Public Restrooms

I used the women’s bathroom at ShopKo yesterday and it was the most disgusting experience I have had in a long time.  Of all the stalls, there was only one that was both “clean” and lockable.  There was neither soap nor towels at the sinks.  Nasty.  Which public restrooms do you avoid?

39 Comments

zra

about 15 years ago

all of them, if i can.

Starfire

about 15 years ago

DeWitt Seitz. Smells like a lifetime of poop. Dudes, get some ventilation.

vicarious

about 15 years ago

I've been secretly "fuming" about the horrible Dewitz Seitz bathrooms for years. Yes, PLEASE install some ventilation, for gawd's sake. I mean, really! No one wants to smell that delicious disinfectant/poo/pee smell. Not even tourists from Iowa!

im_captainspaulding

about 15 years ago

Avoid KFC in Superior...it is beyond nasty.

Bret

about 15 years ago

Dewitt Seitz is rather stinky.  I was hoping the renovation would fix the funk, but....

udarnik

about 15 years ago

I have to say my favorite restroom is the women's restroom at T-Bonz.  It's got two toilets in one stall and cracks me up every time.

Nick

about 15 years ago

I hear park point is a sweet place to take a dump.

zra

about 15 years ago

luce probably has the most hospitable restrooms in the city by virtue of the fact that you really don't have to touch anything. considering the number of people who don't wash their hands after handling *themselves,* it's a very good thing.

Bad Cat!

about 15 years ago

I was in a McDonalds bathroom in Ashland Wi today, and it was fucking nasty! I'm not a neat-freak and have almost no sense of smell, and I was gagging from the smell. I can't even imagine what it would smell like for someone with a working nose - sheesh!

The Big E

about 15 years ago

The recent problems notwithstanding, Park Point does have an intriguing public toilet... . [I haven't been out there for a couple of years, but as far as I know it's still there.]

Rob

about 15 years ago

zra-you have to touch the soap.  just saying.

Calk

about 15 years ago

That bathroom on the lakewalk near the Endion Station is pretty icky.

Gwanto

about 15 years ago

Not really a public restroom, but kinda... 
Back in 2002, I went to a going away party on the hillside. House looked nice from the outside, but the inside was trashed. I didn't stay very long. Before I left, I had to pee, so I asked where their bathroom was. They pointed me in the right direction and warned me that it was "kinda dirty" and "hadn't been cleaned lately". Caked on the inside of the toilet was about 4 inches of an indistinguishible black charcoal-like substance. I really had to go, but I accidentally kicked the side of the bowl and a large chunk of the stuff plopped in the toilet. The stench was unbelievable. I promptly left without saying anything and waited until I got home to do my business.

Swan

about 15 years ago

Turkish and Greek squat pots are always a challenge (carry your own TP or newspaper). The blue port-a-potties at concerts are always gross.

If you must use Park point avoid using poison ivy as toilet paper.

Barrett Chase

about 15 years ago

The thing that always amazes me about public men's rooms is that while I understand how someone can miss while going #1, I can't fathom how someone can miss while going #2. Given the asshole/toilet bowl size difference, and the point-blank range, you think one would be able to hit the target every time. Apparently that is not the case.

But back on topic, I'd say the worst in town is at the Holiday Center. You pretty much open the door and wade in.

zra

about 15 years ago

ooh  that's right. you gotta touch the soap. thankfully it's self cleaning. Thanks Rob.

I've used squatters all over SE Asia (well, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand) and even the Thai squats were relatively clean, which is more than I can say for many "western" toilets I've encountered. In Singapore, they hit you with a fine if you don't flush a public toilet.

Barrett's comment about missing on the #2 reminded me of being at a music fest in WI a few years back and a girlfriend of mine being completely disgusted at the condition of the one permanent ladies' restroom (there was other "portable" options, but she was picky)...apparently the previous occupant had "missed" his or her target, and the result wasn't pretty.

Calk

about 15 years ago

Zra, I was in Kyoto with my then-7-year old daughter, who refused to use squatters. One day, I had to walk all over downtown Kyoto with her, looking for a western-style toilet. Finally found one at a chain hotel.

Madsweetpete

about 15 years ago

The Holliday Center is pretty bad, but ive found it quite convenient at times.

Bret

about 15 years ago

I've worked in slums and refugee camps in Africa, Latin America and Asia.  I have stories.  It's all relative I guess.

chadp

about 15 years ago

I heard about this public restroom finder site on npr last week.  

http://www.sitorsquat.com/sitorsquat/home/map

You can rate the toilettes for everyone's benefit.  The app just fanned my already burning desire to have an iphone.

huitz

about 15 years ago

Ventilation at the Dewitz (does that work for short?) building is pretty bad in the bathroom.

As far as sanitary, I can't think of any single one particularly bad, even the porties, though my cousin was tossed in one at a west Duluth dance fest as a joke.  Not fun.

ian

about 15 years ago

Middle of nowhere, TX.

Back of station, no ambient light.
Door was off hinges, you had to lift it out of the way to get in and lean it over the opening for a bit of privacy.
1/2" of "water" on the floor.
No lights (probably a good thing, judging from the stench.)
No TP.
No soap.
Glad there were some bushes nearby.

It beat all of the public restrooms that I used from England to Czech Rep.

@ndy

about 15 years ago

Grandma's Sports Garden.

inquiring mind

about 15 years ago

The women's bathroom in T-Bonz's is the weirdest bathroom I've ever seen...apparently you must use the buddy system.

