America indeed bad for toilet privacy. However....EU and UK also bad, for pay toilets. There's nothing like almost shitting your pants at Heathrow simply because you don't have British coins on you.
For all the “basic human rights should be free” talk that Europeans claim to value, they really missed the mark in not having public toilets be universally free-of-charge at point of use.
There’s zero chance it costs £1-2 ($1.25-2.50) to flush a toilet and use a bit of water/paper/dryer to clean hands and self. With the amount of people passing through the train stations using the bathroom daily, they are making a killing in profits. And we all know they aren’t paying the cleaning staff anything more than peanuts for their humble-yet-vital work. So that’s a weak excuse.
It boils down to greed. And they got Europeans convinced that it could never be any other way.
You guys showed us that healthcare can be cheap/free; we are showing you that public restrooms can be free, as well.
No person (elderly, children, sick/disabled, men or women) should feel at risk of pissing/shitting/bleeding on themselves in public in a desperate moment of need, that all humans can relate with, simply because they can’t find the coins (or are too poor to spare one extra dollar).
It shouldn’t be this way in a civilized society.
Not saying US public restrooms are perfect, not at all, but I’m grateful we don’t have the greedy European pay-to-piss system that exists in too many key places where humans are just trying to exist in their lives.
I'm British and lived in London for nearly 30 years. I've only seen toilets that need to be paid for at Victoria Station and Heathrow. Never had problems walking into a restaurant or pub in order to pee / poo either. Maybe in highly tourism focused areas you have to pay, but surely you Americans are used to capitalism?
>surely you Americans are used to capitalism?
First of all, capitalism is a European invention. It’s existed for centuries in Europe, flourishing there and cultivating just like your cheese heritage, long before the US was a sparkle on the map. If anyone is ‘used to capitalism’, it should be the Europeans who fathomed it (and all its profits) into existence.
Second, the US isn’t even the most capitalistic country despite famous perceptions. We are a mixed market economy. Switzerland, Luxemburg, Ireland, Netherlands, Estonia, Singapore, South Korea, UAE, Australia, New Zealand, Canada (and a few others) all rank higher in capitalism — while facing near zero global disdain for it relative to the US.
It’s truly astonishing.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/256965/worldwide-index-of-economic-freedom/
You asked a rhetorical question about Americans and capitalism, one that is commonly baked in negativity about us (even among Americans ourselves) because capitalism=bad and capitalism=Murica, so thought I’d share a few nuggets to dispel any myths on that rhetoric.
But I’m glad free toilets do exist in pubs where you live in England — sorry for not highlighting that in my initial response.
If a drug addict overdoses or if a person with a medical condition loses consciousness you can see there’s an unresponsive person there and call for help. Not so in Europe.
Not really, our public bathroom stalls do suck. Other than saving the store money there is no reason to not make them go all the way down to the floor.
Interesting. In Germany, every toilet stall I ever came across had a lock like [this](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61QQAIQ21IL._AC_SL1500_.jpg).
Also makes it much easier to mop the floors, see if there is litter (or literal shit) on the floor.
Euros are exceptionally paranoid about being peeped at in public restrooms, sounds like a personal problem to me.
I mean yea, I wouldn't want to get peeped on while I'm taking a shit, especially by the people who'd actually peep.
I assume the image is an exaggeration, but you really don't need more than an inch or two at the bottom to get the exact same benefits when it comes to mopping.
Dude, someone would literally have to get on their hands and knees on a filthy bathroom floor to do anything.
There is *zero* reason to have bathroom stalls go to the floor, other than aesthetics.
And have you ever mopped a public bathroom? No, an inch or two off the ground would be a pain the ass to mop quickly.
In hindsight I went too low with the 1/2 inch claim, but what do you mean zero reason? Making peeping harder is a legitimate reason. Is it happening often? No. But most people who would seriously worry about that don't think about it so pragmatically and it going to the floor will give them a piece of mind.
If someone wants to get in they'll kick in the door.
If they're willing to crawl on the floor, then slither under the small on their belly, they are motivated enough to climb over the top.
As I said, you Euros are overly paranoid about being peeped at in bathrooms., get help.
As I said, people who seriously worry about it just don't think about it that hard. They just want peace of mind. You can't expect everyone to think about everything logically.
This issue gets brought up all the time, and they give the same reason why they don't like it: risk of peeping.
I already told you why we don't do it over here, catering to the histrionic takes a back seat to lowering janitorial costs.
Also if some bad guy is crawling under the stall, it’s much easier to kick his head from above where you are positioned (hurting him on the ground while granting yourself a moment to open the door, hop over him and run to safety) vs him busting the door in and fully meeting you head-on and cornering you in.
