11 ms·

> 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 Americ

by bambax 9y ago

> 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 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.

52-6F-62 9y ago
>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 install. Minimal thought was probably given to the people using them.
- baumandm 9y ago
  It's also easier to mop the floors since you can go under the partitions.
  - baddox 9y ago
    That makes sense, but it would still be a huge improvement to eliminate gaps everywhere but the floor. The cost argument makes sense, but it doesn’t explain why it’s ubiquitous in the US but not in Europe, since the cost-saving incentive should be roughly the same in both regions. Perhaps it started in the US because of safety or puritanism, but has now simply become a de facto standard in the US building industry. I doubt most building developers still think about safety or puritanism and specifically request this type of bathroom walls.
    - 52-6F-62 9y ago
      The gaps are an improvement. I take it you never had to piss in a trough? :P
      - toast0 9y ago
        My favorite: when the only way to tell the handwashing trough from the urinating trough is the height on the wall.
    - Terr_ 9y ago
      > but it would still be a huge improvement to eliminate gaps everywhere but the floor It would, but then in larger bathrooms you'd have to be able to hang some of the weight off the ceiling, and you'd still have issues with things swinging or bending.
- __s 9y ago
  There's regulations on minimum gap size (had a client in the industry) https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/26620/why-do-public-toilets-in-the-us-have-large-gaps-no-privacy https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/26620/why-do-publ...
  - charlesdm 9y ago
    We learn something every day
    - sunstone 9y ago
      Whether we want to or not.
  - adrianratnapala 9y ago
    Ok, so cost and cleanability might be incentive so have doors like that, but not incentives to make regulations. Those regulations likely there for "decency and safety". E.g. to discourage people having sex, or to make it more obvious if someone passes out. That is: the regulations really are there to make reduce privacy. There might be good arguments for reducing privacy, but that is still the proximate goal of the rules.
    - jjeaff 9y ago
      I've heard that they were more to discourage illicit drug use than "indecency".
    - bandrami 9y ago
      I think the end goal is making it harder to do heroin in a bathroom.
      - drewmol 9y ago
        Haha, probably cocaine as well. Some public restrooms seem designed to minimize flat surfaces, private access to clean water, and secluded locations, while others (like in some night clubs) have randomly placed shelves with hard, easily wipeable surfaces, etc.
- mrfusion 9y ago
  I always thought it was for ease of mopping?
- bayareabronco 9y ago
  If you visit an upscale hotel, the "public" restrooms in the lobby typically have larger stalls with fully enclosed doors/rooms. I think you're right. It's mainly a cost cutting issue.
brandonmenc 9y ago
> doors don't go to the floor We had a guy try and propose this for Yankee Stadium, but it didn't take.
coderdude 9y ago
You just lack life experience and imagination if you think a puritan mindset is behind not wanting to provide mini private rooms to the batshit insane public.
astura 9y ago
Americans don't like toilet stalls either, they are utilitarian.
mc32 9y ago
I think one main reason is it facilitates cleaning--also can see if it's occupied or the latch is just stuck if you call out an get no answer. I've seen them just turn on a pressurized hose and get all the stalls in one strafing action.
lewiscollard 9y ago
Interesting - you describe most of the public bogs in Britain when describing those in the US.
- GordonS 9y ago
  I guess you've never been to the US? I'm from the UK, and OK, sometimes there is a small gap between the door and the floor and ceiling. In the US, sometimes the stall door is literally just over waist height while sitting on the shitter curling one out... I've never come across anything remotely like that anywhere in the UK.
DanAndersen 9y ago
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 get the awkward "occupied!" shout. Not that it completely prevents that rudeness mind you.
- kokx 9y ago
  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.
  - laumars 9y ago
    One of my pet peeves is people who rattle the toilet door before checking the engaged indicator.
    - fosk 9y ago
      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.
      - jdboyd 9y ago
        I thought it was so that the occupant had warning in case the lock wasn't properly engaged.
