Toilet Culture
Techno potty
I’ve come across the whole gamut of toilets during my years of
globe-trotting; I can hover, or squat with the best of them…but technology has
done me in. Drew and I were relaxing in a park when nature called. I remembered there was one of those
self contained high tech, self-cleaning toilet units that have the classic green yellow
and red indicator lights at the door.
The nearest “techno potty” was out of service…darn it. So I ran to another at the park
entrance, where a Spanish couple was having an animated discussion about it, as
the guy was exiting…his wife went in next; then it was my turn. She held the door open for me, which I
reluctantly accepted, knowing the usual protocol requires the door to close to
clean between users. I figured
this toilet must have been broken as well, since other “techno potties” won’t
even let you just hold the door open for another person. Well, as soon as the door closed behind
me the toilet made a sudden loud flushing “WOOSH,” and I knew I was in big trouble.
Then everything went pitch
black. I was trapped inside. The self-cleaning feature
was engaged when the door shut; this triggered disinfectant to be sprayed from 3 sprayers located
at floor and ceiling level. I
stood on tiptoes seeking higher ground, and pressed myself against a wall attempting to avoid being
“sanitized” as the cleaning fluid covered the floor. In complete blackness
I visualized the green escape button to the right of the door that I had seen
in previous “techno-potties”…eureka I found it by “Braille” and pressed! As the door opened, I made my undignified exit, smelling a
bit “cleaner and fresher.”
Ok guys, here is the version of portable urinals that I have seen
here in Spain. Note that they are
often placed in places that get a lot of foot traffic, and being circular, they
maximize efficient use of space, if not privacy.
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