The grossest bathroom = the old Tap Room bathroom.

sherman

about 15 years ago

When it gets as bad as  this  then you can complain

Dave Sorensen

about 15 years ago

Hostal Terminus, Granada, Spain. The shared bathroom was a diarrheal disaster dungeon. I don't even want to know how someone can miss while going Numero Dos

traceydee

about 15 years ago

Big V's in St. Paul ... man I'll hold it 'till my blads hurts before I go in there again.

There's one stall where the tiolet is actualy raised like on a stage.  I went in once and found a log of poo' on the stage.
Poo' makes me laugh and all, but not when I've had too many and I'm in a halloween costume that drags on the floor.

that night is actually filled with stories as most good halloweens are.

zra

about 15 years ago

ahh...Big V's...that takes me back. yeah, those suckers were pretty gross...

the 5 Point in Seattle (Tillicum Square off Denny Way) has a doozy...about as big as a miata. the only redeeming quality is a square hole (with plexiglass...like a window)cut in the wall above the console urinal that is actually a periscope looking up at the space needle.

traceydee

about 15 years ago

Oh I have another poo' story to tell.

I was on a plane [got bumped to first class] and was sitting in the front row.  The old old old couple who sat behind me were gassy the entire flight.  Finally the lady behind me got up to use the restroom.  Oh boy the smell that came wafting out to my seat was intense.  As luck would have it free wine in first class means it's time to go.  So I held my breath and went in.  Turns out she has lost her balance in there and shat EVERYWHERE.  I'm not kidding - it was like a slasher movie but with poo'.  It was on the mirror, the sink, the ceiling ... I'm not sure how much actually got in the bowl.  The flight crew kept apologizing to me after I politely said they may want to close that bathroom.

wildgoose

about 15 years ago

I was on a boat ... in China ...

I had been there for probably two months already going to school and traveling far and wide on weekends and school breaks.  For the entire time I had actively and creatively avoided using a squatter. Growing up I was around animals, farms, and other uncomfortable stenches enough to know that i have a very sensitive gag reflex and I just hate the sensation of losing it.  SO the whole time I had never stopped for a pit stop and I did this by sticking close to home, finding a western style store or hotel or whatever or just ... holding it.  But my options were running out on this boat.  We were heading through the Three Gorges of the Yangtze river on a boat made for your standard middle class-ish Chinese people circa 1993.  And it was a great boat ride, but the toilets were still squatters, for # 2 anyway.  

I realize now that there is not enough room or probably even enough interest in this story so I'll just cut to the punchline.   

I just couldn't hold it anymore after a stop for dinner in one of the three or four towns we visited along the river so I headed out back to a neighborhood squatter with a spring in my step if you know what I mean.  And I won't get too graphic, but I will just say that it had not likely been cleaned in a very long time, and as gross as Ms. traceydee's post was well  ... this was a COED squatter so ... 

I was a little traumatized.  In addition to all the other rainbow of colors in there, I also left a spattering of whatever I had eaten for dinner that night.  Because I just could not hold it down.  Not a chance.  

Yes, there are some bad restrooms around here, but nothing like that.  And it sounds like things have changed a lot in the last 15 years since I was there, but I occasionally wonder if the "night soil" situation has changed as part of all of their "progress."  Chinese people who use those facilities and in particular Chinese women are Superheroes for enduring that if you ask me.  Superheroes

Rob

about 15 years ago

Poop.

http://www.smellypoop.com/facts_about_poop.php

I like the guide for the office.

Admackbar

about 15 years ago

Not too familiar with shitters on account of I have to wear diapers because of my huge sharp claws.  Its like trying to wipe a pinhole with a VW bug.

Tim K

about 15 years ago

There's this awesome bar in Cleveland called Pat's in the Flats. It's located in the middle of a huge petro refinery complex. The bar was started back in the 40s and as the refinery grew, everything else left- except this bar. Anyway, they are known as the CBGBs of Cleveland. Played there on last fall's tour and I was in a bit of snit with my record company, so I installed one of the swag bumper stickers we're supposed to give away right inside the urinal. Then, I got Metzger to take a picture of it while it was being peed upon. Ahhh, memories......

Beverly

about 15 years ago

When my daughter was 3, I took her into the woods to pee instead of taking her into the porta-potty at a kids' soccer game. It was dirty, and you can't trust a 3-year-old not to touch everything and put her hands right into her mouth.

pH

about 15 years ago

very clever new invention for an old problem:                  
sack-o

Marin

about 15 years ago

As a self proclaimed neat-freak, when I see a messy bathroom, I clean it myself. It's gross, yes, but I can't leave a public bathroom dirty. I actually carry paper towels in my bag for cleaning up public messes. Silly, but someone's got to do it. Just the other day I cleaned up the Library's bathroom. hehe
I just try to do what I can.

Todd Gremmels

about 15 years ago

Hepatitis B can live in a dryed speck of blood for thirty days at room temp. Now you probably ask what does this "local musician and wierdo" know about blood borne pathogens? Well I would answer-being a licensed and certified paramedic since 1991 I have been through many classes about the amount of bacteria as well as virus that live on a clean surface let alone one soaked in body fluids.

Hope that helps.

Peace
Todd

Gunns

about 15 years ago

First Ave./7th Street Entry. The men's stalls don't even have doors.  Those who also posted here about Big V's, yeah, it's pretty damn bad too.

udarnik

about 15 years ago

I have to say that the women's bathrooms at First Ave. aren't too bad.

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