I have shit in public in a city jail holding tank in the US, , shat in a comunal toilet in rural China without dividers and wiped my ass with pine needles in the wilderness but by far the worst experience was when i wiped my ass with corn leaves in the corn fields when i was young. Boy did that sting.
What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
271–280 of 557 posts
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#272Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or Ruby, or TCL...
I didn't know that there are still people out there that program in Perl or Tcl??
Booking.com is mostly Perl and doing gangbusters. Tcl is, for example, the lingua franca for F5 load balancers. I have more examples, but both are far from dead.
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#273Earlier quoted context omitted.
Haha I was gonna mention that. I'm still not sure if this counts -- probably does. I'll consult a scholar. Because there are similar things which are allowed under Islam. For instance, a Muslim is advised (not commanded) to make ablutions before picking up the Qur'an. But I have a Qur'an app on my phone which made me wonder if I was supposed to make ablutions before opening the app. A scholar of Islam told me that I'…
> I'm still not sure if this counts -- probably does. Why do you think it does not count?
Maybe because while reading you're not required to open your mouth and physically speak. That's just my reasoning.
Islamic rulings are based on the Qur'an and the Traditions of the Prophet (pbuh). There are about a million traditions on a variety of topics. The scholars keep them in mind while giving a ruling. So, I'm in no position to give a ruling on this. A Google search on the topic tells you that it's not, but none of the answers are satisfying for me so I think I'll have to visit a scholar and ask him/her.
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Yes! Even in malls and airports (Tegel specifically). And the cleaner often seems to be spending 90% of their shift guarding the collection plate. There’s a lot of “customer use only” activity in the US, but people will make exceptions, while in Germany an exception will usually come with a $0.50 charge.
Though, there’s actually a pretty interesting history on how pay toilets were banned in the states, partly due to women’s lib.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_to_End_Pay_Toilets...
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#275I am from the UK, typically visit the US once or twice per year, have visited every country in the EU and am currently spending 12 months traveling the world (3 months in at the moment, having visited India, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand). I have a website/blog about this for those that are interested: http://ourbigplanet.com
In various parts of the world, previous to this trip, I encountered trash cans (or bins as we call them) in bathrooms for toilet tissue (Turkey is an example). I also encountered "bum guns" (the hoses with a sort of shower head that you can fire at yourself after bowl movements). What I typically did was ignore both and continue my business the way I knew how.
Since starting this year long trip, I have been forcing myself to try more things. And all the countries I have visited so far have requested toilet paper isn't flushed and they have the bum gun. So I tried it, and shockingly found it works really well. No matter how bad the movement is (eating street food, often heavily spiced, etc) the bum gun does a splendid job of completely cleaning you, and you don't have to get your hands particularly close to the zone you are cleaning. It is far less abrasive, environmentally better, and leaves you cleaner (it is like if you have a muddy arm, and attempt to clean it by wiping it with tissues vs having a shower).
After using the bum gun, typically I will use a couple of sheets of toilet paper, initially to make sure I was clean, but I so found this wasn't necessary, but I still use a couple just to get dry. Sometimes there isn't any available, and I don't have any, so I leave the bathroom with a slight amount of wetness which quickly dries in the hot countries.
The toilet paper goes into the bin, but unlike in Turkey where it was used toilet paper (used without bum gunning) which stunk the whole room out, now the toilet paper is inoffensive and without smell).
So overall, I feel the way things are done over here have a lot of positives. I am certainly glad I embraced it.
On a tangent, I believe people who wipe typically do it one of two ways:
1. Whilst sitting on the toilet, do some sort of lean and wipe manoeuvre
2. Stand up, squat a tiny bit and wipe.
I have been taught to do 2 as a child, but find some toilets aren't designed for this, as they have a sensor which flushes when you stand (even if you are standing to wipe). I find these sensors are much more common in the US than other places I have visited. It is almost like the designer doesn't know about all the people who use method 2.
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#276When 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…
We can buy "adult baby wipes" in u.s. stores now. It's a good compromise.
Which will cause blockages in sewers.
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#277Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of my pet peeves is people who rattle the toilet door before checking the engaged indicator.
That's intentional. By doing so you are interrupting the occupant's peaceful moment, make him anxious, and as a result he will get out faster.
I thought it was so that the occupant had warning in case the lock wasn't properly engaged.
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#278> 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…
Very interesting observation. I wonder if there is a corelation between how one feels about privacy in general and how one feels about privacy in the bathroom. If americans dont care about privacy in the bathroom, they must not care abouy privacy at all.
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#279When 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…
We can buy "adult baby wipes" in u.s. stores now. It's a good compromise.
Aren't those things an environmental catastrophe though?
Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?
#280When 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…
Well said. Whenever I bring this up to friends, they seem weirded out by bidets, sometimes even grossed out. How can it be grosser than trying to smear poop off with a paper towel!?
> How can it be grosser than trying to smear poop off with a paper towel!?
I understand that with a bidet one must use one's naked fingers to clean the area. That seems substantially grosser than using toilet paper. Then there's the risk of spray going the wrong direction, and of getting one's trousers wet.
A bidet sounds awesome, but terribly impractical. I wonder how people are able to use one so often.