Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 18:35     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I have been in countries where the public bathroom consists of essentially a hole in the ground where you squat and you have a bucket with water and a scooper to pour water over it to flush after you finish....


But enough about Canada…


Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 18:35     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
Anonymous wrote:OP would hate the public bathrooms in some countries where it’s a room with squatty potties and zero dividers. Zero.dividers.

But OP’s point is taken. Why can’t the doors align better?? Why the inch gap in many places?


Agree. And I actually have nightmares about the bolded, even though I've (thankfully) never experienced it. It must be a deep-seated (pun intended) fear of mine. I usually have that nightmare when I actually have to use the bathroom really badly but can't wake up. It's awful.
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 18:33     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
Anonymous wrote:My favorite "but why" cultural toilet thing is the poop shelf in Dutch toilets, so you can inspect your poop before flushing. As a result Dutch toilets tend to have skidmarks.


Wait, what??? How disgusting!
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 18:32     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
Anonymous wrote:Public bathrooms in Europe is almost an oxymoron. If you can even find any, you have to pay to use them and often they have no toilet paper. I’ll take flimsy stall doors over no bathroom any day.


+1
The bathrooms we've used in Europe were generally disgusting, if there were any to be found at all.
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 16:45     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
Anonymous wrote:My favorite "but why" cultural toilet thing is the poop shelf in Dutch toilets, so you can inspect your poop before flushing. As a result Dutch toilets tend to have skidmarks.


A simple solution is a line of toilet paper on the shelf, so the skids land on the TP and get flushed down.

I live in the EU and don’t mind paying a euro for a clean, functioning bathroom.
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 16:02     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
Anonymous wrote:I have been in countries where the public bathroom consists of essentially a hole in the ground where you squat and you have a bucket with water and a scooper to pour water over it to flush after you finish....


But enough about Canada…
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 15:23     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
I have been in countries where the public bathroom consists of essentially a hole in the ground where you squat and you have a bucket with water and a scooper to pour water over it to flush after you finish....
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 15:13     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
Anonymous wrote:I lived in london until late 20s and I cannot get used to the office/ public bathrooms here. Basically one large room with flimsy dividers where you are meant to pee and poop with colleagues in what is essentially a shared space? Insane. Why is this tolerated? So gross and awkward


I don’t think you understand the meaning of the word “barbaric.”
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 15:06     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
OP would hate the public bathrooms in some countries where it’s a room with squatty potties and zero dividers. Zero.dividers.

But OP’s point is taken. Why can’t the doors align better?? Why the inch gap in many places?
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 14:04     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
My favorite "but why" cultural toilet thing is the poop shelf in Dutch toilets, so you can inspect your poop before flushing. As a result Dutch toilets tend to have skidmarks.
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 13:54     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I lived in london until late 20s and I cannot get used to the office/ public bathrooms here. Basically one large room with flimsy dividers where you are meant to pee and poop with colleagues in what is essentially a shared space? Insane. Why is this tolerated? So gross and awkward


I fully agree - also grew up in the UK. The toilets here are disgusting. I don't want to see my colleagues' pants bunched around their ankles when they poop, I don't want to see their heads when they stand up in the stalls, and I certainly don't want to make eye contact with them when they are on the shitter through the huge gap in the cubicle. It is beyond revolting. This is the richest country in the world - splash out on a few more inches of board for the walls and doors!


If you are making eye contact with someone in a stall, that is entirely on you. You are the problem, PP.
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 13:41     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
I don't understand why they can't create bathroom stalls where the locks don't break or get mis-aligned to that you cannot close them. I feel like every other public bathroom i am in I have to hold the door shut while squatting.

And then there's the issue of being able to see through the cracks. It's amazing this is considered a first world country.
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 13:20     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
The us imo has cleaner bathrooms and also more of them. In Europe so often you have to go be a customer somewhere to use bathrooms, stores don’t have them as often…so inconvenient and I’m not going near any bathroom booth thing in the street I have to pay for.
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 13:17     Subject: Re:American public bathrooms are barbaric
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I am European as well and this is a uniquely you thing. Everyone poops and pees. You have plenty of privacy.


OP is from a higher social class in Europe.

In USA, OP will see higher class bathrooms in private country clubs.


They have floor to ceiling separations in Whole Foods and maybe one or two Busboys and Poets locations.

It’s pretty gross not to have floor to ceiling separation. When the toilets flush, all kinds of particles get into the air. In most American public bathrooms, there’s not much to stop the air from becoming dirty from 10-20 toilets.



Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 13:17     Subject: American public bathrooms are barbaric
Public bathrooms in Europe is almost an oxymoron. If you can even find any, you have to pay to use them and often they have no toilet paper. I’ll take flimsy stall doors over no bathroom any day.