Unisex toilets in Italy and nobody cares

At least you managed to say “toilet” instead of “bathroom”.

Haven't seen those. I used to read stories about (male) Americans being startled by Women attendants at toilets in Europe.

[shrug]

Not a big deal.

Our new airport terminal has the same arrangement. So does my house.

I suppose it says something that some people are flummoxed by unisex toilets, but I'm not sure what. Why would anyone care? And as a Catholic, I've never heard of any religious doctrine dealing with toilets and how they are designated.

When I was last in Italy I was more concerned that many public toilets did not have seats. You had to sit or straddle over the cold porcelain. My poor old knees really suffered.

Not terribly uncommon in a lot of Europe... especially Eastern Europe. It seems to work.

As Mr E said, it’s not uncommon in Europe or S. America.

What caught me off guard a little was when I in Spain at a campsite a few decades ago and while standing at the urinal the cleaning lady walked into the restroom and began cleaning the urinals right down the line. If occupied, she just went around the person. The same thing occurred in both Aruba (hotel) and Chile (mall rest room), but at least I wasn’t caught off guard those times. Now I just kind of expect it could happen. I have seen many places in Europe where there are signs saying restrooms are cleaned by both male and female staff.

The restrooms at the Orangery in London used to be as you described. Since it was renovated recently, I don’t know if it’s the still that way.

So does my house.

My wife wishes we had separate bathrooms. She says boys are disgusting.

Allan, she's not wrlng. How old do they have to be before they learn how to aim? My DD now has my grandson clean his own bathroom.

"How old do they have to be before they learn how to aim? "

It's a tricky problem in non-linear fluid dynamics. They have my sympathies. :)

The trickiest parts are the start-up/shut-down, with the middle part easy to aim.

Lol RoberH. I think I understand what you are saying. If you don't have a urinal, or a PhD in physics, then SIT DOWN. ; )

The male mind (especially at that age) has a horror of...

Best not go there. Let's just say that logic is not high on the priority list for such afflicted. :)

Men sit in Germany.
Germany has unisex wc too. Sometimes they have separate stall areas, but share the sink. What is different is that the toilets here have doors that shut all the way around. In the US, they are fond of those doors with a gap all around. Why?

Sex, gender, plumbing and restroom choice has become something of an obsession among a certain cohort of the American populace.

In some of those American facilities there’s an attendant who uses the gap around the door to make sure people aren’t doing something they shouldn’t. I recall a fast food restaurant in downtown Atlanta with an armed security guard to keep drug users out of the men’s room. It’s sad that he was needed but give the restaurant credit for having him.

I've encountered unisex WC's on several occasions in Europe and it's not a big deal. Everyone just "does their business" and then leaves, and there doesn't seem to be any concern.

Ah man, reminds me of when I contracted for Perot Systems in Europe decades ago... the office toilets were unisex and so many of or US colleagues would try and hold it until lunch time when they'd go across the road to the shopping centre and queue for the toilets!

Another shocker for ya - most the the dorms in our hostels are also unisex!

At many swimming pools in Europe you also have unisex changing areas. But they are composed of small individual locking stalls. So there also no issue who uses what (and with whom, some of the stalls are big enough so that couples or families can share one).

At many swimming pools in Europe you also have unisex changing areas. But they are composed of small individual locking stalls. So there also no issue who uses what (and with whom, some of the stalls are big enough so that couples or families can share one).

And then you go into a sauna and everyone's naked (I'm looking at you Germans).

How old do they have to be before they learn how to aim?

During her twenties, a single female friend of mine had a cute sign made and put it over her toilet.

"If you sprinkle when you tinkle,
be a sweetie and clean the seatie"..

"...friend of mine had a cute sign made"

Better than the one I saw: "Those with shorter bats please step closer to the plate"

TC,
Your friend must have got that sign from my grandmother, who had it in her bathroom in the 1940's (yes I am that old to remember it!).
When I told my grandkids about it, they cracked up.

It's the co-ed lavatories that bother me.

"It's the co-ed lavatories that bother me. "

I got used to those in college dorms back in the 70s. Not officially of course. Nobody cared.

Though that was the situation in the (officially) male dorm I was in. Can't say I was in the female ones much. Don't know how they handled it.

Maybe it was the school.

We had co-ed bathrooms on my floor freshman year at college --- not a problem for me, but one day I was taking a shower and whistling some songs and two guys were out by the sinks discussing, uh, stuff in some detail. When I was done and put on my bathrobe and came out, they were horrified and one exclaimed "Oh, (swear word), I didn't know GIRLS could whistle!"

Thanks for all the laughs on this thread!

I am in the "nobody cares" camp. Was on a co-ed floor my freshman year, just like nancys8. Officially, the bathrooms were segregated male/female, but we just went wherever there was room, especially the showers. No one cared.

My younger daughter is at college now. She also has co-ed bathrooms/showers in her dorm and no one cares. Her only complaint was when one of the guys manscaped and didn't clean the drain. Very valid complaint. (Allan, she would agree with your wife on this one)

I really do wish we in the US could just admit that we all have bodies and we all go to the bathroom, and we would stop getting so hung up on sharing spaces.

I do agree, though, that I'd love to see more toilet seats in italy....

I doubt any reasonable person thinks all males are opportunistic perverts, but as I learned as a school administrator it only takes one guy to ruin things, or actually a few young men with a peephole and well, that's all I'm going to say about it. It was an ugly situation.

Sports stadiums here have separate men's and women's bathrooms and it's so easy there is no controversy. And I'm glad my wife doesn't have to use the men's rooms at these places because whew...!

I've also stayed in co-ed Dorms in Hostels a few times and again, it's not a big deal. The rooms had one WC & shower and everyone was courteous and respectful.

Even here in Canada, I've noticed women lining up at the men's washroom at theatres and sports venues on occasion, as the queue for the women's side is extremely long.

I was in Copenhagen for a conference at a university and all the bathrooms had gone coed. In the one closest to us, a women had put a sign on one of the stalls reserving it for women because they were neater.

I am not sure whether the sign was respected or not, but I never saw men use that stall.

And I must admit, I did find it a bit disconcerting to wash my hands beside men in the bathroom.

In my twenties I moved to the Netherlands. A Dutch girlfriend told me how in her primary school boys and girls would shower together after PE, and nobody found that odd. In high school this was no longer the case, but once adults at university mixed showering was not unusual. One dorm I stayed at had just one big communal shower, and man and women both used it, and nobody had an issue with it...

The first time I stumbled into the restroom at college and found a girl/woman standing at the sink brushing her teeth I had a severe shock. I thought, first-thing-in-morning sleepiness, that I'd stumbled into the women's, even though it was a Men's dorm. Not good if you were a guy.

After I realized (I was very awake then) it was "Oh... that's how college is", and went on with my day.

That lasted until the first morning I came in and there were girls/women in the big open air shower. That took more adjusting to deal with, a week or so, then it rapidly became "No big deal".

It was that kind of school.

Though I do, thinking back on it, remember that the Women's dorms were divided into a strict no males past the lobby one(s?) and more "relaxed" ones. Though I never did know how they handled it in the relaxed ones. Wasn't all that social.

Sports stadiums here have separate men's and women's bathrooms and it's so easy there is no controversy.

It's not easy at all. There is usually an immense line for the women's which makes trying to go to the bathroom at one of those events a huge pain.