Toilet Talk

I lived with one of those many years ago, Jillyblom! On a finca with no electricity and the only running water was from outside tap! Nightmare. And no running water. You had to go fill a bucket from the tap and pour it down. All in very high temperatures! And people's dirty feet marks all over the pads where you're supposed to rest your feet. And 'accidents' that hadn't been cleared up. Ugh. Horrendous.

I've been known to moan about unisex loos but that reminder made me appreciate that there's a lot worse!

My friend had a monthly accident and had to wash her underwear and then dry it under the hand dryer and then stand in her knickers whilst she washed the blood out of the back of her skirt. All the women who came in were fab and one produced a nail brush from her bag to help. I just can’t imagine how mortified she would have been to have a man coming in!
I’ve seen similar happen to other girls too.
When young, the loo is our sanctuary on a night out - the gossip hub!
Leave our loos alone, we don’t want or need shared sex loos!

I have been in many “toilets” all over the world and I can honestly say that once you have actually fallen into a filthy, stinking hole in the floor, whilst suffering from dysentery, you will be happy to use anything that resembles a normal toilet, no matter who uses it before or after you.
If scarred me so much that I sponsored a latrine so no one else would have to suffer! You even get a photo of it to display in your loo at home.
www.toilettwinning.org/

I am very,very fussy about public lavatories. It's bad enough seeing the way some women wash their hands( running a bit of water over the fingertips, no soap and thinking that is clean) without having to put up with wee on seats or floor and other totally unmentionable situations. I really don't want to use public loos which are used by men, and I am against gender neutral loos because quite frankly I consider it to be an invitation to some people to abuse others.

I'm sorry if that is offensive to some, but having been sexually assaulted I don't want others to suffer as I did.

Using public loos. My friend and I were walking in the New Forest when she had to go. She popped behind a convenient bush and completed her toilet. As we walked away, the ‘bush’ got up and walked off muttering!!!

I think women’s loos are every bit as dreadful as men’s sometimes (if my husband’s description is anything to go by). How can people leave them in such a disgusting state! So mixed sex toilets make no difference to me. I do try to wait until I’ve eaten, in a restaurant though, so it doesn’t put me off my food!?

I have to use public loos a lot but do find it impossible to pee if someone is in the next cubicle no matter how desperate I am so if it was a man in there I'd have to go elsewhere. When we had an engineering factory the original building only had one toilet at the end of the shop floor which all the men used - I was the only female. I used to get in the car and come home rather than go in there (it was spotless as my dad used to clean for us back then but still an issue to me). It was bliss when we finally got another place with proper toilet facilities

I had to click on the link to look at the t-shirt. It wasn't that bad at all.

For those of you who don't use public toilets - you would have no problem in Bristol - they have all been closed! I have found supermarket and department store toilets are usually spotless.

wow sarah65 - I'm so sorry you don't have "ladder control" Is that your way of attempting to avoid toilet seats?

Annep1

Me too. Gender neutral? Call it what it is...MIXED SEX.

Am contemplating changing my car for a smallish campervan so I will take my own loo with me wherever I go

Years ago I did an office cleaning job for a few months and the state of the men's loos was vomit making!
Unflushed, wet floors, streaks around the bowl and the washbasins littered with wet loo paper, whiskers, cigarette ends and heaven knows what, ditto the urinals.
Some men are very uncivilised in their habits.
I often wondered if they left that mess at home.
So no, definitely do not want unisex loos.

Sara65. I didn’t know Lidl had toilets!
My Morrisons’ toilets are always clean, though.
Any suspect public toilets, I squat/hover!

If I am out shopping will always use a supermarket toilet or restaurant . They are usually clean

This gender neutrality thing really annoys me!

When we go anywhere, we always stop off at a supermarket , they are usually relatively clean

Not a Lidl shopper, but once had a bit of a disaster with a young grandchild on a long journey, and their toilets were spotless

I hate public toilets, the majority of them are gross in fact all are gross that's if you can ever find one.

I'm another who's always hung on. Long coach trips in the past were a challenge but friend and myself had toilet trips off to a fine art by visiting hotels, having a coffee then using their facilities. We did this on the majority of our outings hurtling to find a hotel rather than a " public " outside toilet.

The only time we were caught out was in the outskirts of Montelimar when we entered a place with a hole in the floor-----it was horrifying and I wet all my feet. I'd rather have gone behind a bush! Squat toilets aren't advisable for stiff knees from travelling hahahaha.

I don't have the luxury of being able to wait till I get home!

Years ago at work, the management decided that the toilets would be open for use by men or women, rather than the men having use of the upstairs toilet and women the one on the ground floor. It lasted two weeks before the women revolted and refused to use what had been the mens toilet, they also had someone on guard outside the traditional women's toilet to keep the men out. Management got the message and we reverted to single sex toilets. That would be much more difficult these days because of gender neutrality.

And I certainly don't want to pee with a strange man next door.
It's ridiculous.

You're all making me think. Perhaps I will carry an antibacterial gel with me and wipe seats. Sometimes you just have to use public loos.
I don't see a need for change. Everyone has managed up to now. Perhaps have more of the self contained loos for those who aren't sure whether to use male or female.

Annsixty

Also, I would find it impossible to eat of drink in close proximity to a community toilet

Grannybags

I admire and envy your ladder control!

No it doesn't annsixty I think if we were honest most of us have a problem with public lavatories. There are always issues of cleanliness of the lavatory itself and the surrounding floors, sinks etc. There are a lot of people who misuse the facilities as well which make it difficult for others. Of course there are misapprehensions about the transmission of germs etc.

I agree with gillybob I have to be very desperate to use a public toilet and have been known to last all day until I get home!

I am going to sound very snobbish and not very tolerant now.
Yesterday a friend took me out and she had a reason for going to a small town a few miles away.
It is in quite a poor area, we called in a cafe for a coffee and it had one loo which is classed as a community facility which means anyone can come in and use it without being a customer.
In effect a public toilet.
After watching a stream of people, children on their own included , there was no way I could have used it.
Does that say more about me than I though I felt.?