Feb. 20th, 2003

cellio: (avatar)
The city of Pittsburgh recently installed a high-tech pay toilet a few blocks from where I work. Some of my coworkers went to check it out today. One of them told me that when you pay your quarter and go in, you get a count-down so you can't stay in there all day. (I don't know if the door automatically opens at the end, or what. Actually, I'll bet I know -- the coworker told me that it hoses itself down after each use. That might be incentive to leave promptly.)

The timer is set for 20 minutes.

20 minutes? Who requires 20 minutes? I mean, I know people who would probably carry a six-pack in there, sit down, and process most or all of it in 20 minutes... maximizing the value of the money spent and all that, y'know.

I'm a bit dubious that this toilet will solve the problem it's intended to solve, which is lots of urination in the streets and alleys around a bunch of bars. I'd guess that the people who are too drunk or too inconsiderate to go back into the bar to use the toilet are also too drunk or inconsiderate (or cheap) to insert a quarter into a coin slot. But we'll see, I guess. It would be nice if it worked out.

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