My Bathroom is a "Private" Kind of Place

Everybody like a little privacy while going to the bathroom, right? That's why we run off into the bushes when nature calls on the great highway of life. (MP3 download of American Standard's pro-bathroom privacy anthem.)

Listener Stephanie submits these two pictures of a new public bathroom in Houston. (Apparently, London also sported one of these last Fall.) On the outside, it looks innocent enough - clean even! Mirrored walls suggest a public toilet that might not require you to turn your smeller off for the entire experience. But take a step inside and the walls are revealed to be one-way mirrors.  Now you're taking a dump in the middle of a town square, surrounded by your fellow citizens. You got a problem with that?

The toilets are the brainchild of artist Monica Bonvicini who wanted to see if people would "defy their own embarrassment" by using the free public stalls, which operate under the title "Don't Miss A Sec." Of course, these mirrored outhouses also happens to be a godsend for folks who like to have sex with themselves or others, but prefer to avoid the pesky imprisonment that sometimes accompanies such behavior.

I think I''d prefer the public toilets of Berlin, which descend into the bowels of the earth on an elevator in between uses, where they are sprayed and disinfected with post-Nazi-like precision. But that's just me.

Comments

[Michael]

Where is that one way mirror public bathroom in Houston? That could be interesting.

[Mel]

do you have an address for the Houston bathroom? I want to see if this is for real.

[archerdanielsmidland]

Folks, those toilets are not in Houston. They are swiss made, and although the city considered them, they have been rejected.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/2692327.html

[Jupdegraff]

dude, this is friggin sweet. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/2692327.html dont work...

[choqlit]

Link proabbly doesn't work because it's old.....

i want to poop in it and maybe wank off a bit!!!! hooray i like beans

[Sanserv-Washroom Services]

Ha Ha Ha!
This concept is really interesting but surely it involves great effort and cost to keep it neat and clean and hygienic.
I think that would be the reason of rejection!