NationStates Jolt Archive

In some parts of the UK, there are now public urinals to discourage people from pissing on the street - do you have them in your country? They look kinda like this http://www.citynoise.org/upload/10836933331.jpg

Wow! I had never heard about this and I live in the UK.

Yeah. We call them Alleys. They look like this.

http://i9.tinypic.com/30ljya9.jpg

Nopes. Not where I come from.
Public urinating isn't an agenda these days for the gov't.
:p

Never gonna work.

Men like to pee in different places on the stotter home from the pub. I think its marking the territory or something.

i bet they smell rank too!!!

men don't tend to piss in the street here, probably because it's right in the middle of the Bible belt and people think penis(s whatever the plural) are evil.


I guess that's one good thing about puritanism, keeps people from pissing in the street.......

In some parts of the UK, there are now public urinals to discourage people from pissing on the street - do you have them in your country? They look kinda like this http://www.citynoise.org/upload/10836933331.jpg
What parts of the UK? I've not seen one around Leicester or Nottingham.

Won't work. They're far too public. Alleys and doorways are much better.

Nothing like that where I live but then again, I wouldn't be looking for a urinal.

Here's a story, possibly on the topic, if tangentially, about some ex-pat American writers in Paris in the 1920's:

The rue Git-le-Coeur was also the setting for the famous arrest of e.e. cummings. At 3 A.M. on a July morning in 1923, John Dos Passos, Gilbert Seldes, and cummings were headed for "the Calvados joint on rue Git-le-Coeur." When cummings paused to urinate against the wall, "a whole phalanx of gendarmes" materialized. He was arrested and taken to the police station on the quai Grandes-Augustins, where he was booked as "un Américain qui pisse," and told to return the next morning for arraignment. Seldes telephoned his writer friend Paul Morand, the Ministre des Affaires Etrangères, who had the charges dropped. cummings was not informed of this development and he reported to the police station the next day. He was dismissed, but when he left the building he was confronted by a band of his friends carrying placards reading "Reprieve le Pisseur Américain." cummings was profoundly moved by their solidarity until he learned that their protest was all an elaborate joke.

there are a lot public toilets in the nearest city. i frequently use them. they look rather good too, all made out of metal and most of the time you have a nice view while peeing. :)

What parts of the UK? I've not seen one around Leicester or Nottingham.

Manchester at least (City Centre)

Won't work. They're far too public. Alleys and doorways are much better.

:D LOL

Too public? Guys piss in alleys, through park railings, next to houses, in gardens, on doorsteps, etc. I've seen at least one guy use it in broad daylight - after all, they are put there for pissing in.

:D LOL

Too public? Guys piss in alleys, through park railings, next to houses, in gardens, on doorsteps, etc. I've seen at least one guy use it in broad daylight - after all, they are put there for pissing in.
I prefer a nice quiet doorway or alley rather than a busy public street.

Or, as I once did when I was a first year in uni, use the city's Christmas decorations in town hall square...

Eugh, I thought you meant the ones which rise from the pavement at dusk.
I wonder how high the risk of being trapped in one for half a day is.

While I have never seen one in person, I have heard of them. I saw one on TV that rose out of the ground in the evening ready for use, during the day it just looks like a huge manhole cover.

I would never use one tho, they are far to public, but then I have never been drunk up to the eyeball either.

The Netherlands has several types, and has had them for decades. The ones you showed are used in the areas where people go out often, and at various places you will find metal ones like this:

http://thumb1.webshots.com/s/thumb3/9/66/73/47396673ysNIHq_th.jpg

Obviously only manfriendly. More modern versions are small buildings (or billboard pillars) with an actual seat, flushing and door. Those however cost money to use and automatically open after 15 minutes ;)

i've seen them at festivals but never in the street.

What parts of the UK? I've not seen one around Leicester or Nottingham.

Won't work. They're far too public. Alleys and doorways are much better.

I seen em in the West End up here in London. You'd be supprised, i have even used em meself when caught short between pubs. I mean if you have no shame pissing in the street then these thing just aint public enough huh!:)

Well the tradition here is to piss in the road so I don’t think they would go down to well with motorists:p

And never seen one and will never use a urinal (bladder shy:( )

no. now go post in a thread started by someone else.

What parts of the UK? I've not seen one around Leicester or Nottingham.

Won't work. They're far too public. Alleys and doorways are much better.