      - wolco 9y ago
        Or slow the person down.
  - martin-adams 9y ago
lainga 9y ago
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...?).
- pwython 9y ago
  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.
  - Crisco 9y ago
    I lived in the Dominican Republic for a few years, and it was a little weird to me at first, but after a while you get used to putting dirty paper in the trash. I never once had to deal with a clogged toilet. After moving back to the USA it was just as weird to put paper in the toilets (though drinking the same water you bathe in was the weirdest part). I think people exaggerate the weirdness and difficulty of adjustment, because in both instances it took me a week at most to get used to either way.
    - adventured 9y ago
      > though drinking the same water you bathe in was the weirdest part Surely you mean the water that enters the house via plumbing, is used for both bathing and drinking from via a faucet. As opposed to drinking bath water. Is the weirdness of that because they don't drink tap water in the Dominican?
      - BeeOnRope 9y ago
        > Is the weirdness of that because they don't drink tap water in the Dominican? Yes, almost nowhere in Central America would you (or locals) drink water from the tap. Things like brushing your teeth are a grey area.
poulsbohemian 9y ago
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 further keep out the riff-raff, and in exchange generally offer a more private setting - maybe not European standards, but more private nonetheless.
- alsetmusic 9y ago
  > 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 such a mess that the bathroom had to be closed off from both customers and employees. It was, bluntly, gross. Being homeless should not rob people of access to basics such as a bathroom. At the same time, businesses should not have to fill in for this need. The solution, as I see it, is improving access to city resources with a budget designed to serve the homeless. I don’t know how to accomplish this; it just seems most appropriate to me given my limited knowledge.
  - poulsbohemian 9y ago
    I agree with everything you've said. My point was not to discredit those retail shops, more to add to the discussion about the oddities of our public / semi-public bathroom situation here in the US, especially as it is contrasted with the very private and clean facilities found throughout Europe.
nkrisc 9y ago
Wait, we're the Puritans for not requiring a private, hermetically sealed room for doing our business? You probably wouldn't like the cross-stall conversations that also take place.
amelius 9y ago
> 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.
- Balgair 9y ago
  > Someday My SO is a teacher, it's been going on for a long while now.
skookumchuck 9y ago
In my high school, the stall doors were removed because kids were smoking in them.
- Cyph0n 9y ago
  The "open" design makes sense in schools in my opinion, but not really in, e.g., a professional environment.
  - ajmurmann 9y ago
    At least in a professional environment nobody would mock you. School is already full of social awkwardness. Do we need to make that even worse to the point where you can't even go to the bathroom in piece? If a kid wants to smoke they'll find a way anyways and they won't die from it either. I find removal of bathroom doors inhumane.
- duderific 9y ago
  That reminds me of an interesting tidbit from my youth. In elementary school, the stall doors were removed, I suppose for the same reason. Because of that, nobody ever used them. You just had to hold it. One day, I just had to go. One of my wonderful classmates walked in on me in there, and I was mercilessly mocked for quite a while afterwords. Good times.
krrrh 9y ago
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?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/8329oawvs9utt4n/german_urinals.jpg...
- Balgair 9y ago
  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.
  - krrrh 9y ago
    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_in_America https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_to_End_Pay_Toilets...
- jacquesm 9y ago
  Cozy.
legitster 9y ago
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.
Balgair 9y ago
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.
- mrnobody_67 9y ago
  Those things make me feel like an animal. Especially when the floor is a metal grate overtop of part of the trough.
  - Balgair 9y ago
    I'm 'meh' about it. We're all just mammals, albeit without the good olfactory sense so many others seem to have. It's not like any of us spend a lot of time in there.
- lostapathy 9y ago