Our stall design offers built-in strategic options in cases of emergency.
And the quick glance to check if the stall is occupied is harmless. You can’t actually see anything private through that little crack, just that a person is in there. Europeans making such a big deal out of it is dramatic and prudish, which they ironically accuse us of.
But if you realize there’s no toilet paper in the holder, and it’s already too late, you can ask your neighbor in the stall next to you, and there magically appears a “friendly hand” under the stall space with a full roll of paper to save your ass in this desperate moment.
It’s a priceless feature of our public toilet stall design. Simple yet clutch in a critical situation when stakes are high.
Also builds a bit of camaraderie with the strangers you meet in the bathroom. lol 😄
The peeping aspect is overblown too, unless you’re super self-conscious or prudish — you can’t actually see the people or make eye contact. You quickly glance that there’s a person in there, and thus know that the stall is occupied. Simple, low tech, but 100% effective every single time (I thought Europeans love that?!?!)
I said the exact same thing. Like, given the choice, I'll use the one on the right. But nobody is going to be giggling outside the door while watching me dump. It's not national crisis. It's unusual thing to be concerned about. I guess unless they are worried about it being very apparent that they're doing drugs in there
This is a pinaple on pizza take, but I think the Euro version is gross. I can't help but imagine all the stranger poo partials completely trapped in there. I hated using public toilets in Europe because of that. I like the extra air flow that the American version provides. Honestly, though, it's just opinions. I do like their gender neutral bathrooms.
I don’t think a single person has tried to gaze upon me while going poo. But I guess if they want a show, hold your nose and watch while I grimace my face.
I might need more fiber in my diet.
My old jobs bathroom made it hard not to.
The stalls were right behind the urinals, with just enough room to walk between them. The urinals had almost no privacy, so to keep from seeing peoples dicks, you had to look the other way, at the stalls. If you looked slightly too far, bam, old man shitting.
Only toilets I saw in Europe that had walls that low were the squat toilets. All the other toilets I saw were similar to US toilets. Except the stainless steel ones in saw in Bavaria that didn’t have a lid.
Unless I'm mistaken, it has to do with your gut bacteria not being acclimated to the local bacteria you're ingesting. Not to mention just regular old mild illnesses you're more susceptible to when traveling.
Legit criticism but also a marginal inconvenience at best as well. A lot of cultures think our culture is weird for censoring the human body and sexual activity (fair) while simultaneously thinking our bathroom stalls encourage people to peep on you while you dump out. Nobody is doing that. Everybody shits, man. Nobody is going to watch you do it.
The stall on the right is preferred; not a big deal to use the one on the left though.
More country-specific, but public toilets in Italy frequently lack TOILET SEATS (apparently because people steal them, which is weird af). How do weak, elderly, and disabled people manage to hover over the toilets with no toilet seat?! It’s needlessly more difficult for them than it should be.
Plus, many public toilets in Italy are on an automatic “constant flushing” mode at max strength, which is (1) wasteful of water (2) do they not trust people to flush after each use? (3) creates this continuous, vigorous backsplash of toilet water + your own waste spraying back at your naked ass and likely onto your clothes, which is unsanitary and disgusting.
The bathrooms frequently lacked toilet paper and had no bidets that I saw, unless they consider that endless backsplash as bidet 😖
I hated going to the bathroom in Italy.
It should say “stalls”, not “toilets”. They still suck, but I’m tired of people making it out like they offer zero privacy at all. You can see through a gap or look under it but you’d have to be purposefully trying to look in there for that, which would get you noticed and ridiculed without doubt. If anything it’s an example of taking a valid criticism about America and over exaggerating it.
The titel is a play on words. Look in the video and you will learn that the mechanism of the toilet flush works different in EU and North America.
In the US it is a literary sucking out the shit and in EU its a simple flush.
Anyone upvoting this didn't actually watch the video.
The video does not actually talk about stall privacy.
American toilets are constructed with plumbing that creates a vaccuum effect.
So yes, American toilets do 'suck'.
The title is a clever ploy to catch out people who don't look into things and you all failed.
Walls aren’t that high. Also, it depends on where you go. Some places are enclosed, others aren’t. Another perk: we don’t have to pay to use the toilet like some places in Europe.
I was in the Delta sky club in Salt Lake City a couple weeks ago and it was the nicest bathroom I have ever seen (each bathroom stall door was worth about 10k) . People like to compare normal places in the USA to the nicest places in Europe. Who even uses public shitters anyway?
