The Land of Pay Potties

(Musings of a teenager on a trip around the world)

The day we arrived in France (early February, and our first stop), my dad said “Welcome to the land of pay potties.” I laughed, not taking seriously how honest he was being. Now that we have been on our trip for a while, I truly understand the value of public bathrooms, something I took for granted in the states.

About eighty-five percent of the bathrooms we have found, have been “pay potties,” and about sixty percent of those have been out of order, and some places such as Venice, public bathrooms are non-existent. We have had several emergencies in which slow searching isn’t an option, and bushes are suddenly looking very inviting. We haven’t yet run into a situation where we weren’t quick enough. But every dark alley, hidden nook, drainage ditch, subway station, or concealing bush, reek of people pushed to creative measures…

In any city you can find droppings. Usually it is left by pigeons, stray cats, rats, or dogs. But when in Europe look out for POOP (Poo Of Odd Proportion). And when in and around out of order bathrooms, watch your step (we have had experiences to close for comfort) for you never know when out of order bathrooms really, really are people’s last hope.