How NOT to design a bathroom!
What’s wrong with this picture?
We ate lunch yesterday at a café in Gent. Afterwards, I went inside to use the toilet, followed the signs upstairs, came around a corner, and saw this.
Except it wasn’t quite this; there was a man standing at the urinal, making some very contented sounds while he peed.
I backed off around the corner to wait for him to finish.
Mistake #1
For a woman to get to the women’s toilet, she has to walk right by the man using the urinal. Too much information!
While I waited, another man came up the stairs looking for the toilet. I let him go ahead of me.
Mistake #2
For a man to get to the men’s cubicle, which I assume is that unmarked door on the left behind the urinal, he would have to go quite near the man at the urinal. I suppose it has certain homoerotic possibilities, but what if he’s not up for that? Never mind that he knows there’s a woman standing nearby waiting to use the bathroom…
So the man waited and, when it was his turn, I think he used the urinal rather than the cubicle, though I didn’t check.
So now it was my turn to enter the room. The problem would be solved if the outer door closed and locked, but it didn’t. There was no doorknob and the door was propped open.
Mistake #3
If a woman is inside the women’s cubicle and wants to come out again, she risks walking out to the sight of a man peeing in the urinal – again, too much information! What is she supposed to do in that case? Come out, go to the sink (and notice that there isn’t a whole lot of room between the two) and wash her hands, knowing that there’s not much distance between her back and this strange man’s back? Or should she just stay and cower in that little cubicle until he’s done?
Actually, now that I think about it, a man coming out of the men’s cubicle would have the same problem, but the distance and the angle would be even tighter. Look at how the door opens. I’m not at all sure he could even get out of the cubicle if a man is busy peeing…
Amazing. What were they thinking?
My travel recommendations
Planning travel
- Skyscanner is where I always start my flight searches.
- Booking.com is the company I use most for finding accommodations. If you prefer, Expedia offers more or less the same.
- Discover Cars offers an easy way to compare prices from all of the major car-rental companies in one place.
- Use Viator or GetYourGuide to find walking tours, day tours, airport pickups, city cards, tickets and whatever else you need at your destination.
- Bookmundi is great when you’re looking for a longer tour of a few days to a few weeks, private or with a group, pretty much anywhere in the world. Lots of different tour companies list their tours here, so you can comparison shop.
- GetTransfer is the place to book your airport-to-hotel transfers (and vice-versa). It’s so reassuring to have this all set up and paid for ahead of time, rather than having to make decisions after a long, tiring flight!
- Buy a GoCity Pass when you’re planning to do a lot of sightseeing on a city trip. It can save you a lot on admissions to museums and other attractions in big cities like New York and Amsterdam.
Other travel-related items
- It’s really awkward to have to rely on WIFI when you travel overseas. I’ve tried several e-sim cards, and GigSky’s e-sim was the one that was easiest to activate and use. You buy it through their app and activate it when you need it. Use the code RACHEL10 to get a 10% discount!
- I’m a fan of SCOTTeVEST’s jackets and vests because when I wear one, I don’t have to carry a handbag. I feel like all my stuff is safer when I travel because it’s in inside pockets close to my body.
- I use ExpressVPN on my phone and laptop when I travel. It keeps me safe from hackers when I use public or hotel wifi.
Rachel Heller is a writer living in Groningen, the Netherlands. She is the owner and primary author of this website, Rachel’s Ruminations, a travel blog focused on independent travel with an emphasis on cultural and historical sites/sights. Read more here about her and about this website. Rachel also owns and operates a website about travel to UNESCO World Heritage sites.
I think a flasher was the mastermind here!
Of course! I should have thought of that! Too funny!