I've seen one in Leeds... I think. Might have been Settle or somewhere, I can't remember.

And yeah, I'll stick with the handy park thanks - its on the way home, too. Just when its needed!

No, we don't have permanent public toilets, per se. We do have these (http://www.toilets.com/products/woodie.htm), however. They're generally just for fairs, outdoor concerts, construction sites, etc. Nothing permanent.

No, we don't have permanent public toilets, per se. We do have these (http://www.toilets.com/products/woodie.htm), however. They're generally just for fairs, outdoor concerts, construction sites, etc. Nothing permanent.

They look like slightly posher versions of what we call portaloos

No, we don't have permanent public toilets, per se. We do have these (http://www.toilets.com/products/woodie.htm), however. They're generally just for fairs, outdoor concerts, construction sites, etc. Nothing permanent.Yeah, exactly. I wonder if British people get drunk in bars/pubs way more often than we do? I think it's cheaper there. (We have tons of alcohol taxes.)

Yeah, exactly. I wonder if British people get drunk in bars/pubs way more often than we do? I think it's cheaper there. (We have tons of alcohol taxes.)

You're kidding right?

The whole society is basically threaded with binge drinking. Instead of taking a girl out for dinner on a first date, we take them out for a drink.

You're kidding right?

The whole society is basically threaded with binge drinking. Instead of taking a girl out for dinner on a first date, we take them out for a drink.Ah, that explains it.

We dont have any of those public urinals, maybe if we did Elija Woods would stop pissing in Wellingtonian water fountains.

Well, you can find urinals attached to the outsides of houses in Japan, but Japanese men are damn proud of their ability to piss standing up and when drunk they tend to go wherever they want to.

I can get you a nice sign in Japanese that says 'It's forbidden to urinate here' if you want though.

men don't tend to piss in the street here, probably because it's right in the middle of the Bible belt and people think penis(s whatever the plural) are evil.


I guess that's one good thing about puritanism, keeps people from pissing in the street.......

that would not stop me take a leak behind a bush

This is actually a semi-good idea.

None of those around here...people here who are too lazy to find a real restroom tend to just use the grass, much like their pets. :p

Ahem...

In Italy we have had some for almost 2000 years now Emperor Vespasian introduced them. Actually in italian the world vespasiano means public urinal.

In Czech Republic we have had them quite a long time, although english and german turist often seem to be unable to see them (I mean, peeing on the outside!!).

Pfft - everyone knows that whilst men can take a piss anywhere in the world in public, provide them with an actual urinal and the ol' muscles tighten up. Using one of these would be like someone walking in on you on the bog, but for the entire duration.

Give me a handy bush/tree any time.

In some parts of the UK, there are now public urinals to discourage people from pissing on the street - do you have them in your country? They look kinda like this http://www.citynoise.org/upload/10836933331.jpg

No; we go inside McDonalds to pee.

What parts of the UK? I've not seen one around Leicester or Nottingham.

Won't work. They're far too public. Alleys and doorways are much better.

i don't think drunk people (who these are obviously aimed at) will remember to use them, or bother to find one.
they need a lure... like flashing lights and some nudey pictures or sommat

i don't think drunk people (who these are obviously aimed at) will remember to use them, or bother to find one.
they need a lure... like flashing lights and some nudey pictures or sommat
Words of wisdom, although you forgot to add a sign saying 'dont piss here!'.

In some parts of the UK, there are now public urinals to discourage people from pissing on the street - do you have them in your country?

In Milan we used to have them till the '80s. They were a bit more enclosed, because of privacy. We called them "Vespasiani" - because of the roman emperor who made people pay for public toilets, with the motto "pecunia non olet" - money doesn't stink.

Too bad they tried to replace them with self-cleaning toilets - problems with manutention, they're almost always out of order or simply too dirty. If you have to piss, you have to run for an open bar (and at 2 am it's not very common) and ask for the bathroom - and many bar-owners say that "it's only for customers" (false) and "you must pay for the toilet" (false). So most people piss on trees in public parks.

Nope, I haven't seen anything like that in Florida. We got plenty of stores and gas stations most of which'll let you use. I also like to try to keep a gatorade bottle in my Bronco for emergencies (coffee goes right through me) and then we do have plenty of trees. :D

That's what these are

http://www.oplin.org/tree/fact%20pages/maple_sugar/tree.jpg

i don't think drunk people (who these are obviously aimed at) will remember to use them, or bother to find one.
they need a lure... like flashing lights and some nudey pictures or sommat
Nah, if you put nude pictures on them, you'd just get some sicko jacking off next to it.