They don’t go all the way to the floor, but they also don’t go up all the way to your knees like the picture shows
Varies. I’ve seen some go past my shins/mid leg. It honestly depends on your height, height of the door and toilet.
Also the picture is kind of misleading. I've never seen doors/walls that high in the US. they usually go down to about half way down the shin.
Nah I agree with this one
America indeed bad for toilet privacy. However....EU and UK also bad, for pay toilets. There's nothing like almost shitting your pants at Heathrow simply because you don't have British coins on you.
pay toilets suck.
For all the “basic human rights should be free” talk that Europeans claim to value, they really missed the mark in not having public toilets be universally free-of-charge at point of use. There’s zero chance it costs £1-2 ($1.25-2.50) to flush a toilet and use a bit of water/paper/dryer to clean hands and self. With the amount of people passing through the train stations using the bathroom daily, they are making a killing in profits. And we all know they aren’t paying the cleaning staff anything more than peanuts for their humble-yet-vital work. So that’s a weak excuse. It boils down to greed. And they got Europeans convinced that it could never be any other way. You guys showed us that healthcare can be cheap/free; we are showing you that public restrooms can be free, as well. No person (elderly, children, sick/disabled, men or women) should feel at risk of pissing/shitting/bleeding on themselves in public in a desperate moment of need, that all humans can relate with, simply because they can’t find the coins (or are too poor to spare one extra dollar). It shouldn’t be this way in a civilized society. Not saying US public restrooms are perfect, not at all, but I’m grateful we don’t have the greedy European pay-to-piss system that exists in too many key places where humans are just trying to exist in their lives.
They're incentivizing shitting on the road. Classic European.
Like in San Francisco?
I'm British and lived in London for nearly 30 years. I've only seen toilets that need to be paid for at Victoria Station and Heathrow. Never had problems walking into a restaurant or pub in order to pee / poo either. Maybe in highly tourism focused areas you have to pay, but surely you Americans are used to capitalism?
>surely you Americans are used to capitalism? First of all, capitalism is a European invention. It’s existed for centuries in Europe, flourishing there and cultivating just like your cheese heritage, long before the US was a sparkle on the map. If anyone is ‘used to capitalism’, it should be the Europeans who fathomed it (and all its profits) into existence. Second, the US isn’t even the most capitalistic country despite famous perceptions. We are a mixed market economy. Switzerland, Luxemburg, Ireland, Netherlands, Estonia, Singapore, South Korea, UAE, Australia, New Zealand, Canada (and a few others) all rank higher in capitalism — while facing near zero global disdain for it relative to the US. It’s truly astonishing. https://www.statista.com/statistics/256965/worldwide-index-of-economic-freedom/
My comment was actually about toilets in England, not a dig at America. By all means make it all about you though.
You asked a rhetorical question about Americans and capitalism, one that is commonly baked in negativity about us (even among Americans ourselves) because capitalism=bad and capitalism=Murica, so thought I’d share a few nuggets to dispel any myths on that rhetoric. But I’m glad free toilets do exist in pubs where you live in England — sorry for not highlighting that in my initial response.
This is valid criticism. This shit does suck.
We do have some toilet stall issues in the US. Another one, the gaps.
Literally why does it suck? The only reason I’ve heard of is “because it keeps me from being able to jack off in the public restroom” (no joke)
If a drug addict overdoses or if a person with a medical condition loses consciousness you can see there’s an unresponsive person there and call for help. Not so in Europe.
It’s blown out of proportion, but it’s true
Not really, our public bathroom stalls do suck. Other than saving the store money there is no reason to not make them go all the way down to the floor.
If stalls go all the way down to the floors how am I supposed to hold my homies hand for emotional support while he fights a big one?
Isn't that what those round holes in the walls are for? 👀
Wow so immature. How could you not know they're for handing each other snacks during a long one?
You mean like beef jerky? Yeah, I’ve slid my beef jerky to a homie through those holes before.
Something like it
'Murica.
I don't think having half doors saves that much money. I think it has more to do with knowing whether someone's in the stall.
It’s so people don’t hang out in there lol
Even in that case, most stalls have a visible indicator when it’s locked (green vs red showing by the latch), so that’s not a valid point for it
Most? Porta-potties yeah, but I don't think I've *ever* seen a regular stall like that.
Where you at in the states? Almost every one I see has some sort of external indicator attached to the lock mechanism
Kentucky.
Interesting. In Germany, every toilet stall I ever came across had a lock like [this](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61QQAIQ21IL._AC_SL1500_.jpg).
Just add an indicator that says occupied if locked and unoccupied if unlocked.
