I could do years of applied research on men’s rooms in bars and probably never come to any reasonable conclusion as to WHY what goes on in there goes on in there. It is a room designed for one task (that’s right, just ONE task…poop at home, weirdos!) with equipment provided to facilitate said function in the most succinct and sanitarily-pleasing way. Yet if I had to attach hard numbers to this event, I’d say 95% of all men see the toilet as merely a suggestion and not an actual final destination for their urine. I wonder why men’s room toilets have not evolved into a full-room basin that covers the walls to about shoulder height.
Then there’s the artwork. Seriously? One’s only priority in this little room should be to eject urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. Pretty straight forward, but right out of the gate the wheels come off the bus for men and the two sexes part ways. A man and a women enter their respective little room. They see the urine receptacle. The woman thinks…empty bladder now. The man thinks…interesting toilet they have there, but before/if I pee in it, what else could I pee in?…oh, and is there something to write on?…if not, do I have a writing utensil on me?…if not, do I have a sharp object in my pocket with which I can carve into the walls?
All fascinating questions, but why 2D art? Why isn’t music the artistic expression of choice in a public toilet? What was the evolutionary sequence that precipitated singing and drawing getting switched at birth? Men should draw in the shower…it’ll wash right off…and produce musical sounds with their voice in a public restroom. It’d be much more advantageous for everyone! You’d ward off potential intruders by letting them know in advance of your presence. You could drown out any peeing noises if that sort of thing made you uncomfortable. You’d have both of your hands free to better focus on a more accurate placement of your urine. There is no visual damage or vandalistic interpretations from your expression. Sing as horribly as you’d like…take up the entire fucking room with it…no matter what noises come out of your mouth, I don’t have to spackle and re-paint it in the morning.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…men are very odd creatures.
