pay your own way

so, i have had issues with public toilets for my whole life, i think. maybe because i used to get mistaken for a boy all the time and people would freak out. or maybe it's just because the biologist in me recognizes the damage all the nasty funk growing in those place could do. i guess we can't waste all of our time worrying about germs though. especially since ruby came along...she is going to put stuff in her mouth and it's going to make her sick sometimes, but i know my mom wasn't a germ freak, and i turned out fine (shut-up you jerks, you know what i mean).

anyway, on to the subject. on the recent trip i was absolutely outraged to find that you sometimes have to pay to use a public toilet in the UK. i couldn't believe it as we walked up to the bathrooms after my birthday dinner of fish and chips only to see a coin-slot-vending-machine-type-thingy. 'what you have to pay to pee?' i almost shouted at clare. she was laughing at me and digging for the 20p (like 20 cents, only the conversion of our disgusting economy makes it more like 40 cents, but you get the picture) she needed to get into the bathroom. 'that is ridiculous, i'm just coming in with you then!' as i walked in behind her.

she frantically jumped on the pot and started peeing away, i was still carrying on asking about paying to pee and she discovered there was no toilet paper!!! this pushed me over the edge. it's not like we could ask a neighbor or move to the next stall, it was a single bathroom!!! so we just paid to unlock the door and use the facilites only to find the most essential of accoutrements missing!!! now, i'm all for paying to use the loo if that's how they roll over there, but when i get in there i expect to find the shit to wipe the shit from my shit to be in the shit holder!!! ya know what i'm saying?

anyway, once i got over the missing toilet paper thing and started to think about it, i considered that it might be a nice thing over here. i mean the toilet was private and really nice and clean. no graffiti or tampon applicators laying around. i guess if i had the choice to go into a private clean bathroom and pay a quarter verses the stall-type-never-know-what-you-might-find state of free public bathrooms, i would gladly ante up the doh.



luckily (or unfortunately), clare was happy to snap photos of me in my pee-shy state and just after my rant. i wish i could have taken a photo of her face laughing her head off at me, but she had my camera as you can see from the photo. she also accidentally set it to the B&W option, i'm not trying to say this is art, it was merely camera operator error.