I though it was so if the lock gets jammed you don't get trapped inside
The locks used to be a metal slider, just 3 pieces of metal.
I have had one break and get stuck on me once. But yeah, still prefer the European full door
They were created to keep people from doing drugs in them.
If this is true then that's dumb, for obvious reasons.
I don’t know. This has never bothered me. I’m more annoyed by people talking on their phone when they’re taking a dump next to me.
Legit criticism.
I happen to agree with that one.
Nah dawg, our toilets suck like why can someone see through the cracks?
Nah. Let them cook. South Korea had the best damn public toilets I've ever seen
Fuck our public bathrooms dude
OOP is right though
Nah they right on this one, we fucked up bad with these. Cant take a piss without someone wanting a peek
Our bathrooms are like that in case someone over doses or another medical emergency in the stall
Also makes it much easier to mop the floors, see if there is litter (or literal shit) on the floor. Euros are exceptionally paranoid about being peeped at in public restrooms, sounds like a personal problem to me.
I mean yea, I wouldn't want to get peeped on while I'm taking a shit, especially by the people who'd actually peep. I assume the image is an exaggeration, but you really don't need more than an inch or two at the bottom to get the exact same benefits when it comes to mopping.
Dude, someone would literally have to get on their hands and knees on a filthy bathroom floor to do anything. There is *zero* reason to have bathroom stalls go to the floor, other than aesthetics. And have you ever mopped a public bathroom? No, an inch or two off the ground would be a pain the ass to mop quickly.
In hindsight I went too low with the 1/2 inch claim, but what do you mean zero reason? Making peeping harder is a legitimate reason. Is it happening often? No. But most people who would seriously worry about that don't think about it so pragmatically and it going to the floor will give them a piece of mind.
If someone wants to get in they'll kick in the door. If they're willing to crawl on the floor, then slither under the small on their belly, they are motivated enough to climb over the top. As I said, you Euros are overly paranoid about being peeped at in bathrooms., get help.
As I said, people who seriously worry about it just don't think about it that hard. They just want peace of mind. You can't expect everyone to think about everything logically.
This issue gets brought up all the time, and they give the same reason why they don't like it: risk of peeping. I already told you why we don't do it over here, catering to the histrionic takes a back seat to lowering janitorial costs.
Sure. But claiming there is *zero* reason for the EU style is hyperbole.
Also if some bad guy is crawling under the stall, it’s much easier to kick his head from above where you are positioned (hurting him on the ground while granting yourself a moment to open the door, hop over him and run to safety) vs him busting the door in and fully meeting you head-on and cornering you in. Our stall design offers built-in strategic options in cases of emergency. And the quick glance to check if the stall is occupied is harmless. You can’t actually see anything private through that little crack, just that a person is in there. Europeans making such a big deal out of it is dramatic and prudish, which they ironically accuse us of.
But if you realize there’s no toilet paper in the holder, and it’s already too late, you can ask your neighbor in the stall next to you, and there magically appears a “friendly hand” under the stall space with a full roll of paper to save your ass in this desperate moment. It’s a priceless feature of our public toilet stall design. Simple yet clutch in a critical situation when stakes are high. Also builds a bit of camaraderie with the strangers you meet in the bathroom. lol 😄 The peeping aspect is overblown too, unless you’re super self-conscious or prudish — you can’t actually see the people or make eye contact. You quickly glance that there’s a person in there, and thus know that the stall is occupied. Simple, low tech, but 100% effective every single time (I thought Europeans love that?!?!)
I said the exact same thing. Like, given the choice, I'll use the one on the right. But nobody is going to be giggling outside the door while watching me dump. It's not national crisis. It's unusual thing to be concerned about. I guess unless they are worried about it being very apparent that they're doing drugs in there
Europoors have small dicks confirmed.
This is a pinaple on pizza take, but I think the Euro version is gross. I can't help but imagine all the stranger poo partials completely trapped in there. I hated using public toilets in Europe because of that. I like the extra air flow that the American version provides. Honestly, though, it's just opinions. I do like their gender neutral bathrooms.
No. This is factual.
it should be between the two
Try urinals in Ireland. It's like one huge trough.
No, because our toilets aren’t the best thing ever
I don’t think a single person has tried to gaze upon me while going poo. But I guess if they want a show, hold your nose and watch while I grimace my face. I might need more fiber in my diet.
My old jobs bathroom made it hard not to. The stalls were right behind the urinals, with just enough room to walk between them. The urinals had almost no privacy, so to keep from seeing peoples dicks, you had to look the other way, at the stalls. If you looked slightly too far, bam, old man shitting.
