Thursday, Jul. 24, 2008

Day 1 before Hydros

I always get pleasantly surprised when I go to Shopko. There's tons of fun stuff for a great price.

I bought a duffle bag and one of those sack bags from there in preparation of my vacation, but also for the Hydro races. There's roughly 18 hours before Hydro torture begins.

I'm excited this year because I get to take candid pictures of the Hydro junkies. It should be interesting and maybe even scary. Not everyone enjoys having their pictures taken. I'm hoping I'll get some great shots of people just having a great time and being with friends and family. I'm also hoping I don't get candids of people urinating in the river or behind the bleachers.

This morning I traveled with some coworkers to Walla Walla for business, and on the ride back we got into an interesting conversation. This woman was convinced that men should always pop a squat when they go to the bathroom indoors, because that's what toilets are for - sitting on.

The only guy present was laughing hysterically, saying that asking a guy to sit down is basically taking away his manliness. The woman said it was simply just taking away his ego.

Her argument was that men have the ability to stand up and relieve themselves,

and can do so wherever they want outside, but when they come inside, it's different because they're specifically using a toilet to pee, therefore they should do so accordingly, which apparently (to her) involves sitting down.

I know the icky facts about splatter and I would never go over a man's toilet with a black light - but I, personally, am fine with men standing. As long as they put the toilet seat down and help scrub the bowl once in a while, I'm good to go.

But that got me to thinking. When I went to Taiwan, there were holes in the floor. Everyone had to squat, or somewhat pee standing, depending on how you looked at it, but it was relatively clean. It's the toilets that are actually gross. Numerous butts come into contact with the toilet seat every day, whereas peeing in a porcelain hole in the ground prevents the spreading of germs. Or so that is the argument.

Of course there's western toilets in some parts of Taiwan, but I gladly used the ground holes over them, wondering how clean these toilets really were. And after about a week there, I had toned leg muscles that I never knew even existed.

At the Hydro's, I don't remember using the bathroom. Those honey-buckets are ripe with odor and as much as breathing out of my mouth eliminates the smell factor, I still can't stand hovering over those seats. In those situations, I truly am envious of our male counterparts.

While some things in relationships are deal-breakers, but I don't think bodily liquid evacuation preferences should be one of them. If you've got it, flaunt it - and in this case, use it.

I'll try to remember that when I see little kids peeing in the river this weekend, or when I have to pee really bad when I'm camping next week.