  I feel like these have gone out of style in the US and most stadium renovations are removing them. It's been a long time since I've seen one - but they used to be everywhere! Years ago I went on a tour at the University of Nebraska and one of the "highlights" was telling us about a building with the world's longest trough urinal. Unfortunately the building was closed that day and I didn't get to see it.
gerdesj 9y ago
> 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. ... or exactly as public bogs in high use areas such as motorway service stations are generally built across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus. I've only listed some of the countries I have directly been to. Can't say I've noticed much difference in general between bogs in the US and anywhere else these days. Some do have gaps to aid cleaning and some don't. ~35 years ago I did have a bit of a shock on discovering my first "stand and deliver" style toilet in (somewhere) with a floor to ceiling pole to assist with accurate and steady arse positioning. These are rather rarer these days but still to be found.
jayess 9y ago
I suppose the same could be said about the occasional "hole in the floor" I've encountered in europe, with footprints on either side so you know where to squat. WTF.
finnthehuman 9y ago
>or puritanical reasons (make sure people aren't having sex?) Nope, many of our airports have stall walls that go to the floor to discourage cruising.
whatyoucantsay 9y ago
You would truly struggle in China, then.
meddlepal 9y ago
You're over-thinking the situation... it's simply cheaper. This is America we're talking about after all, if we can do it cheaper, we will.
macrael 9y ago
I've heard (but not confirmed) that it is expense related. If you wholly enclose the toilet in a room, now that little room needs its own fire extinguisher nozzle (and maybe other regs?) but if it's mostly open, you only have to make the overall room safe.
- ajmurmann 9y ago
  Not ask European toilets are enclosed to the same degree either. Many walls don't go all the way to the ceiling for example. This should enable sharing a fire extinguisher nozzle. Almost all of them have properly closing doors though.
- lostapathy 9y ago
  I seriously doubt that - sprinkler heads are under $5/each. https://www.supplyhouse.com/Fire-Sprinkler-Heads-Hangers-10065000 https://www.supplyhouse.com/Fire-Sprinkler-Heads-Hangers-100...
tyingq 9y ago
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 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.
- cgb223 9y ago
  When I was in Guangzhou squat toilets were the norm. 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
  - toastermoster 9y ago
    Been there...done that. It doesn't help that the cuisine is so delicious.
- jwhitlark 9y ago
  That's surprising. All the times I've been to Turkey, I've only seen a couple of squat toilets. I saw far more in Japan.
  - tyingq 9y ago
    Hmm. Lived in Izmir for a couple of years, and the gilded hole in the floor was specifically the (otherwise posh) Izmir Hilton and the toilet in my apartment, at Kushadasi beach, friends house's etc. It was early 90's, so maybe something changed? I did end up buying a normal toilet and mounting it over the hole in my apartment.
- rconti 9y ago
  I've always found the shit shelf so bizarre, but they seem to be on their way out. On recent trips to Germany it was quite uncommon to see one-- in fact, I don't think I saw one last time at all; I think the last time I saw one was in Vienna.
coolso 9y ago
> or puritanical reasons (make sure people aren't having sex?) I hardly think deterring people from having sex in a public restroom (if that's even actually the case) so that everyone - young and old - can go to the bathroom without having to be privy to people screwing around, and not wanting to risk exposure to yet another bodily fluid in addition to all the others that public restrooms have way too many of, is "puritanical".
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
NicoJuicy 9y ago
I don't exactly agree with you ( Europeans have public toilets too) https://www.tripsavvy.com/how-to-use-toilets-in-france-1517966 https://www.tripsavvy.com/how-to-use-toilets-in-france-15179... And some other examples you didn't know about :) --> https://rickzullo.com/bathrooms-in-italy/ https://rickzullo.com/bathrooms-in-italy/ PS. The hole in the floor toilet is also in france.
loeg 9y ago
> puritanical reasons (make sure people aren't having sex?) Puritanical, yes, but more likely to make sure people aren't using drugs.
benpiper 9y ago
The Puritans had outhouses.
lisper 9y ago
> make sure people aren't having sex? Or doing drugs.
deevolution 9y ago
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.
garfieldnate 9y ago
Americans don't like their own public bathrooms, either.

