A shock to the cistern

Joined
Apr 30, 2011
Messages
8,130
Reaction score
193
Location
Hampshire, U.K.
In the olden days they just employed a slave driver.
How long do you take?
And could women appeal on grounds that this was gender bias?
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/dec/18/standardtoilet-tilted-employees-productivity
 
So make your employees uncomfortable, induce leg strain and make the angle of the lower part of the alimentary canal worse than western loos do already. Save a few minutes a day but end up with employees with other health problems - great joined up thinking.

And yes, definitely gender bias/discrimination.
 
Is the Marquis De Sade employed at this company to think up these ideas?
Will they also have a floor that slopes so the men will slide backwards away from the urinal at a given time. Are they ready for all the sicknotes from leg strain, constipation etc. How will they stop people just standing in there having a chat, looking forward to that one.
They could save money by just getting rid of the person who thought this up
We both used a toilet in Shepton Mallet once, once you went in a voice said " welcome to the automated toilets of Shepton Mallet, after a given time the door will open and then the automated cleansing of the toilet interior will commence, thank you for using this convenience" But at no point did it tell you how long you actually got in there before you got cleansed as well. Talk about under pressure
 
bigyetiman said:
We both used a toilet in Shepton Mallet once, once you went in a voice said " welcome to the automated toilets of Shepton Mallet, after a given time the door will open and then the automated cleansing of the toilet interior will commence, thank you for using this convenience" But at no point did it tell you how long you actually got in there before you got cleansed as well. Talk about under pressure

I used one of those once BYM and I've never been so terrified in my life! Not sure which I was most afraid of - having the door open while still sat on the loo or being hosed down with high pressure hot water!
 
Not sure which scared us the most either, we haven't visited one since. Plus they had music playing and you realise you have wasted time pondering on the tune being played. They are designed to prevent anti social behaviour, which I assume some people will see as a challenge.
 
bigyetiman said:
Is the Marquis De Sade employed at this company to think up these ideas?
Will they also have a floor that slopes so the men will slide backwards away from the urinal at a given time. Are they ready for all the sicknotes from leg strain, constipation etc. How will they stop people just standing in there having a chat, looking forward to that one.
They could save money by just getting rid of the person who thought this up
We both used a toilet in Shepton Mallet once, once you went in a voice said " welcome to the automated toilets of Shepton Mallet, after a given time the door will open and then the automated cleansing of the toilet interior will commence, thank you for using this convenience" But at no point did it tell you how long you actually got in there before you got cleansed as well. Talk about under pressure

They had one of those in Clapham when I lived there (1980s), they were called 'Superloos' heaven knows why. You had to be really desperate to use it. I used it once. No use if you needed a long sit.
 
Margaid said:
So make your employees uncomfortable, induce leg strain and make the angle of the lower part of the alimentary canal worse than western loos do already. Save a few minutes a day but end up with employees with other health problems - great joined up thinking.

And yes, definitely gender bias/discrimination.
I understand that the squatters found in various places around the world are much more ergonomic for the bowel than any modern WC although probably play hell with the knees.
 
Have to admit I only use a public toilet if I’m absolutely desperate. Much rather urinate in open countryside. As for pooing then it’s a case of get home if possible.
There is some kind of deviant sub group within our species who seems to derive some strange kick in leaving toilets in a very insanitary condition. In the town here we have a toilet that is only open from 7am to 7pm and is staffed. It is of course spotless and modern. Not that you would want to eat your dinner off the floor but you get the gist. It’s a case of technology for technologies sake. Taps and hot air dryers are all motion sensitive.
Is it true that French toilets are a sort of hole in the floor? I have heard of this. It would seem to accord with the “squatting” theory.
But you ladies will not have confronted urinal etiquette. If there is a row of empty urinals then it is bad form to go in and stand next to the only one that is occupied. Either the person will think you’re some kind of sexual deviant or that you’re Billy No Mates desperate for any kind of conversation. And such conversations are stilted in the extreme.
 
Hen-Gen said:
Is it true that French toilets are a sort of hole in the floor? I have heard of this. It would seem to accord with the “squatting” theory.

Not sure about France, but dau has come across them in Bulgaria. She hates them!
 
This forum is a constant source of entertainment and useful knowledge about things which don't have much relevance to my everyday life. Thank you for that, HenGen.
 
Marigold said:
Alternatively -
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2019/dec/09/no-flush-movement-composting-toilet-clean-water-waste-fertiliser-eco-revolution

They would need to be a vast improvement on the old "earth closet! One of my relatives had one when I was a little girl and I HATED using it! Sounds like you need fair bit of land too for the herring bone system and pond.

Back in the year dot, urine was collected I think either for tanning or the fulling industry.

You're right about squatter toilets Hen-gen. I need to renovate the bathing and loo facilities in my house and they offer me a "comfort loo". When I sit on it my feet are dangling off the floor!
 
I have come across those toilets in France Hen-Gen. Plus OH worked with an American in the '70s who refused to go to Belgium as it was common knowledge in the USA that the Belgium's hadn't discovered toilet paper :-)19 Where that idea sprung from heaven knows.
Around these parts people seem to think subways are public loos.
Doesn't some dyeing process used in India or African areas still use urine for one of the colours, sure I have seen it in on some travel programme. Bet there is an old book somewhere 1001 uses for urine.
 
bigyetiman said:
Doesn't some dyeing process used in India or African areas still use urine for one of the colours, sure I have seen it in on some travel programme. Bet there is an old book somewhere 1001 uses for urine.

Urine was used for tanning and softening leather. And it was also used to "fix" dyes.

See, though, what I want to know is, who discovered urine could be used for these purposes, and what on earth were they doing when they made the discovery?! :-)19
 
Dog faeces were also used in the tanning process, often wondered that myself, who sat there and thought "I wonder what happens if I pee on that cow hide"
 
The faeces were white and firm back then - much as they were in my childhood when dogs were fed kitchen scraps and offal. There were "turd collectors" but unfortunately just collecting dog turds would have made little difference to the cleanliness of the streets!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top