World Toilet Day

[smstonypoint]

From Urine for a treat. It’s World Toilet Day today

Why was Piglet staring down the toilet? He was looking for Pooh. Today, November 19th is Toilet Day. Urine for a treat. So what should we all do to celebrate? Spend a penny.


We prefer the loo or the toilet, the Brits like the lavatory, the French have the double-vee-cee, the Americans use the restroom.

Don't overdo your celebration.

.

... there are those who were dying to go -- famous people who departed while on the toilet. Elvis is the king in this regard, famously, but that detail about his sad demise has been slightly exaggerated. He was found unresponsive on the floor next to his Graceland toilet rather than on it.

Judy Garland died aged 47 in 1969; her fifth husband found her body in the middle of the night, slumped over the toilet with the bathroom door locked.

King George II had a heart attack when he overexerted himself straining to get things moving on the toilet in 1760.

Evelyn Waugh collapsed on the commode in 1966 after coming home from a Latin mass and died. Although there were drowning rumours (perpetuated by Graham Greene), his official cause of death was heart failure.

Steve

 

[jerrybob]

In honor of toilet day...............

A wife sent her husband a romantic text message. She wrote:
"If you are sleeping, send me your dreams.
If you are laughing, send me your smile.
If you are eating, send me a bite.
If you are drinking, send me a sip.
If you ate crying, send me your tears.
I love you".
Her husband texted back:
" I'm in the toilet, please advise.

 

[Firemanbuck82]

While this is humorous for those of us living in the US, the reality is that millions of people around the world do not have adequate sanitation facilities. Pit latrines and "bush waste" breed flies and disease.

Non Profit organizations such as Engineers Without Borders and the Gates Foundation work to provide access to better sanitation through construction or development of better ways to deal with sanitary wastes. Consider making a donation to EWB or other non-profits that work to make better sanitation a reality in developing countries.

 

[smstonypoint]

While this is humorous for those of us living in the US, the reality is that millions of people around the world do not have adequate sanitation facilities. Pit latrines and "bush waste" breed flies and disease.

Non Profit organizations such as Engineers Without Borders and the Gates Foundation work to provide access to better sanitation through construction or development of better ways to deal with sanitary wastes. Consider making a donation to EWB or other non-profits that work to make better sanitation a reality in developing countries.

You are correct. Not to minimize the problem, but there are cultural issues in India that favor outdoor defecation.

For many people in India, open defecation is preferred to latrine use. The reasons relate to issues of ritual purity and caste. Latrines in or near homes are considered polluting, not in a physical so much as a spiritual or ritual sense. Latrine cleaning is also associated with the Dalit (out)-caste, in itself a polluting category (hence untouchable). That is, the impurity of defecation and caste are mutually reinforcing. As a result, using or, even worse, cleaning latrines is considered a ritual impurity. The problem of open defecation is thus intimately tied up with Hindu notions of purity and caste which many do not want to discuss, let alone condemn.

In the villages the idea of open defecation is also associated with clean air, exercise, and health. Thus, in surveys "both men and women speak openly about the benefits of open defecation and even associate it with health and longevity." Even many women prefer open defecation if only because it gives them a chance to get out of the house and have some freedom of movement.

Eventually, flush toilets and sewage will eliminate the problem of open defecation, but many people will die before sewage comes to rural India. Building latrines is not enough but is there an opportunity for an Indian entrepreneur? If standardized latrines were bundled with service contracts and provided by professional, uniformed workers who emptied the latrines mechanically (and thus had dignity), demand could well be high. A Walmart for latrine construction and management.

Where India Goes - Marginal REVOLUTION

Steve

 

[Wagtail]

Well, I've had a nice celebration this morning! :thumbsup: (thanks for asking)

A couple of Aussie references for the toilet: the 'dunny' and the 'long drop', both from the days of the outhouse.

Navy-wise, it's the HEADS. Always plural. (Why the USN uses the singular is a mystery.)

 

[TCJatko]

You are correct. Not to minimize the problem, but there are cultural issues in India that favor outdoor defecation.




Steve

I saw a figure not too far back that stated over 75 % of India's 1 billion people don't have indoor plumbing. That must certainly add to the ambience of the place.

 

[bunyip]

Well, I've had a nice celebration this morning! :thumbsup: (thanks for asking)

A couple of Aussie references for the toilet: the 'dunny' and the 'long drop', both from the days of the outhouse.

Navy-wise, it's the HEADS. Always plural. (Why the USN uses the singular is a mystery.)

Beat me to the draw although I did not realise the RAN used the plural.
Slightly off topic, an old friend of mine was a Commander in the RAN during WWII and for a few years after, he told me of a time that they were in Sydney (can't remember the ship) and HRH Elizabeth II was paying a visit.
He said there there were some strange goings on below deck with some of the maintenance crew but he could find nothing untoward but after the visit there was much excitement amongst the crew, it seems that some of the plumbing was rerouted during the time of the visit and the trophy was captured.
I believe it still exists in its preserved state for inter vessel sports events, the coveted royal turd.
Another couple of friends who were also Officers in the RAN have confirmed that this does unofficially exist.

Edit. Not sure if this is an interesting post or not, can we pass a motion on it?

 

[Wagtail]

HM the Queen didn't get to visit Australia (for the first time) until 1954 so I don't think that, if there is such a trophy, it came by way of her.

