Public Toilets

Here in Whanganui, there are public toilets in quite a few places around downtown, which is nice. Most shops won’t let you use theirs, but you’re usually close enough to a public one. Public toilets seem to be more common in Europe than America, but you often have to pay to use them, especially in big cities. I’ll have to see what they’re like in Auckland or Wellington, when I eventually get there. Anyway, they are nice and free in Whanganui, but also quite funny, and I’ll tell you why.

Here is a women’s public toilet, named “Dame’s Rest.” Inside this quaint brick building, complete with pillars in the front, is information on a variety of services, a place to sit, and, of course, toilets.

Here is the men’s toilet next door. Apparently, it took them many years (and changes in architecture) to notice that men might need toilets, too. And so they plopped down this squat little building, about half the size of "Dame's Rest" for them. How kind.

Actually, this difference has been noticeable in many places around the States and around the world, but it makes me laugh every time!