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"WhatsApp also negotiated for nicer bathrooms, with doors that reach the floor." This is not a norm in silicon valley/states?
by juhq 8y ago
"WhatsApp also negotiated for nicer bathrooms, with doors that reach the floor."
This is not a norm in silicon valley/states?
- simonbarker87 8y agoThe times I have visited the US I have always been disturbed by how little privacy I feel like I have in a stall. I am sure I have made eye contact with dozens of people in US airports at a time that is not appropriate for either of us.
- adventured 8y agoEuropeans just need to stop being so terrified of the human body and being such prudes. /s It's funny how Americans get endlessly bashed for being prudes about the human body, and then somehow on this topic they get bashed for not being big enough prudes about the human body. Here's why that is: Americans simply get bashed no matter what direction they go on any subject. It's done solely to make the person doing the bashing or mocking feel good. If the stalls went all the way to the floor, it would be decided by elitist snobs in Europe that that is prudish behavior and ridiculous because there's nothing shameful about going to the bathroom and it's a natural function of the glorious human body. It would go like this: ah those stupid Americans with their fear of the human body, and their overly private bathroom stalls. Dumb Americans are afraid to even know that there's another human in the next stall, even a 12 inch floor gap is too much, because there might be a foot over there somewhere. It's silly how uncomfortable Americans are about normal functions of the human body, they can't even tolerate a small gap in the bottom of the stalls.
- simonbarker87 8y agoChill out, I also hate the squat stalls in remote train stations in Italy that are three times the size they need to be leaving you feeling super exposed while trying to balance but that wasn’t the question the original commenter asked.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y agoWhat a strange thing to get angry about.
- RandallBrown 8y agoI think it's partly practical and partly cost savings. Shorter walls are cheaper, but it also makes it easier to clean, easier to help someone in case of an emergency, and easier to tell if the stall is occupied.
- ascorbic 8y agoThey're a $500bn company. I think that can afford an extra foot of door.
- RandallBrown 8y agoSure, but the default is going to be for shorter doors. Someone needs to ask for long doors in order to have them built in the US.
- arcanus 8y agoMost US bathroom doors do not reach the floor. It is much more common in Europe. As an American, that line did come off as a somewhat exotic request.
- sidlls 8y agoThe norm is stalls with walls having ~12-18 inch gaps between the bottom and the floor,and 1/4-1/2 inch gaps between the edges of the door and the posts the door is hinged to. It's trivial to see someone doing their business without even trying or intending it.
- on_and_off 8y agoFor some reason american bathroom stall doors don't reach the floor. It is very weird the first time you see them coming from Europe but it seems to be the norm here
- distant_hat 8y agoI think its to prevent people having sex in them.
- on_and_off 8y agois that a serious answer ??
- mfringel 8y agoIt's not a norm in the states, no. Typical restroom stalls in the US have about 10" (25 cm) of clearance between the bottom of the door and the floor.
- ttul 8y agoI have never understood why North American bathroom stalls don’t just go to the floor. Jesus Christ how much would it really cost to enable some damn privacy.
- stock_toaster 8y agoI always assumed it was to make it easier to mop/clean.
- ascorbic 8y agoThe rest of the planet mostly does ok.
- stock_toaster 8y agoBut maybe it is a ... wait for it... moptimization!
- pnutjam 8y agoBlame the people who spend all their time worrying about what your doing in private.
- thieving_magpie 8y agoI'm torn on this one. One the one hand I would love that extra privacy. On the other, I really value knowing if someone is in the stall next to me and how many people are in the bathroom. If the stalls extend to the ground how am I supposed to scan for legs? Someone could be hiding in there waiting to frighten me! I cannot use the bathroom until everyone has left it. Just how am I supposed to verify that some quick-footed coworker hasn't made their way in during someone's loud flush? I cannot stomach this game of chance.
- bluntfang 8y agouse an accessible bathroom that usually exist in the public spaces?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- southphillyman 8y agoI had no idea this was a thing until a french coworker mentioned it as one of the stranger things he noticed when he moved to the US. I've been to France and other countries in Europe/Asia/SAmerica but never noticed that the stall doors reached the floor.