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Urinal Paradise

I've noticed that most of my good blog post ideas come to me while I'm in the bathroom. Unfortunately, that means that a disproportionate number of posts are about bathrooms or bathroom-related things. This one is no exception.

Has anyone else noticed the trend in the past few years where new urinals are getting smaller and smaller? It's very unfortunate. It's getting harder and harder to hit the target.

So I was very relieved (no pun intended) to see that some Costco stores still have the full-length urinals in their stores (not for sale, but in the restrooms). It's nice to know that in this crazy world there are still some places you can go and not have to worry about downsizing.

Another disturbing urinal-related trend is the change to waterless urinals. I've seen them pop up in a few places and they're a little freaky. For one thing, they're all really small. There aren't full-length waterless urinals.

For another, it doesn't feel like they're connected to the plumbing system because there's no water coming into them. You almost wonder if it's just hanging there as a joke; something that somebody stuck to the wall to see how many people they could trick into using it.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, without the wet film on the sides of the urinal, it's much harder to prevent splashing.

Don't get me wrong, though, I'm all for "green" technologies if they make sense. If we can have waterless urinals for the same cost as watery urinals, I'm all for it. But could we maybe make them an easier target?

While we're on the subject of urinals, has everyone had the opportunity to take the Urinal Test? Take it by clicking here, then let me know how you do. I'm assuming the men in the audience will score much higher than the women.


8 comments:

Tuleps said...

Not that i've ever had chance to use a urinal and really have no idea about what you're complaining about, but i did get 5 of 6 right on the quiz. I missed the last one, although i shouldn't have. I feel the same way when people sit by me at work. There's 22 other available seats on the row, and someone hasta come sit in the one right by me?? I just don't understand it. There has to be a buffer. Why don't people realize that??

Bob said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bob said...

Sorry for deleting my previuos comment... I went a little over board and had second thoughts...

The thing I love about the full-length urinals is that I kind of feel like I'm peeing on the floor.

The worst is at stadiums where they have a 10 foot long trough instead of individual urinals. There you get no buffer whatsoever and worst case scenario splashage from some standing too close...

Robert said...

No no, worse yet is the urinals at the U... basically look like toilets sticking out of the wall, 6 or 7 right next to each other, no separators. At least with regular urinals you can get right up in there, but with these you're like 2 feet back. C'mon U, get your engineers to upgrade your bathrooms.filiways

Dave said...

Rob don't you mean spill ways?

katie said...

Seriously Daniel. I think you need something better to do with your time other than analyzing urinals. Please call. You can babysit for me. SO much better than urinals!

Misty Moncur said...

I know I was the first to read this and I can't believe I left no comment because I had such a fun time taking the urinal quiz, which I scored pretty well on. I, too, only missed one. So Laura, are you saying you don't want me to sit by you at work? Because I could sit at the other end of the row. This urinal thing is kind of like being in line at the bank, too. There's a certain protocol, you know? About how far away you have to stand from the next guy and where you can look and what you can seem interested in while you wait. Only, at the bank you don't have to whip it out and tinkle in front of other men.

Rub said...

Do they seriously have trough-like urinals at stadiums? That's disgusting.

Dan, you inspire me. I feel so much closer to my male friends after this post.