Tuesday, March 1, 2011

American restrooms

the bad guy or poor woman in "on the run"-type of hollywood movies almost invariably have a scene where the main character is hiding in a toilet. they then always have to hoist themselves onto the seat, carefully balancing themselves without making a single noise, as to make sure nothing can be seen from underneath the doors (or heard, since the divides are so poorly constructed). i always thought it funny that in movies they have such weird open toilets, surely it makes it more exciting as almost impossible to hide there, but i hadnt given it much thought that these are just the actual american restrooms... where you have no privacy whatsoever! no moment for yourself, nothing..... whatever you do, the person next to you will know its you, by just looking down and recognizing your shoes...  how i miss the entirely closed dutch toilets..... :) also the word "restroom" i find entirely misplaced, the US kind of toilets are not... a place to rest.....(i should once find out the origin of the word restroom)
i was just googling around, and found that i am not the only one with this concern. apparently there is an "american restroom association" that advocates for better public restrooms since some people prefer working at home solely due to the restrooms at work. and... because europeans can form a bad impression of the USA as a country because of their poor restroom privacy... :) (i myself hadnt gone that far...).
anyways, the toilet above i found charming. did they take the no-privacy to another level with these faces all over the toilet walls? :) this was in the museum of art of the rhode island school of design in providence, where we went last sunday. the entrance was free since it was a sunday and we came in early...... and the museum was huge, very diverse and interesting! even their restrooms... ;)

5 comments:

Eyeliquor 2 said...

Looks pretty clean!
Another nice shot!

Stefan Jansson said...

It ahas an arty feel to it this restroom.

Tim said...

hahahaha the ARA. Those people seem to think THAT is the most important issue determining the way foreigners view the US?? :D

anyway, i really liked this museum; it had Rodin, Rembrandt (viva hollandia!) and Singer-Sargent.

And: the floorplan was so complicated we got to see them 4 times! ;)

biebkriebels said...

Do I see it right? I see a toiletseat through the doors so you will be seen sitting there, or is it a reflection? But if it is so, you are righthand side sitting without a door? It is a mystery for me, but the design is ok.

CaT said...

yes, it looked very clean!
and yes, the toilet is a reflection; there was no seethrough door (as far as i know.....)
the door is on the left, down corner! this is the big toilet handicap accessible; i usually go to this one, since... there is a lot of space! the other 3 toilets are sooo tiny; the door opens to the inside so sometimes i get stuck between the toilet and the door and i find that dirty!! (especially when i have a lot of bags/coat.. etc..).
thats also funny; the setup is always the same; always one big and 3 small...