Trip to My Loo

The WSJ again has its tongue firmly planted in its cheek when they run an A-Hed piece on the annual British Loo Awards and ask you, in a headline, to refrain from bathroom humor, and in a sub-heading tell you that the accolades leave the winners flush with success. But this is what the WSJ does when they can.

How or why the British refer to their bathrooms as 'loos' is never revealed, and a modest amount of Internet research hasn't coughed up the origin. I'll leave that to research inclined readers, if there are any.

In particular, this piece is worth reading, if only because it is something we probably know something about: going to the bathroom when we're not at home. It seems in Britain there is an annual contest to judge public loos in several categories. And they're serious about it.

So far in my lifetime there are two bathrooms that I am willing to tell nearly anyone about. The first one was in an office I was doing an audit in. They were a union health and welfare fund for cleaners: janitors, office and bathroom cleaners. I still remember walking into the not old, not new men's room and the place truly sparkled. The grout was clean. Everything worked, and you would have felt ashamed of yourself if you didn't leave the place as clean as you found it.

The second bathroom is more in the public eye, and can be viewed at any time. It is the 'comfort station' inside Byrant Park, just inside the 42nd Street border. This is a New York City park mind you, and actually one of the jewels these days.

There are flowers in the vestibule. A fresh arrangement, perhaps every week, or sooner. The head of the Business Improvement District that helps keep city property clean boasts of a tens of thousand dollar budget for just the flowers year round. If only my family was still in the flower business. All we would have needed was a comfort station or two and we would have made it past the second generation.

I have pointed this bathroom out to my children. I have purposely guided them past the park to take a peek. Over the years, they in turn have shown it to out-of-town friends from college. The place should be on a map. Maybe it is.

The British it seems have a historical link to nearly everything, and apparently bathrooms are no exception. The WSJ piece explains that John Harington, a writer under Queen Elizabeth I, is credited with inventing a flush toilet in 1596.

And just in case you're back to taking things seriously, they tell you, with no fanfare whatsoever, that Thomas Crapper built ornate toilets for British royals that helped give indoor plumbing the boost it enjoys today.

I kid you not.

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