Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Flushing at Home, at Work, in Iraq

Toilet training is clearly not equal in the many parts of my world.  And new information can change the flushing habits of people brought up push the chrome handle after doing their business.

I work in a 7-story museum and library.  My co-workers average more than two college degrees each.  The bathrooms in our building are shining clean.  But in the 4th floor men's room, walking up to a urinal means looking down into yellow water.  At 9am the water is blue from the previous night's cleaning.  But the 4th floor has offices for the most environmentally conscious members of our staff.  Which means, I suppose, "If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down."

At home, my 12 and 13-year-old sons are still being trained to aim, flush, and wash.  They always get two out of three.  I occasionally listen for the proper sequence of water sounds and correct on the spot if there is a mistake.  But sometimes when I take a shower I find and unflushed toilet.  

In Iraq the toilets were often horrendous.  Once people were posting Facebook pictures of a turd that would not flush and got named Il Duce, after Benito Mussolini.  How the connection was made, I don't know.  These guys not only pissed on the seat, they shit on it which seemed to me physically impossible.  But who knows.  On drill weekends, many soldiers clearly do not know urinals flush.  Or maybe they are environmentalists.

In any case, most days, I see yellow water somewhere.

3 comments:

  1. NG: A "dooky" (not sure of the spelling) is another term for a turd, so it's not far to go from a "dooky" to "Il Duce."
    Hope you're well!
    --Ivan

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  2. I've noticed this more and more in public restrooms too. I think many are becoming conditioned to the self-flushing toilets and just assume they're going to work every time. Not so. They end up walking away and leaving their mess for someone else.

    And, the environmentalists are deluding themselves to think someone's not going to flush the previous user's waste away before they sit down over it to do their own business. There is nothing gained leaving it there in hopes of saving some water -- just leaves other's thinking you're an unsanitary user. I think this is a disturbing habit and an unsanitary one. I'm glad to hear you're teaching your boys the appropriate habits.

    My own two school-age nephs were trained at school not to flush every time because it wasted less water. They've been retrained by their aunt that it is disrespectful and unsanitary for them to leave their waste for someone else to dispose of and they are expected to flush, clean up their own mess on the seat (if there is any) and to wash well after each trip to the restroom.

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  3. Ivan--thanks for your parsing of poop words!
    Susan--more and more yellow water in our future!

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