Hey, y'all.
I’m doing this new thing where I try to post twice a week–Mondays and Fridays. The Monday pieces will be shorter, with Friday being a little longer. The themes will mostly be the same–meditations on life as an expat or comparing all the different places I’ve been along this journey.
And one of those things I’ve been chewing on for the last few weeks is the idea of public bathrooms.
Look, men, yes, I’m going to gender this, once you reach a certain age, bathrooms and access to them become very important. And no matter how much you’ve gone, there’s always an inkling you need to go again soon thereafter.
When I was in China, this wasn’t a major issue—every 1000 meters or so you could find one, even in the traditional hutongs and small villages. You could go when you needed to go.
Sure, you often had to hold your nose or bring your own hand sanitizer, but relief was always a short distance away.
Maybe my wife has a different sentiment on this matter, but I do distinctly remember her saying, “access to bathrooms is a basic human right.” So, even if she didn’t think the cleanliness was up to snuff in public bathrooms across China–and some were ungodly terrible–she approved the idea of their existence.
Unfortunately, in both the US and Poland, it seems that people don’t feel the same way.
For example, each morning after I drop my kids off at school, I walk to and from a small shopping area–an hour in total. It has a pharmacy, bakery, butcher, grocery, liquor store, and several fruit stands. It’s a good way to explore and lets me shop day to day for perishable items, which limits buying a bunch of things we don’t need.
But at no point have I seen a toilet for public use. Even at the coffee shop or bakery where I buy a loaf of bread every few days, and people are often sitting around enjoying their pastries, there isn’t a bathroom for patrons to use.
Of course, maybe there is, but as a foreigner, I have no idea how to find it.
Or in some cases, stores that had one in one location didn’t have one in another location. However, it’s often the latter and not the former. And almost always for patrons who have made a purchase.
And in the US, well, we often have to buy something to use the bathroom. That’s not a problem for me, but for folks less fortunate, well, it could be.
Either way, I’ve found this dynamic rather annoying and challenging to get around. And that’s both in the US and here in Warsaw. I’m sure at some point, as I truly acclimate to the culture, I’ll figure out where the bathrooms are and change my opinion regarding the Polish capital on this front.
How do you feel about public bathrooms?
Gas Stations? German ones so far are very clean. Especially the ones at the Autohof’s along the Autobahns. Pay a 1€ entry fee.
It’s a big problem finding them everywhere in Central Europe. Sometimes ordering a drink at a proper restaurant is the only choice, or finding a huge shopping mall. Or in the woods:)