Toilet talk

When traveling in Asia or for that matter, in most “developing nations” , the frequent topic of conversation often revolves around bathrooms (or Comfort Rooms as they are called in the Philippines). Most of the time the conversation arises because the travelers are debating whether or not their level of urgency outweighs the overall “conditions” of the bathroom area. As we have found in our travels, “toilet” is a very ambiguous term. It could mean anything from a hole in the ground to a super-high-tech sit-down model with a control panel that looks like the cockpit of a plane complete with heated toilet seat that plays fur elise, automatic seat-warmer, a blow-dryer for your bum, etc……

While  Brian and Jen were visiting us in Manila,  and since they happen to be traveling around the world for the next 8 months, they felt it was of upmost importance  to create a bathroom rating scale that would quickly capture and communicate the overall condition of the bathroom areas they came across. While here , they were in the preliminary stages of creating the rubric. It is still a work in progress, and any input is welcome, but this is what they have created thus far:

0= a hole in the ground or a trough
1= a bowl in the ground with “foot prints”, (also know as a squatter) no flushing mechanism, requires scooping and dumping some water into the bowl
2= a raised bowl without seat, no tank or flush, scooping water
3= a raised bowl with seat, no tank or flush, scooping
4= a standard western toilet, without seat, flushes
5= a standard western toilet with seat, tank, lid and flushes

A separate scale is for cleanliness:
F= extremely dirty probably decide you don’t actually need to use the bathroom when you see it to
A= spotlessly clean and pretty, think fancy hotel bathroom

And yet another scale for smell (this was recently added as we discovered cleanliness does not always equal good smelling and vice versa)
0= gag or vomit inducing smell, decide you no longer have to use the bathroom
3= average public restroom smell
5= delightful smell, like the Venetian

And finally a scale for running water, toilet paper and soap
F= none of the above
C= some of the above
A= all of the above, with no touch sensors

Found on pedestrian paths throughout Manila and they're pink!

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