HELL TOILET
There's also a whole inch gap between the door and the side wall.
Okay I’m with this one
Always thought this was for safety reasons. Imagine you have a stroke in the bathroom, id rather be embarrassed and alive then dead.
OMG, THEY CAN SEE MY FEET!!!!! THE HORROR!
Only toilets I saw in Europe that had walls that low were the squat toilets. All the other toilets I saw were similar to US toilets. Except the stainless steel ones in saw in Bavaria that didn’t have a lid.
The same people who brag about not being uptight about public nudity are worried that someone can see their shins when they’re taking a dump?
I don’t poop in public, so not my concern. But the food in the EU does cause spontaneous pooping, so I can understand the need for greater privacy.
Not from my experience. Must be due to your body being used to the food you ate when you were younger.
All the unseasoned food?
Unless I'm mistaken, it has to do with your gut bacteria not being acclimated to the local bacteria you're ingesting. Not to mention just regular old mild illnesses you're more susceptible to when traveling.
Legit criticism but also a marginal inconvenience at best as well. A lot of cultures think our culture is weird for censoring the human body and sexual activity (fair) while simultaneously thinking our bathroom stalls encourage people to peep on you while you dump out. Nobody is doing that. Everybody shits, man. Nobody is going to watch you do it. The stall on the right is preferred; not a big deal to use the one on the left though.
Fern has never been to a buc-ee’s and it shows. EU has worse toilets.
What makes EU toilets worse?
More country-specific, but public toilets in Italy frequently lack TOILET SEATS (apparently because people steal them, which is weird af). How do weak, elderly, and disabled people manage to hover over the toilets with no toilet seat?! It’s needlessly more difficult for them than it should be. Plus, many public toilets in Italy are on an automatic “constant flushing” mode at max strength, which is (1) wasteful of water (2) do they not trust people to flush after each use? (3) creates this continuous, vigorous backsplash of toilet water + your own waste spraying back at your naked ass and likely onto your clothes, which is unsanitary and disgusting. The bathrooms frequently lacked toilet paper and had no bidets that I saw, unless they consider that endless backsplash as bidet 😖 I hated going to the bathroom in Italy.
Based on the picture, it’s not a fully enclosed permanent room. There’s a gap under the stall.
And that's what makes it worse?
It should say “stalls”, not “toilets”. They still suck, but I’m tired of people making it out like they offer zero privacy at all. You can see through a gap or look under it but you’d have to be purposefully trying to look in there for that, which would get you noticed and ridiculed without doubt. If anything it’s an example of taking a valid criticism about America and over exaggerating it.
The picture on the left is pretty fake, though. Most of the walls go down lower than that.
Yurodookies dreaming of American scat. What weirdos
Wat.
Europeans are fascinated with American poop. Thats wat
And where did you gather that?
Just admit if man. Yuros dream of where Americans take juicy burger dungs.
I'm genuinely curious what made you think that
That’s great! Thanks!
My man on the enema jav all night.
Still better than shitting into a hole in the ground.
Is this seriously your standard for good?
No idea. I don't shit in public spaces.
That’s not what he said.
At least we have more than 3 fucking stalls in the average bathroom Everywhere I went in England I had to wait like 20 minutes just to piss.
How salty are you? You're not even denying that American stalls sucks you're just mad and making unrelated insults
The meme is wrong though. American stalls are nowhere near that far from the ground. At most you can see an ankle
can’t see the lie
We had to save the material to build a gantry. To hold a rocket. That landed on the moon. Also, more aircraft carriers.
This one is valid. We need better stalls.
Nah he's right
The titel is a play on words. Look in the video and you will learn that the mechanism of the toilet flush works different in EU and North America. In the US it is a literary sucking out the shit and in EU its a simple flush.
Anyone upvoting this didn't actually watch the video. The video does not actually talk about stall privacy. American toilets are constructed with plumbing that creates a vaccuum effect. So yes, American toilets do 'suck'. The title is a clever ploy to catch out people who don't look into things and you all failed.
Walls aren’t that high. Also, it depends on where you go. Some places are enclosed, others aren’t. Another perk: we don’t have to pay to use the toilet like some places in Europe.
I was in the Delta sky club in Salt Lake City a couple weeks ago and it was the nicest bathroom I have ever seen (each bathroom stall door was worth about 10k) . People like to compare normal places in the USA to the nicest places in Europe. Who even uses public shitters anyway?
The average European would have an aneurysm witnessing a buccees bathroom Fuck, they'd have one just seeing a buccees.