191–200 of 557 posts
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Bidets are pretty weird, but I totally recognize their superiority to plain ol' toilet paper. +1 for wet wipes.
wet wipes are terrible for plumbing though.
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…
> 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…
There's cultural differences the other direction. German toilets catch feces on what we called a "shit shelf" instead letting it fall and submerge in water. Which, of course, made for a pretty bad odor situation.
And in Turkey, the "toilet" was a hole in the ground. Even in the Hilton, it was a fancy carved marble and gold leaf "4 inch diameter hole in the floor". My quads and other muscles aren't accustomed to that, and neither was my aim :)
I just shrugged both off and figured there was some history I didn't understand.
> 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…
Perhaps NSFW, but being frank so it's clear what I'm saying. There's cultural differences the other direction. German toilets catch feces on what we called a "shit shelf" instead letting it fall and submerge in water. Which, of course, made for a pretty bad odor situation. And in Turkey, the "toilet" was a hole in the ground. Even in the Hilton, it was a fancy carved marble and gold leaf "4 inch diameter hole in the…
You also had to bring your own toilet paper too which I found out much too late in the process
0/10 Experience for sure
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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.
One of my pet peeves is people who rattle the toilet door before checking the engaged indicator.
> 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...?).
The author mentions the tersorium, but I'm surprised that he doesn't bring up family wipes (also know as "family cloth") https://inhabitat.com/family-cloths-gross-or-great/ . It seems like the idea never truly died out.
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In many public places, it's a homeless / drug deterrent. There's a perception that a private stall creates an opportunity for drug use among the indigent population. It's an interesting commentary on the "world's richest nation" when public stalls are made uncomfortable to deter homeless from having a place to defecate. By contrast, look at the number of coffee shop bathrooms (for example) that use a code system to f…
> By contrast, look at the number of coffee shop bathrooms (for example) that use a code system to further keep out the riff-raff, and in exchange generally offer a more private setting - maybe not European standards, but more private nonetheless. Makes sense if you’ve been responsible for a bathroom that has been defiled. I worked in a retail shop where a homeless person bathed himself from the sink and made things…
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Please no. I don't want asshole recognition software tracking my movements from washroom to washroom.
Surprisingly relevant Adult Swim Infomercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJklHwoYgBQ
I wonder how feasible it would be to embed chemical sensors into such an environment.
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Eh, when someone says "it sure feels strange, and very difficult to get used," it doesn't have to be negative. You can take it as a "character flaw" jibe, but it's really just an observation. source: American that is still in shock by septic tank users that have to throw their feces-paper in the trashcan.
I grew up near Tacoma, WA with a septic tank. Every house on the street has one. We had to have a septic truck come out and pump it every few years. Otherwise it was just like sewer. They did put sewers in about 15 years after the houses were built, and mandated hooking into it on the next septic tank pumping. But the tanks are left underground, as removing them would leave a 20 foot hole in the backyard of each hous…