Toilets of the World - A Mini Ethnography ( I )

Since I talked about the toilet greetings yesterday, let me today extrapolate the topic to toilet culture I have observed in the world. Interested readers are encouraged to share their experiences in this important part of human culture.

For world travellers, toilet is an interesting subject no less important than restaurant. Many travellers are often flexible in choosing a restaurant, but find it uneasy and uncomfortable using local toilets.

Toilet Wardens

In some European countries, it is not so rare to see a woman inside a men's washroom. My French friend calls such profession madame peepee, I call it toilet warden. Her main duty, of course, is to keep the washroom constantly clean and tidy, distributing toilet papers, and collecting fees. She may have a small 'office' either outside or inside the washroom. I used to peek through some of these ‘offices', which even included furniture and beds.

Toilet wardens are usually babushkas or grandmas. But in the underground washroom at the tourist centre of Krakow, Poland (2005), I encountered a warden who was apparently quite young. She was in her 'in-house office', literally supervising everyone’s action. It did require some concentration just to finish the job and walk away.

Anecdotes of Toilets

Across different countries and continents, toilets in (tourist) hotels usually maintain some standard of quality. It is the public toilets that differ widely.

Public toilets in European countries usually charge a fee. In Dresden train station, Germany (1997), a stranger came to my rescued by donating one Deutsche Mark, as the warden refused to accept my one dollar. A personal record was set when I paid a ransom 500,000 for a pee in Goreme, Turkey (2002). The currency unit, of course, was Turkish Lira (by the way, Turkish washrooms use a smoking pipe and a pair of shoe symbolise genders). In the instance I mentioned in my last post (see The Most Polite Greeting in the World), I donated one Polish Zloty (~ 1/3 dollar). Perhaps I should have donated more, just for the extra courtesy.

There is no doubt that toilets in developing countries are generally basic and less clean, to say at least. However, there are always good and bad exceptions. For example, the washroom in the Frankfurt train station (1997) was the filthiest I had ever seen in western world, while the one by the Yangoon-Mandaley road (Myanmar, 2004) was at the other end of the spectrum. Even though the hut was frequented by hundreds of bus passengers every day, a small bucket of water by every user helped keep the rudimentary toilet virtually smell-less. Similarly, I was expecting the worst when I visited the toilet in Al-Hajjarin, a sizzling desert village near the geographical centre of Yemen (1999). Surprisingly, despite the hot weather and lack of water, the toilet remained clean and free from odour, far cleaner than its counterpart in the airport in the capital Sana'a. Adding extra privilege, the government-dispatched soldier equipped with AK-47 sealed off the toilet entrance for me, for militants in the Yemeni heartland kidnapped foreigners for sports.

[To be Continued...]

Photo:
Urinals at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland Ca. 1991