Do I have public urinals? Nope.

*pisses against Multiland's house*

i don't think drunk people (who these are obviously aimed at) will remember to use them, or bother to find one.
they need a lure... like flashing lights and some nudey pictures or sommat

In some pubs they have a fly painted onto the urinal. The idea being that if you give a drunk something to aim at, he might actually aim at it and not piss everywhere.

I saw one of those public urinals in Manchester

That's what these are

http://www.oplin.org/tree/fact%20pages/maple_sugar/tree.jpg

Exactly.

I think the trees are more attractive than the man made urinals. Tree's are so much more natural...... :D

In some pubs they have a fly painted onto the urinal. The idea being that if you give a drunk something to aim at, he might actually aim at it and not piss everywhere.

Little bullseyes over here.

EDIT: Ooh, 2006 posts. How very... annual.

I think public toilets are great – it is a pain to be out and about with no toilets in sight.

Most places don’t have them simply because of the idiotic attitude most people have about the human body – bodily functions are icky things so we will live our lives pretending they don’t exist.

One thing I liked about Wellington (NZ) is that it does have public toilets in the central business district – unfortunately they close at night (when people are stumbling home from getting pissed and need to piss; at least guys can just use a tree or an alleyway).

Alas, in the wonderful District of Columbia (USA) they couldn’t have such things because the homeless will move in and take up residence. Yes, there are homeless shelters, but many don’t want to go there.

Alas, in the wonderful District of Columbia (USA) they couldn’t have such things because the homeless will move in and take up residence. Yes, there are homeless shelters, but many don’t want to go there.

The Dutch solution for that is automatically opening the doors if you are inside for over 15 minutes ;)

Alas, in the wonderful District of Columbia (USA) they couldn’t have such things because the homeless will move in and take up residence. Yes, there are homeless shelters, but many don’t want to go there.You know your homeless shelters are pretty bad when people would rather sleep in a bathroom stall than in a shelter.

It is actually somewhat an issue of pride. Many of them consider living in the shelter to be too demeaning and would rather live on their own. There are also not enough shelters to meet the need, so they can get rather crowded in the winter.

A significant chunk of the homeless population has psychological problems and have thus been kicked out of the shelter because they are too disruptive or a danger to others.

It isn’t always an issue of the shelters being horrible places (though I do not doubt that some of them are), but other reasons why someone would rather sleep in a bathroom than a homeless shelter.

The biggest problem here (IMHO) is the cost of living. Housing is simply too expensive for many people. Just because someone is homeless doesn’t mean they don’t have a job, just that they cannot afford $600 a month for a cot in a basement an hours commute out of the city.

Alas, all the well meaning regulation politicians come up with to ‘help’ just makes things worse. A real solution would be to allow a couple of apartment buildings with tiny studio apartments to be run as non-profits; with enough apartments in one building the rent would be tiny. A 12x15 foot room with a kitchenette (sink, mini-fridge, microwave and hot plate) and little bathroom (toilet, corner shower, and tiny sink) would be sufficient (I kind of liked living like that) - most people could afford that kind of rent.

Unfortunately the city does not want to facilitate anything of the sort as the city council is actively attempting to push out cheap housing. They want higher property taxes by bringing in million dollar condos. Pushing for the ‘gentrification’ of neighborhoods by making life miserable is a recipe for disaster. Unfortunately the electorate doesn’t really pay any attention to what the politicians are doing, or if they do, they get distracted by meaningless issues. Do it one neighborhood at a time so they all say “meh, not my neighborhood’ and you will eventually conquer all.

Sorry, got onto a bit of a rant (but seriously… $1800 for an efficiency in a cheap part of town?). Anyway, back to the topic…

Public toilets would be a great thing – especially in a city like DC which tries to bring in the tourists. If you are walking around the Mall (grass strip between the capital and Lincoln memorial flanked by museums and the white house – not a shopping mall) where are you supposed to go? They should have public toilets without having to try to get into a museum and find one.

/snipI can agree with this.
As far as the topic goes, while I wouldn't personally use a public urinal, I suppose the idea is fine.