by bambax 9y ago

52-6F-62 9y ago

>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 install. Minimal thought was probably given to the people using them.

baumandm 9y ago
It's also easier to mop the floors since you can go under the partitions.
- baddox 9y ago
  That makes sense, but it would still be a huge improvement to eliminate gaps everywhere but the floor. The cost argument makes sense, but it doesn’t explain why it’s ubiquitous in the US but not in Europe, since the cost-saving incentive should be roughly the same in both regions. Perhaps it started in the US because of safety or puritanism, but has now simply become a de facto standard in the US building industry. I doubt most building developers still think about safety or puritanism and specifically request this type of bathroom walls.
  - 52-6F-62 9y ago
    The gaps are an improvement. I take it you never had to piss in a trough? :P
    - toast0 9y ago
      My favorite: when the only way to tell the handwashing trough from the urinating trough is the height on the wall.
  - Terr_ 9y ago
    > but it would still be a huge improvement to eliminate gaps everywhere but the floor It would, but then in larger bathrooms you'd have to be able to hang some of the weight off the ceiling, and you'd still have issues with things swinging or bending.
__s 9y ago
There's regulations on minimum gap size (had a client in the industry) https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/26620/why-do-public-toilets-in-the-us-have-large-gaps-no-privacy https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/26620/why-do-publ...
- charlesdm 9y ago
  We learn something every day
  - sunstone 9y ago
    Whether we want to or not.
- adrianratnapala 9y ago
  Ok, so cost and cleanability might be incentive so have doors like that, but not incentives to make regulations. Those regulations likely there for "decency and safety". E.g. to discourage people having sex, or to make it more obvious if someone passes out. That is: the regulations really are there to make reduce privacy. There might be good arguments for reducing privacy, but that is still the proximate goal of the rules.
  - jjeaff 9y ago
    I've heard that they were more to discourage illicit drug use than "indecency".
  - bandrami 9y ago
    I think the end goal is making it harder to do heroin in a bathroom.
    - drewmol 9y ago
      Haha, probably cocaine as well. Some public restrooms seem designed to minimize flat surfaces, private access to clean water, and secluded locations, while others (like in some night clubs) have randomly placed shelves with hard, easily wipeable surfaces, etc.
mrfusion 9y ago
I always thought it was for ease of mopping?
bayareabronco 9y ago
If you visit an upscale hotel, the "public" restrooms in the lobby typically have larger stalls with fully enclosed doors/rooms. I think you're right. It's mainly a cost cutting issue.

brandonmenc 9y ago

> doors don't go to the floor We had a guy try and propose this for Yankee Stadium, but it didn't take.

coderdude 9y ago

You just lack life experience and imagination if you think a puritan mindset is behind not wanting to provide mini private rooms to the batshit insane public.

astura 9y ago

Americans don't like toilet stalls either, they are utilitarian.

mc32 9y ago

I think one main reason is it facilitates cleaning--also can see if it's occupied or the latch is just stuck if you call out an get no answer. I've seen them just turn on a pressurized hose and get all the stalls in one strafing action.

lewiscollard 9y ago

Interesting - you describe most of the public bogs in Britain when describing those in the US.

GordonS 9y ago
I guess you've never been to the US? I'm from the UK, and OK, sometimes there is a small gap between the door and the floor and ceiling. In the US, sometimes the stall door is literally just over waist height while sitting on the shitter curling one out... I've never come across anything remotely like that anywhere in the UK.

