax wrote: post #54

> To ancient Romans, the practice of sitting on a shared toilet in an open room full of people was entirely ordinary. That's a funny thing to say for an American, because, to Europeans, American toilets are much too public: doors don't go to the floor or ceiling, and even "walls" are thin sheets of wood/plastic loosely joined together with huge spaces between them. It seems, Americans don't trust one another to sit a…

On the other hand, I could never get over how many German washrooms I have see that had urinals in a corner such that they couldn’t both be used comfortably. I have never seen anything like it in the states. Far from the most extreme example: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8329oawvs9utt4n/german_urinals.jpg...

Oh god, or the having to 'tip' (pay) to use the toilet. Like, dude, I don't need you to wipe everything inbetween every use, you're holding up the line, it's cool.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#135

Post by ropeadopepope »

kragen wrote: post #24

When I moved to Argentina, it took me a while to get used to bidets. But now that I'm used to them, I never use toilet paper voluntarily. It leaves your butt still dirty! As someone said, if you got poop on your arm, maybe while changing a diaper, would you wipe it off with a piece of paper and consider it clean? No, not if you're from the mainstream of any developed country. You would use water, soap, and maybe more…

Do bidets shoot soap up there? Should they? :D

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#136

Post by Balgair »

amelius wrote: post #115
bambax wrote: post #54

> To ancient Romans, the practice of sitting on a shared toilet in an open room full of people was entirely ordinary. That's a funny thing to say for an American, because, to Europeans, American toilets are much too public: doors don't go to the floor or ceiling, and even "walls" are thin sheets of wood/plastic loosely joined together with huge spaces between them. It seems, Americans don't trust one another to sit a…

> doors don't go to the floor or ceiling Bad design. With today's pervasiveness of smartphone cameras, it's difficult to not be afraid that someday, somebody will pull a prank and make a shot from above or below; and of course post it on Facebook.

> Someday

My SO is a teacher, it's been going on for a long while now.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#137

Post by martin-adams »

kokx wrote: post #96
DanAndersen wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American, I'm curious what the typical practice is elsewhere for determining if a stall is occupied. I know the little colored marker on the outside of the door is common, but sadly I don't imagine all of our own population being careful enough to notice it. The doors not going all the way down in the US may serve as a more visible indicator of which stalls are occupied without having to bang on the door and ge…

In Europe we mostly rely on the indicator. If you are unsure, you just try to open the door, and you will see if it is locked or not. When it is locked, it is obviously occupied or out of order. No awkward shouting or other kinds of human interaction needed, so you can shit in peace.

Usually it's not possible to close the door flush without locking it, so an open stall will have the door ajar. People only push on the door when they are all occupied.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#138

Post by Balgair »

bambax wrote: post #54

> To ancient Romans, the practice of sitting on a shared toilet in an open room full of people was entirely ordinary. That's a funny thing to say for an American, because, to Europeans, American toilets are much too public: doors don't go to the floor or ceiling, and even "walls" are thin sheets of wood/plastic loosely joined together with huge spaces between them. It seems, Americans don't trust one another to sit a…

You all don't have 'trough' urinals either. The US and Australia both use them frequently in high traffic areas, but the Aussie floor-to-wall version is a lot 'easier' to use and clean.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#140

Post by f1notformula1 »

lainga wrote: post #99
bambax wrote: post #54

> To ancient Romans, the practice of sitting on a shared toilet in an open room full of people was entirely ordinary. That's a funny thing to say for an American, because, to Europeans, American toilets are much too public: doors don't go to the floor or ceiling, and even "walls" are thin sheets of wood/plastic loosely joined together with huge spaces between them. It seems, Americans don't trust one another to sit a…

This is the 6th post I have seen this week along the formula (1) I am from Europe and I went to America. (2) Americans do things in a way I find unusual and/or distressing. (3) The cause must be a character flaw shared by all Americans (security and puritanical reasons...?).

Replace with:

(1) I am from $region_X and I went to $region_Y

(2) $region_Y'ers do things in a way I find unusual and/or distressing

(3) The cause must be a character flaw shared by all $region_Y'ers ().

and your statement is still valid about this formula.

I think we tend to preferentially notice them when we're in one of the two regions involved, but in general the world (and so the internet) is full of this sort of semantically null comparisons about culture and stereotypes. I've started seeing these as idle chatter akin to "Hey, look at that weirdly painted bus". At most I'd respond with "oh heh cool" but I'm not going to spend any more of my energy trying to explain choices of bus colors to anyone.

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