Item — HN Reader

> ‘feeling unsafe or exposed in a public toilet’

This just makes me think of America and the bizarrely huge gaps between the hinges and gaps at the bottom and top of the cubicles, even in very wealthy contexts, like at big tech companies. WHY? Such a strange example of embedded inertias of design in ostensibly innovative contexts.

5 comments

To keep you from staying there for too long and lowering productivity.

This was invented after having a foreman check that you pissed or shat in the toilet like they did on a ford assembly line was deemed to expensive.

There’s no nefarious reason. It’s because they are prefabricated kits that need to be installed precisely to be gap-free. The installers obviously don’t want to or can’t install them with the correct tolerances.

That doesn't quite explain why this is not a problem in European countries.

Precisely.

I find it funny when people see conspiracies in such mundane things.

Those prefabricated kits are cheap and used in many bathrooms. The gaps at the bottom are there for easy cleaning.

It is far more important to prevent (through shame and surveillance) any unamerican toilet activities than it is to allow peaceful bowel movements. In the old world there there are floor-to-ceiling cubicle doors and toilet bowls that could barely drown a toddler. I need not explain how this is the first irreversible step towards authoritatian socialist anarchy.

It's simple: they don't want you to slack in the toilets, sitting there scrolling Twitter, in other words they don't want you to poop on your paid work time. The feeling of being unsafe or exposed is the point.

I think that's because of safety regulations, so that firemen can quickly check if there's anyone in stalls.

Yes, it sounds stupid as an European, where somehow we survive without this.

I used to practice architecture. In general (1) there are not regulations/laws/codes requiring the practice. The gaps at the floor are to facilitate mopping and reduce the damage from overflow floods.

For first responder access, I have seen a hospital requirement for outswinging doors for one-holers with privacy locks. This allows the door to be opened when a person is collapsed against the door.

(1) “In general” because there are almost certainly niche regulations that require it. For example the construction standards of a state prison bureau, local board of education, etc.