Should going to the bathroom in public be acceptable?

33% Normal

Animals do it, Napoleon did it, we all have the urge to do it throughout the day. Im talking about the basic human necessity to urinate and defecate at the moment you have to go. How much anguish do we put ourselves through to wait it out, how long have we walked, driven, and stood in line for the toilet? Assuming we could overcome the sanitary aspects of public urination and defecation do we really need the trouble of the high maintenance walled and segregated public restrooms?

I attended a Boston Marathon qualifier last January and somebody was handing out something called Gotta Go Poncho restroom systems. This was essentially a hooded non-transparent poncho that offered the wearer a degree of privacy for peeing and even pooping.

Seeing this made me rethink all the pretense we have about public restrooms. I thought about the costs and trouble we go to in maintaining the sanitation and social order around public restrooms (Men, women, and now transgender rooms).

And much of the world does not even have access to a toilet. Some 1.2 billion people. Consequently, a concerning number of Indian women are being raped when they venture out into wooded areas at night to defecate.

Isnt it time to rethink the concept of the walled toilet and all its segregation?

Voting Results

33% Normal

Based on 48 votes (16 yes)

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Comments ( 37 )

SweetSociopath

9 years ago

I have never had the urge to do that.

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- yournotalone
  
  9 years ago
  
  If there was not an available or sanitary public restroom in striking distance you might have the urge.
  
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anti-hero

9 years ago

Animals lick their assholes, I'm not going to do that either.

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- yournotalone
  
  9 years ago
  
  The human anatomy is not designed for that, otherwise perhaps you and all of us would. In reality, the anatomy of our bowels and bladder urge us to empty them far more frequently than we do. So, why do we put ourselves through the misery of looking for, driving to, or waiting for public restrooms? On a subconscious level, perhaps it is our insecurity of being associated with "animal" (or rather non-human) behavior that spurs us to create elaborate sophistication around everything from eating etiquette to the cultural norms of what toilet should and should not be.
  
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  - CountessDouche
    
    9 years ago
    
    Poor sanitation causes disease. Read up on what would happen if motherfuckers shit in the street.
    
    It's a matter of health, not subconscious etiquette.
    
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    - yournotalone
      
      9 years ago
      
      Exactly, this restroom system prevents just that. I forgot to mention that they have leak proof bags that can be thrown away. When there is not a toilet available people will resort to alley ways, trees, parks, etc.
      
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Beach_Bro

9 years ago

I like to pee outdoors. I usually do it in the grass or somewhere where it won't smell. Urine is high in nitrogen and is a fertilizer. So go ahead and pee in your garden!

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Avant-Garde

9 years ago

In regards to indoor public toilettes, why not convert them to unisex single toilets? The gender segregation would end. It would be like going to the toilet that is in your house.

Back to your main point, my answer is no. If you allow public bathroom going, it would allow for other forms of public indecencies.

It's one thing if you are in the woods and no other humans are around. Just dig a hole, pop a squat and go. Cover it up when you're done and your waste will fertilise the earth.

It's certainly better than going out to sea and urinating and taking a BM in the ocean. Urine, perhaps... But having a BM in the ocean is gross. Imagine catching that in a fishnet!

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- yournotalone
  
  9 years ago
  
  Well said about the unisex restroom! Where possible, this is the right way forward.
  
  And I hear you about public indecencies, for many (and most I believe), exposure of one's genitals and backside publically is deemed as a moral decline. With the poncho I mentioned earlier, the act of going is covert by donning the user in an opaque hooded poncho . Their demonstration video shows this better than I can put into words. http://www.goponcho.com/info/How_it_works#
  
  I imagine a beach without clean or available public restrooms would have a lot of "brown trout" floating about.
  
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  - Avant-Garde
    
    9 years ago
    
    It's strange, but I can see its usefulness now.
    
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VirgilManly

9 years ago

Have you ever made the connection between improper sanitation and the high rate of diseases in third world countries?

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- yournotalone
  
  9 years ago
  
  Yes, and especially for open field defecation and unclean public bathrooms. Human waste can carry life threatening diseases such as E Coli, Meningitis, Colitis, and Hepatitis A. It's prudent to assume virtually any surface in a public restroom carries these and other germs. The risk of infection comes from touching the seat, stall door, restroom door or sink. The system I referred to provides a germ free restroom environment and waste is discarded into leak resistant bags that can discarded with normal household waste (like a diaper).
  
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  - VirgilManly
    
    9 years ago
    
    But if humans can't be trusted to use public restrooms properly, what makes you think they will cooperate with your system?
    
    Not to mention it's other flaws.
    
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    - yournotalone
      
      9 years ago
      
      I agree that public restrooms are dirty and sometimes unsafe places; a honey pot for sexual predators, drug abuse. One virtue of this system is it avoids those.
      
      I agree that this would require a change in culture to become functional and perhaps dedicated disposal bins as they do for recycled plastic, paper and glass.
      
      Seems that those right now using this poncho toilet system would be amongst the more responsible as they are preparing for the time when a toilet is not available (as they did at the race).
      
