Toilets of the world, Unite!

I never wrote this when I was in Germany, but I wrote it in my head, and now in my blog.

When You Gotta Go:

So, as you travel the world, you'll find many cultural differences...the food, the languages, the scenery and the toilets (this guy has a made hobby of photographing them). This particular model was a favorite in Eastern Europe a few years ago, and can still be found in some very special bathrooms. The "Poo Shelf" as it has lovingly been nicknamed, acts as, well I think you get the picture. The nice thing about this is it can stink up the bathroom even faster than usual. Also, if you are prone to dropping things into the toilet, this will give you a chance to pluck them out with ease.

So, how to proceed when in a non-native land and you "gotta go?" Find out the common signs, words and symbols for die Toilete, the crapper, the "loo." Learn how to ask where it is. Then, learn how to interpret the answer...good luck with that. One time, the answer was "there isn't one." Then, I proceeded to go down the hall to the left.

OK, good. Congratulations, you have to pee and you made it to the bathroom. Now, don't get hasty once you're there. Check to see how the door locks (if it does, can you get back out?), will you have to hold it shut from sitting on the pot? Importantly, is there toilet paper? Finally, do you know how to flush the toilet? Assuming you aren't in an outhouse. You may think these last two are no brainers but have a couple beers and find the toilet, we'll see how many of you look for the toilet paper before you sit down. I had more than one episode of the transfer to the next stall, pants around my knees. Not a pretty site. The worst was once I spent a good 5 minutes trying to figure out how to flush the toilet. It ended up being on the wall over to the side, hidden behind 2 doors with combination locks. Seriously though, I got worried I was not going find the flusher. In Germany they were all different...as if the engineers kept trying to make it a better button, more accessible, prettier maybe.

I think I've covered most of the basics. Search the web for more on this topic. There is plenty of material out there. Start here.

Want to share? Leave it on the bathroom wall of my comments below.