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https://restroomarchive.com/r/2026-08-29-grand-army-plaza-automatic-public-toilet https://restroomarchive.com/r/2026-08-29-grand-army-plaza-au... > has a count

by v9v 25d ago

https://restroomarchive.com/r/2026-08-29-grand-army-plaza-automatic-public-toilet https://restroomarchive.com/r/2026-08-29-grand-army-plaza-au... > has a countdown timer above warning visitors that the door will auto-open in x amount of time. A toilet that has a door with a countdown seems like the most stress-inducing thing ever.

Doohickey-d 25d ago
It's quite common in Europe. Usually you get 15 minutes which seems fairly generous.
- deleted 25d ago
  [deleted]
- brettermeier 25d ago
  What, where? Never saw this.
- Sander_Marechal 25d ago
  I've been all over Europe and I have never seen this....
- yitchelle 25d ago
  I have seen a couple of them in Cologne.
  - abcd_f 25d ago
    ... et voilà, we now know where the GP is from :)
- embedding-shape 25d ago
  "Quite common"? I've spent more than 3 decades here, visited most of the countries on the western side, both north and south (although embarrassingly little eastern parts), and have not seen this once in my life. Thinking about it, I haven't seen this anywhere in the world.
  - looperhacks 25d ago
    You will usually see these in public places that have no other access controls - think in a park, rather than in a restaurant. It's for places that have a high risk of people sleeping in them.
    - embedding-shape 25d ago
      Yeah, I do visit public bathrooms from time to time, especially in Spain, Germany, France, Denmark and Sweden, and never seen that once anywhere, although I've seen much worse things on single occasions than a timer for the door to open.
      - aa-jv 25d ago
        I've seen them in some of the shadier parks in the Netherlands, Italy and Austria. Yppenplatz, Vienna, has a particularly nasty (smelling) one which the countdown clock does very little to obviate.
        jakzurr 25d ago
        A really nasty smell would get me out fast. Can't imagine any use for the timer, unless you're trying to estimate the remaining oxygen.
        aa-jv 24d ago
        The timer is to let the junkie know how much privacy they have left before they can be discovered in the act of shooting up.
    - amiga386 25d ago
      > people sleeping Junkies' heroin-induced stupor.
  - keiferski 24d ago
    The fact that you haven’t been in central or Eastern Europe might be the key. I haven’t seen an actual countdown timer, but many of the public toilets in Poland have time limits that are displayed on a sign, and announced by the computer voice loudspeaker. Usually it’s 30 minutes though IIRC.
- deleted 25d ago
  [deleted]
- easywood 25d ago
  "quite common in Europe" oh please. I live there, traveled quite a bit, and have never seen one or heard of one.
- croon 25d ago
  I'm not going to pile on since there is already a handful of comments stating the same, but I think we can all be guilty of "This thing exists/happens specifically where I and most people I interact with live, so it must be common (in [superset])". It's very good to be mindful of when making assumptions/imprinting generalizations.
xyzelement 25d ago
Shit or get off the pot.
waltbosz 25d ago
The bathroom also has braille text on the signs below the mirror. I assume one would wash their hands after reading.
stronglikedan 25d ago
> A toilet that has a door with a countdown seems like the most stress-inducing thing ever. It would be more stressful to the people who are standing there watching me finish my shit than it would be to me, I guarantee.

by v9v 25d ago

Doohickey-d 25d ago

It's quite common in Europe. Usually you get 15 minutes which seems fairly generous.

deleted 25d ago
[deleted]
brettermeier 25d ago
What, where? Never saw this.
Sander_Marechal 25d ago
I've been all over Europe and I have never seen this....
yitchelle 25d ago
I have seen a couple of them in Cologne.
- abcd_f 25d ago
  ... et voilà, we now know where the GP is from :)
embedding-shape 25d ago
"Quite common"? I've spent more than 3 decades here, visited most of the countries on the western side, both north and south (although embarrassingly little eastern parts), and have not seen this once in my life. Thinking about it, I haven't seen this anywhere in the world.
- looperhacks 25d ago
  You will usually see these in public places that have no other access controls - think in a park, rather than in a restaurant. It's for places that have a high risk of people sleeping in them.
  - embedding-shape 25d ago
    Yeah, I do visit public bathrooms from time to time, especially in Spain, Germany, France, Denmark and Sweden, and never seen that once anywhere, although I've seen much worse things on single occasions than a timer for the door to open.
    - aa-jv 25d ago
      I've seen them in some of the shadier parks in the Netherlands, Italy and Austria. Yppenplatz, Vienna, has a particularly nasty (smelling) one which the countdown clock does very little to obviate.
      - jakzurr 25d ago
        A really nasty smell would get me out fast. Can't imagine any use for the timer, unless you're trying to estimate the remaining oxygen.
        aa-jv 24d ago
        The timer is to let the junkie know how much privacy they have left before they can be discovered in the act of shooting up.
  - amiga386 25d ago
    > people sleeping Junkies' heroin-induced stupor.
- keiferski 24d ago
  The fact that you haven’t been in central or Eastern Europe might be the key. I haven’t seen an actual countdown timer, but many of the public toilets in Poland have time limits that are displayed on a sign, and announced by the computer voice loudspeaker. Usually it’s 30 minutes though IIRC.
deleted 25d ago
[deleted]
easywood 25d ago
"quite common in Europe" oh please. I live there, traveled quite a bit, and have never seen one or heard of one.
croon 25d ago
I'm not going to pile on since there is already a handful of comments stating the same, but I think we can all be guilty of "This thing exists/happens specifically where I and most people I interact with live, so it must be common (in [superset])". It's very good to be mindful of when making assumptions/imprinting generalizations.

xyzelement 25d ago

Shit or get off the pot.

waltbosz 25d ago

The bathroom also has braille text on the signs below the mirror. I assume one would wash their hands after reading.

stronglikedan 25d ago

> A toilet that has a door with a countdown seems like the most stress-inducing thing ever. It would be more stressful to the people who are standing there watching me finish my shit than it would be to me, I guarantee.