November 19, 2017 · 0:00
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World Toilet Day

Every day of my life, I thank my lucky stars when I get up, go into my clean bathroom, and take care of business.

Some days of my life, I’m less thankful when I am somewhere where the only “facilities” have no running water.  No handle to push.  No way to wash my hands.

Of course, with my potty problems, I guess I’m more in tune to toilet issues than most people.

Why am I telling you this?  You see, Sunday, November 19, is World Toilet Day. And of course, I’m (1) telling you about it; and (2) celebrating it.

The Wider Image: Around the world in 45 toilets

A toilet stands outside the Llamocca family home at Villa Lourdes in Villa Maria del Triunfo on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, October 7, 2015. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo

The point of World Toilet Day is actually pretty important.  People without access to hygienic facilities risk illness, many women are preyed upon and attacked as they seek out a place to go.  Diseases are transmitted, including infections, cholera, well, here’s a picture.

The "F-diagram" (feces, fingers, flies, fields, fluids, food), showing pathways of fecal-oral disease transmission. The vertical blue lines show barriers: toilets, safe water, hygiene and handwashing. Source Wikipedia

The “F-diagram” (feces, fingers, flies, fields, fluids, food), showing pathways of fecal-oral disease transmission. The vertical blue lines show barriers: toilets, safe water, hygiene and handwashing.
Source Wikipedia

Hope you’re not eating.

World Toilet Day is to help the fortunate ones of us around the world realize that:

2.4 billion people around the world don’t have access to decent sanitation and more than a billion are forced to defecate in the open, risking disease and other dangers, according to the United Nations

We in the West are rather spoiled.  And the reality of what some folks, many folks must deal with can be eye-opening.

About 25 years ago, my brother Fred got a grant and went to Africa to study something or other.  It was his first experience visiting the Third World.  When he came back, he talked only about poop.

It seemed that the city he had visited ran with raw sewage.  Poop was in the gutters. Children played in those gutters. The sewage ran into the river that was used to irrigate crops.

Piles of poop were everywhere.  In the street.  Under trees.  In the corners of buildings; everywhere, he said.  Even inside.  Fred described a memorable elevator in the middle of a hotel lobby, that he had seen. The decorative ironwork around the elevator shaft was delicate and beautiful. But the elevator didn’t run — in fact, the elevator itself had been removed.  But people would stand with their backs to the elevator shaft, pull down their pants/up their skirts, hang their butts over the open elevator shaft.  And they’d poop.

“I realized something incredibly important, “ said my horrified brother:

“Civilization all comes down to what you do with your poo.”

So when you’re thinking about the craziness in today’s world, maybe we all need to realize that part of our problem is that so very many people just don’t have a pot to piss in.

***

Yup, it’s a rerun.  But you didn’t really think I’d miss World Toilet Day, did you?

36 Comments

Filed under 'Merica, ; Don't Make Me Feel Perky Tonigh, A Little Restraint, Perhaps, Adult Traumas, Advice from an Expert Patient, Assholes, Brothers, Crohn's Disease, Good Works, Health, Health and Medicine, Holidays, Holy Shit, Humor, Poop, Poop Power, Shit, Shit happens, Sit ins, Taking Care of Each Other, Travel Stories

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36 responses to “World Toilet Day”

  1. She's a Maineiac
    November 22, 2017 at 0:00

    So the last storm we had here a few weeks ago, we lost power for 5 days. We have a well. So we certainly appreciated being able to poop at home without having to lug 2 gallons of water in for ONE flush. We have it soooo easy here!

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Elyse
      November 22, 2017 at 0:00

      That’s the worst! We have a well too. We fill up a bathtub — with water to use for flushing. Let me tell you it’s great fun with me in the family.

      Glad you’re back on! ❤️❤️

      Like

      Reply
  2. vanbytheriver
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    Holy crap…nice one, E. And I never take indoor plumbing for granted. Was born into a house without it, family moved to a 3 story with 1 bathroom for 8 people. Still..I’m certain it was a luxury.

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. aFrankAngle
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    Happy Toilet Day to the self-proclaimed Queen of Poop.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Tippy Gnu
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    Yep, looks like you flushed this one down last year, and it came back up. Darn floaters anyway.

    But I can relate to your brother, Fred. I lived in Turkey for a year, in a little village. I too saw raw sewage in the streets. Once I went to the beach and had to change into a swimsuit in the public restroom. This was a square room with a rubber water hose hanging down from the ceiling, and a drain hole in the middle of the floor. I had to watch where I put my feet as I stepped out of my clothes and into the swimsuit, because not all of the piles had been washed down the drain.

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. Carrie Rubin
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    The things we take for granted are someone else’s luxury, and sadly that includes proper toilets and waste collection. It’s good there’s a World Toilet Day. Makes us appreciate what we have!

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. nonnie9999
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    I’m going to have to go and buy a cake. Just trying to decide what I should have the bakery write on it. Anyone here flush with ideas?

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. Twindaddy
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    You sure talk a lot of shit. 😉

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  8. Just Joan
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    World Toilet Day? Well, if it improves awareness and helps third world nations get sanitary facilities so people can stop pooping in elevator shafts, I’m all for it. To think, we get torqued off here when our stall is out of TP and our neighbor “hasn’t a square to spare.” Eye-opening as always, Elyse. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  9. Kate Crimmins
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    Good post for today. We just looked at a house. Perfectly lovely. First thing I said was that the bathroom needs to be redone. It’s functioning and not obnoxious but very early 90s. Someone somewhere would kill for that bathroom.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Elyse
      November 19, 2017 at 0:00

      Sounds like you were looking at my house! I need a window and a functioning toilet Otherwise I can manage ok! We looked at one house where you had to pass through the bathroom was to get to the closet. My husband would have to go naked!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  10. Melanie McNeil
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    Plumbing (both community, like water availability and sewage treatment, and private, like household or business) is one of two greatest inventions to advance public health. The other is birth control. YAY for plumbing. My appreciation for it grows, as my ability to get grossed out by icky public spaces declines.

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. petspeopleandlife
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    Well I had 3 paragraph’s written and then…. I have no idea where it went to. I reckon that what I wrote was not worth a crap. Anyway we take it for granted that we have hygienic bathroom facilities Most people don’t give a sh–. But I do, because when in public I love a clean toilet that has toilet seat covers, toilet paper, soap, hot and cold water and paper or, air to dry to my hands.

    This is an interesting post. Good idea.

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. Peter Wells aka Countingducks
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    Must say, till I’d read this post I’d never heard of World Toilet Day !!

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. pensitivity101
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    I can remember as a kid being desperate to go until I was told where the toilet was. It was a tin hut at the bottom of the garden and I could smell it yards before I could see it. I never used it. Suddenly the urge just ‘went’, and for years I was unable to go anywhere unless it flushed. It was a bit of a game when camping in fields with no facilities!

    Liked by 1 person

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  14. 1jaded1
    November 19, 2017 at 0:00

    We really are spoiled. Some houses have a bathroom in every bedroom, plus one on each floor, while others have nothing. Thanks for sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

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Play nice, please.