Travel Log 4
6/8/12
Restrooms
Since we’ve
been in Ireland, I’ve noticed some peculiar differences in the bathrooms. I
obviously did not have the pleasure of experiencing what the inside of the
men’s room looked like, but the multiple ladies rooms I have used thus far have
been an experience all their own.
I’ll begin
with the size of the stalls. Everyone here in Dublin seems to be very slender
in size, yet their bathroom stalls are enormous in comparison to stalls in the
States. For example, you can actually open the door ALL THE WAY, walk inside,
and not have to jam your body between the wall/toilet and the door in order to
close it. It seemed much more sanitary, not to mention reducing the stress of
fitting your body inside a claustrophobic box to take care of business. The
extra room in the stalls allowed for some leg room which made the bathroom
experience somehow more relaxing.
Then of
course there were the dispensers. In America, us ladies use the restroom in a
public establishment and find a giant vending machine plastered to the wall.
Although typically rusted through and empty, they contain feminine sanitary
products. Sometimes if we’re really lucky, they have cool stuff like chap-stick
or gum, but even that’s a rarity these days. In Ireland, however, not only do you get all that,
but also with some added bonus gifts! We first noticed this at The Bleeding
Horse on the first day when we saw a condom machine in the ladies room. This
mystical condom dispenser is only something that I have heard of to exist in
the depths of the men’s rooms in only the most upscale nightclubs. It was so
mind-boggling that I had to take a picture.
Now of
course this was our first public bathroom experience in Ireland, leading to
many more interesting dispensers, including one exclusive to sex toys.(soon to
come: my blog on open sexuality in Ireland vs. the U.S.)
