North American toilet doors

[Bozza]

What is it all about?

Almost everywhere you go to 'go', be it in the office, a restaurant or a bar you find ridiculously small toilet doors...

- There will be a gap of a good 18 inches or so between the bottom of the door and the ground, meaning you are immediately identified by your shoes/trouser combo on show to passers by.

- The door generally extends to no higher than 6 foot from the ground, meaning a degree of ducking having to be undertaken at various times of the job.

- There are gaps of around an inch or so down both sides of the door - both 'hinge side' and 'lock side'.

From my observations this seems to be a common feature of 'restrooms' across North America.

All in all, there is not a huge amount of privacy going on. And when I'm on the job I want privacy. So I try and go at 'home' wherever possible.

 

[Zeitgeist]

Not as bad as French bogs surely? Nothing beats sitting for a dump, with nothing more than a swing louvre type door, no longer than four feet in lengh!

 

[Zeitgeist]

Oh I forgot. Montreal? May as well be in France!

 

[CHAPPERS]

Pooing is possibly one of the most private things you do. It's when you become one with your body and that should in no way ever be encrouched upon, stand your ground Bozza, poo in the bushes.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

I visited a Young Offenders Institution as part of my work, and the toilet doors only come up half way, so the person would be half visible. I think they do this to make it easier to see if they are passing drugs, but it must be rather embarrassing.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

Worse still I went in at work yesterday and someone was having a mobile conversation while on the toilet. That I just cannot stand, call me fussy if you like, but I usually remember to turn my phone off.

 

[NMH]

I don't get why the main door always opens inwards, so you have to pull the handle and place your hand where some dirty scumbag has just done after taking a runny one and not washing his paws. Most yanks don't wash afterwards, yet they insist on shaking each others' hands every time they meet.

It would make better sense if they open out, then you can push them open with your foot or by any part of the door. the only handle you'd grab would be on the way in - and no-one touches those handles on the way out of the bog.

 

[Titanic]

Opening a door outwards into a corridor... where someone might be rushing to do something urgent is not a very good plan!

I agree with you about the hygiene bit though - uuurgh!

 

[Jambo Seagull]

At least they have doors now. I spent the summer of 1988 working on a travelling fair going to fairgrounds in every hick town in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. In nearly all of these places the public toilets had a row of toilets with partitions between them but no doors. Very bizarre. A lot of the bars just had a restroom with a urinal and a sit down toilet (no partition)with no lock on the door of the rest room. If you needed a shit you had to be very quick or just let everybody else in on the colour and consistency of your stools.

 

[Braders]

my personal fave

 

[tedebear]

I can't stand it when theres about 2 inches clearance between the open door and the toilet itself - how is one supposed to turn around after walking in with that little space....

and as for girls talking on mobile phones - I just try and wee a little louder - that'll sort em!!

 

[ditchy]

The reason they have such large gaps under the door is so that they dont get sued if someone has the misfortune of locking themselves in. They can be easily "extracted " from their predicament without too much trauma and thus not able to sue the owners for distress etc .
Cuts down on public liability etc .

 

[CHAPPERS]

I was in greece once taking a dump in a bar. The toilet was one with a saloon type door with no lock, iam pretty sure everyone in the bar below could see you shitting but i was nutted so didn't care. Anyhoo the shit went fine, no hiccups like but hile i was wiping my arse some bird opened the door and caught me as i was actually wiping. I smiled and said hello, she ran away. Went down and enjoyed my drink while smiling inanely at her. Marvellous thing is drink.

 

[Locky]

I don't get why the main door always opens inwards, so you have to pull the handle and place your hand where some dirty scumbag has just done after taking a runny one and not washing his paws. Most yanks don't wash afterwards, yet they insist on shaking each others' hands every time they meet.

It would make better sense if they open out, then you can push them open with your foot or by any part of the door. the only handle you'd grab would be on the way in - and no-one touches those handles on the way out of the bog.

The door must open inwards.................How else would you be able to keep one foot against it when the lock is missing.

 

[perth seagull]

I was in greece once taking a dump in a bar. The toilet was one with a saloon type door with no lock, iam pretty sure everyone in the bar below could see you shitting but i was nutted so didn't care. Anyhoo the shit went fine, no hiccups like but hile i was wiping my arse some bird opened the door and caught me as i was actually wiping. I smiled and said hello, she ran away. Went down and enjoyed my drink while smiling inanely at her. Marvellous thing is drink.

Funniest post of the week!

 

[jamie-oh]

you wanna go to thailand or malaysia or any of those south east asian countries. a hole in the floor, two handy footholes, a bar on the wall to help pull yourself up, and a strange long pipe thingo with a trickle of water going thru it for supposedly wiping. and thats public toilets, bar toilets, shopping centres, hotels - everywhere except the nice 'western' hotels, which are fourteen times the price.
worth it for the shitters though!