Answering Nature's Call

For those who are shy about coming forward and stating fundamental facts, there is a wonderfully colorful palette of expressions which can be used to dress up, or indeed dress down the response to nature's most primeval call.

"I'm going to go and see a man about a dog;" "I'm just going to go and spend a penny;" "Where might I powder my nose?". And they are all well and good, except for those occasions when the nose-powdering room turns out to be nothing more than a hand basin and a mirror.

It's a dilemma which could be relieved by a touch of fantasy, but it's also one which would seem like luxury to a good portion of the world's population. The World Toilet Organization has made it its business to tackle the issue of inadequate sanitation in developing countries, where people often have to resort to using the street to do their thing.

Toilet training

And after years of rough hygiene, when they do suddenly have access to proper toilets, they often have to be trained in the practice of using them. The German development aid charity GTZ even organizes toilet workshops and broadcasts radio programs and publishes comics in an attempt to flush out the old, less hygienic habits.

A key consideration in schooling the unknowing is toilet design, as the throne-like lavatory which so captured the imagination of regal Europeans is a foreign concept in many parts of the world, where people prefer to get closer to the ground than the prudish porcelain pot will ever allow.

In more developed countries, toilet trends are streaming forth. With a passion for heated seats, music and water games, Japan is leagues ahead of most other countries when it comes to making the experience of excusing oneself for a moment a more memorable occasion.