DanAndersen 9y ago

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 get the awkward "occupied!" shout. Not that it completely prevents that rudeness mind you.

kokx 9y ago
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.
- laumars 9y ago
  One of my pet peeves is people who rattle the toilet door before checking the engaged indicator.
  - fosk 9y ago
    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.
    - jdboyd 9y ago
      I thought it was so that the occupant had warning in case the lock wasn't properly engaged.
    - wolco 9y ago
      Or slow the person down.
- martin-adams 9y ago

lainga 9y ago

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...?).

pwython 9y ago
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.
- Crisco 9y ago
  I lived in the Dominican Republic for a few years, and it was a little weird to me at first, but after a while you get used to putting dirty paper in the trash. I never once had to deal with a clogged toilet. After moving back to the USA it was just as weird to put paper in the toilets (though drinking the same water you bathe in was the weirdest part). I think people exaggerate the weirdness and difficulty of adjustment, because in both instances it took me a week at most to get used to either way.
  - adventured 9y ago
    > though drinking the same water you bathe in was the weirdest part Surely you mean the water that enters the house via plumbing, is used for both bathing and drinking from via a faucet. As opposed to drinking bath water. Is the weirdness of that because they don't drink tap water in the Dominican?
    - BeeOnRope 9y ago
      > Is the weirdness of that because they don't drink tap water in the Dominican? Yes, almost nowhere in Central America would you (or locals) drink water from the tap. Things like brushing your teeth are a grey area.

poulsbohemian 9y ago

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 further keep out the riff-raff, and in exchange generally offer a more private setting - maybe not European standards, but more private nonetheless.

alsetmusic 9y ago
> 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 such a mess that the bathroom had to be closed off from both customers and employees. It was, bluntly, gross. Being homeless should not rob people of access to basics such as a bathroom. At the same time, businesses should not have to fill in for this need. The solution, as I see it, is improving access to city resources with a budget designed to serve the homeless. I don’t know how to accomplish this; it just seems most appropriate to me given my limited knowledge.
- poulsbohemian 9y ago
  I agree with everything you've said. My point was not to discredit those retail shops, more to add to the discussion about the oddities of our public / semi-public bathroom situation here in the US, especially as it is contrasted with the very private and clean facilities found throughout Europe.

nkrisc 9y ago

Wait, we're the Puritans for not requiring a private, hermetically sealed room for doing our business? You probably wouldn't like the cross-stall conversations that also take place.

amelius 9y ago

> 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.

Balgair 9y ago
> Someday My SO is a teacher, it's been going on for a long while now.

skookumchuck 9y ago

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

Cyph0n 9y ago
The "open" design makes sense in schools in my opinion, but not really in, e.g., a professional environment.
- ajmurmann 9y ago
  At least in a professional environment nobody would mock you. School is already full of social awkwardness. Do we need to make that even worse to the point where you can't even go to the bathroom in piece? If a kid wants to smoke they'll find a way anyways and they won't die from it either. I find removal of bathroom doors inhumane.
duderific 9y ago
That reminds me of an interesting tidbit from my youth. In elementary school, the stall doors were removed, I suppose for the same reason. Because of that, nobody ever used them. You just had to hold it. One day, I just had to go. One of my wonderful classmates walked in on me in there, and I was mercilessly mocked for quite a while afterwords. Good times.

krrrh 9y ago

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?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/8329oawvs9utt4n/german_urinals.jpg...

Balgair 9y ago
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.
- krrrh 9y ago
  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_in_America https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_to_End_Pay_Toilets...
jacquesm 9y ago
Cozy.

legitster 9y ago

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.

Balgair 9y ago

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.

mrnobody_67 9y ago
Those things make me feel like an animal. Especially when the floor is a metal grate overtop of part of the trough.
- Balgair 9y ago
  I'm 'meh' about it. We're all just mammals, albeit without the good olfactory sense so many others seem to have. It's not like any of us spend a lot of time in there.
lostapathy 9y ago
I feel like these have gone out of style in the US and most stadium renovations are removing them. It's been a long time since I've seen one - but they used to be everywhere! Years ago I went on a tour at the University of Nebraska and one of the "highlights" was telling us about a building with the world's longest trough urinal. Unfortunately the building was closed that day and I didn't get to see it.