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      - VirgilManly
        
        9 years ago
        
        So the few who are now using this system will be responsible enough to pick up the shit from the others who aren't?
        I can't follow your logic.
        
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        yournotalone
        
        9 years ago
        
        Let's go Twilight Zone for a moment. Lets say Ebola went pandemic and public restrooms shut down. What is the alternative?
        
        I am sure you will be seeing this system appear in disaster zones. And you will see a supportive infrastructure in terms of dedicated garbage bins.
        
        In reality, the outdoor public toilet will not go away today, but having a backup system such as this makes a lot of sense to me.
        
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charli.m

9 years ago

You gonna volunteer to clean up all the mess everyone leaves?

Moron.

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- yournotalone
  
  9 years ago
  
  This is a valid point and I just addressed this above. The system i referred to includes separate bags for urine and fecal matter that are water tight and can be thrown away as normal household garbage (as one does with diapers or bags of dog poop). So, no clean up required. I found the website: http://www.goponcho.com
  
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  - charli.m
    
    9 years ago
    
    Holy fuck.
    
    So much no.
    
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    - yournotalone
      
      9 years ago
      
      If there is not public restroom, as is often the case, what is the alternative charli.m? We are more mobile and so in the game of musical chairs, or rather toilets, when the music stops, where do people sit (go)?
      
      It makes sense that people carry these around. Unless you want them to go in the bushes, alley ways, elevators, etc.
      
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      - charli.m
        
        9 years ago
        
        That's precisely where they'd be going. They'd still be in those physical places. THAT is what I'm objecting to.
        
        I work in a private home and often don't get to use the bathroom at all in a 11-14 hour work day, preceded by and followed by a 45min to one hour commute. So unless you have a bowel or bladder problem, suck it up and deal with finding a toilet, princess.
        
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Aliceee93

9 years ago

No it isn't time to re-think the toilet.

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- yournotalone
  
  9 years ago
  
  According to the United Nations estimates, 2.5 billion people do not have access to a toilet contributing to the death of some 700,000 children annually. In poor areas of India, where public toilets are often sparse, women are frequently raped when they venture into the woods to defecate. Furthermore, with much of the world running out of water and toilet flushes costing about 5 gallons a flush, yes, we need to rethink the toilet.
  
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  - thegypsysailor
    
    9 years ago
    
    Yeah, that's just the thing to get some rapist all hot and bothered; shit coming out while he's trying to go in. Yuck.
    
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    - yournotalone
      
      9 years ago
      
      Well, it happens quite a lot. 870/year in just one Indian city ive never heard of.
      
      http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-22460871
      
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  - Aliceee93
    
    9 years ago
    
    So, the places like india and other poor parts of countries need toilets.. If we all just did it wherever then there would be disease and it would just be disgusting.
    We are a clever breed, and I think toilets are a good thing.
    
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    - yournotalone
      
      9 years ago
      
      Im not talking about open field defecation or urination. The system I referred to in the article above includes bags that are thrown away as one does for diapers or bagged dog poop.
      
      In an ideal world there is a clean and available public restroom on every corner. In reality, that is not the case and not immediatly feasible in the poverty ridden underdeveloped world (India). Venture into the alley ways near a city concert, a marathon race starting gate, or a demonstration (careful, watch your step!), you will observe that public restrooms are not a complete solution. And increasingly less so because we are more mobile than we used to be and there are more of us.
      
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      - Aliceee93
        
        9 years ago
        
        This makes no sense, people don't like cleaning toilets as it is, who is going to go round picking doggy bags up full of human shit?
        
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        VirgilManly
        
        9 years ago
        
        Aliceeee93, you said "shit".
        I don't think I've ever seen you post profanity before.
        
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        yournotalone
        
        9 years ago
        
        If they are responsible enough to carry around a restroom system they would be willing to dispose of their waste properly, in a garbage can.
        
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thegypsysailor

9 years ago

Huh?

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- yournotalone
  
  9 years ago
  
  In essence, a portable toilet. It could work in certain situations, perhaps marathon runs, protest marches, visits to the park and beach, festivals, road side stops...
  
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  - thegypsysailor
    
    9 years ago
    
    Don't we already have those at events? I've seen rows and rows of somethings I could have sworn were toilets brought in for events and then they disappear afterwards, almost like magic.
    
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    - yournotalone
      
      9 years ago
      
      Yes, there are port-a-lets but often not enough and they can pretty nasty as the events progress into the day or night.
      
      And at the race i attended there were port-a-lets at the starting gate. But 30 minutes before the starting gun, each had a line of 20 people or more. So, the runners were going all over the place.
      
      I believe Gotta Go Poncho is to be carried along in case there is not a public restroom available.
      
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Drawingmud

9 years ago

I just unload in my pants

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(s)aint

9 years ago

I pee in public/outdoors If I know I can get away with it.
I just rather avoid getting caught by the cops doing it -_-

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yournotalone

9 years ago

That is a more responsible alternative than going open field. Good for you!

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Are You Normal?

Should going to the bathroom in public be acceptable?