There is the "Esther Williams" trophy, though. It's a signed (WWII) picture of her that Wardroom's (Officer's Mess) 'liberate' from each other. When a successful 'rescue' takes place, Esther sends an official ALL RAN signal announcing her new hosts.

 

[bunyip]

Regrettably he is no longer with us so I cannot get further info but may I bore you with some of my 35 Sqd exploits
Such as, relating to toilet day, the Caribous had a porta potti type toilet and the flight crew would take the full plastic bag of excrement and put it in a Red Cross bag and drop it over known noggi land (viet cong), we could just picture the excitement as they tore the bag open.......
As a humble Fl Lt I could not condone such activities so I didn't look.

 

[crash325]

OK toilet experts. In the old days of out houses it there were 2 of them. 1 would have a moon on the door. ever one knows that.

The other would have a star on the door.

What did the star & moon stand for???

 

[smstonypoint]

OK toilet experts. In the old days of out houses it there were 2 of them. 1 would have a moon on the door. ever one knows that.

The other would have a star on the door.

What did the star & moon stand for???

After a Google search, I conclude that the folks in the area where I grew up were way ahead of the times -- all of the outhouses I saw were "gender neutral."


Steve

 

[2LaneCruzer]

The facilities I remember, the "moon" was cut into the side of the structure and functioned more or less as a source of cross ventilation, although it was never the topic of any conversation I can remember. I do recall my Grand father's facility, or "outhouse" as it was affectionately known, was quite modern for its day. The base was made of smooth concrete, and the top, or "lid", was hand fitted, sanded and quite handsomely finished...without nails, I might add, using wooden pegs and tenons. It also sported a builder's plaque in plain sight for anyone to see, which read: "WPA 1938". It would only accommodate one user at a time, however, a departure from the customary "two-holers" that dotted the countryside at that time.

 

[crash325]

The moon meant for ladies.
Star was for men.

 

[Mace Canute]

When I was a kid we had a three holer...one for the adults, one for the teens and one for the youngest ones...it sure made it nice not to have to use an oversized hole especially when you weren't even in school yet. One thing I learned very early on was to remember to check if one of the boards had a split in it. When you put your weight on it, it would make the crack open up and if you weren't careful dismounting the crack would close up and you got such a pinch!

 

[jerrybob]

Interesting toilet facts........

Toilet Facts: 6 Facts about Toilets presented by GlobalGiving ←FACTSlides→

 

[Bird]

Yep, it was a happy day when we got indoor toilet facilities and burned the outhouse..

 

[2LaneCruzer]

When I was a kid we had a three holer...one for the adults, one for the teens and one for the youngest ones...it sure made it nice not to have to use an oversized hole especially when you weren't even in school yet. One thing I learned very early on was to remember to check if one of the boards had a split in it. When you put your weight on it, it would make the crack open up and if you weren't careful dismounting the crack would close up and you got such a pinch!

The outhouse was not without its drawbacks...as I recall, wasps were ever present...and, I always kept a stick handy to make sure that the BW spiders were kept at bay. Although rare, snakes...were another matter.

Here is a little think I wrote some time back; I'm sure that I posted it here somewhere, but just for kicks I'm posting it again. It's entitled "Lanny and the Snake". Lanny was my brother, four years younger.

Back in the olden days, my Dad was the supervisor of a sand pit, that
shipped sand by rail all over the Southwest, and our house was on the same
property. It was so sandy, that nothing would grow except maybe a few sand
burrs. Out little "house beyond the house" was close by, and surrounded by
ankle deep sand. We also were blessed with an abundance of rattle snakes,
which tended to hang out in the outbuildings. We found quite a few that
didn't quite make it across the RR tracks that serviced the sand pit. My
younger brother, who was deathly afraid of snakes, had the experience of
entering the facility, shutting the door, only to find a hog nosed snake
behind the door. Having had this experience, he was always on the alert, and
very, very cautious.

One morning before school, I saw him enter the privy. After he shut the
door, I sneaked up behind, waited until he got settled and all was quiet,
and then I made a "snake hissing sound" as loudly as I could. He yelled at
the top of his voice: " AWWWWWWWWWW", I heard the door bang open and he came
running, best he could, in the ankle deep sand with his jeans down around
his ankles. Of course I laughed my butt off, but he wasn't amused. When he
turned around all red faced, he made some remark akin to "I'll get you for
that you SOB, if it's the last thing I do". I still think it was funny. He
never got over his fear of snakes, and dispatched quite a few in his
lifetime. He died a couple years ago and I really miss the little ****.

At his funeral, I met his boss and some of the folks he worked for (this
company recovered explosives from old ordinance). They told me that when he
went into the field, he always took his shootin' iron and shot every snake
he saw. His boss asked me why he was so afraid of snakes...

 

[bcp]

I've seen many, many outhouses, and used quite a few. Never saw a moon (or star) except in cartoons. Maybe it was an eastern thing.

Bruce

 

[Deere Dude]

Common in Japan and Asia are indoor squat toilets which need a little balance act to use, but common. Some are little more than a whole with the concrete pitched toward the hole.

 

[Bird]

I've seen many, many outhouses, and used quite a few. Never saw a moon (or star) except in cartoons. Maybe it was an eastern thing.

Bruce

Same here.