gerdesj 9y ago

> 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. ... or exactly as public bogs in high use areas such as motorway service stations are generally built across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus. I've only listed some of the countries I have directly been to. Can't say I've noticed much difference in general between bogs in the US and anywhere else these days. Some do have gaps to aid cleaning and some don't. ~35 years ago I did have a bit of a shock on discovering my first "stand and deliver" style toilet in (somewhere) with a floor to ceiling pole to assist with accurate and steady arse positioning. These are rather rarer these days but still to be found.

jayess 9y ago

I suppose the same could be said about the occasional "hole in the floor" I've encountered in europe, with footprints on either side so you know where to squat. WTF.

finnthehuman 9y ago

>or puritanical reasons (make sure people aren't having sex?) Nope, many of our airports have stall walls that go to the floor to discourage cruising.

whatyoucantsay 9y ago

You would truly struggle in China, then.

meddlepal 9y ago

You're over-thinking the situation... it's simply cheaper. This is America we're talking about after all, if we can do it cheaper, we will.

macrael 9y ago

I've heard (but not confirmed) that it is expense related. If you wholly enclose the toilet in a room, now that little room needs its own fire extinguisher nozzle (and maybe other regs?) but if it's mostly open, you only have to make the overall room safe.

ajmurmann 9y ago
Not ask European toilets are enclosed to the same degree either. Many walls don't go all the way to the ceiling for example. This should enable sharing a fire extinguisher nozzle. Almost all of them have properly closing doors though.
lostapathy 9y ago
I seriously doubt that - sprinkler heads are under $5/each. https://www.supplyhouse.com/Fire-Sprinkler-Heads-Hangers-10065000 https://www.supplyhouse.com/Fire-Sprinkler-Heads-Hangers-100...

tyingq 9y ago

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 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.

cgb223 9y ago
When I was in Guangzhou squat toilets were the norm. 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
- toastermoster 9y ago
  Been there...done that. It doesn't help that the cuisine is so delicious.
jwhitlark 9y ago
That's surprising. All the times I've been to Turkey, I've only seen a couple of squat toilets. I saw far more in Japan.
- tyingq 9y ago
  Hmm. Lived in Izmir for a couple of years, and the gilded hole in the floor was specifically the (otherwise posh) Izmir Hilton and the toilet in my apartment, at Kushadasi beach, friends house's etc. It was early 90's, so maybe something changed? I did end up buying a normal toilet and mounting it over the hole in my apartment.
rconti 9y ago
I've always found the shit shelf so bizarre, but they seem to be on their way out. On recent trips to Germany it was quite uncommon to see one-- in fact, I don't think I saw one last time at all; I think the last time I saw one was in Vienna.

coolso 9y ago

> or puritanical reasons (make sure people aren't having sex?) I hardly think deterring people from having sex in a public restroom (if that's even actually the case) so that everyone - young and old - can go to the bathroom without having to be privy to people screwing around, and not wanting to risk exposure to yet another bodily fluid in addition to all the others that public restrooms have way too many of, is "puritanical".

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

NicoJuicy 9y ago

I don't exactly agree with you ( Europeans have public toilets too) https://www.tripsavvy.com/how-to-use-toilets-in-france-1517966 https://www.tripsavvy.com/how-to-use-toilets-in-france-15179... And some other examples you didn't know about :) --> https://rickzullo.com/bathrooms-in-italy/ https://rickzullo.com/bathrooms-in-italy/ PS. The hole in the floor toilet is also in france.

loeg 9y ago

> puritanical reasons (make sure people aren't having sex?) Puritanical, yes, but more likely to make sure people aren't using drugs.

benpiper 9y ago

The Puritans had outhouses.

lisper 9y ago

> make sure people aren't having sex? Or doing drugs.

deevolution 9y ago

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.

garfieldnate 9y ago

Americans don't like their own public bathrooms, either.