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How complex can a public toilet be?

created by chinoodle

(idea) by chinoodle (6.1 y) (print)   ?   1 C! I like it! Tue Jul 25 2000 at 17:23:06

I nipped out for a quick sandwich at lunch today, and saw something that puzzled me. Just off Oxford Street (the Marble Arch end) between HSBC bank and some American Steak House thing, there's a public toilet.

It's one of those self contained pod affairs, and looks quite smart for a public toilet. I've never used it (and suspect I never will after today ..) but as I walked past on my way back to the office this guy (presumably a maintenance guy) had opened up the side of it. The whole side panel (about six foot by six foot) was lifted up to reveal a mass of wiring and complex looking bits of equipment.

Now .. I'm not particularly up to speed on the mechanics of public toilets, and I'm not a 'hardware' man per se .. in short I have no idea what to expect to find in the inner workings of a public convenience, but all this stuff looked completely out of place.

It looked like it should be doing something a lot more complicated than:

take money
validate coin
release lock
let hapless victim out after 2 hours


So what the hell are they up to?
  • Filming everyone (this creeps me out)
  • Given that it's next to an HSBC branch maybe someone's secretly monitoring cashpoint transactions or something
  • Perhaps some cheapskate's set up his server in there
  • Maybe it's the entrance to The Bat Cave
Or maybe it's something more sinister ..

(thing) by gwenllian (5.4 d) (print)   ?   I like it! Mon Jun 28 2004 at 7:06:01

Being one of those unfortunates who have to sit down on public toilets or else risk making an utter mess, I really, really appreciated the newer public toilets in Europe. Yes, you do need to have appropriate coinage, but LOOK what you get for it...

a toilet that is smell-free, that flushes itself, that has been freshly cleansed, that has actual toilet paper, soap and a working dryer, that doesn't have anyone living in it, that is warm and well lit... what more could you ask?

Well, some places have topped this. I was fascinated by the toilet seat which CAME OUT OF THE WALL, REVOLVED AND WAS CLEANSED by a cute little mechanism that actually scrubbed the darn thing. No longer need I fear sitting lest I come away with some horrific animal life or my favorite parts start to rot off.

Ok, so I'm easily entertained... and no, I didn't manage to smuggle one back home with me *sigh*


printable version
chaos

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