One of the Joys of Travel

No matter where you go there becomes the need to heed the call of nature.  In our travels we have found various forms of toilets. However, the evolution of said toilet eludes me. In this dissertation toilet refers to that which one sits on in a western style restroom.

In visiting various Roman ruins in Europe and Asia public and private toilets are featured.  Made of stone, and no doubt somewhat uncomfortable, a person sat on them while doing what we as children called a "number one"or a  "number two". These stone toilets could be very cold in some climates,  but enterprising Romans had a solution to this discomfort. They would simply have their slave sit until the seat was warm, and then the master would take over and do his business. Roman toilets which had water flowing beneath them to remove the waste often had sweet smelling plants nearby to offset the somewhat offensive odors of human waste.  Since this was before the advent of the Scott brothers marvelous invention of toilet paper the Romans used a wet sponge for cleansing purposes.  These toilets used in the first century were common throughout the Roman Empire.

And now foe the part of the evolutionary process I don't understand. It has been my observation that "sit-down" toilets are only common in the English speaking part of the world.  Much of the world uses "squatters".  I'm reminded of an incident in Turkey when a tour leader had a problem with the same American tourist always being late for the bus after each stop for a restroom break. After this had happened several  times and was beginning to create a problem with the tours schedule she confronted the tourist  to determine the reason for the tardiness.

"If you don't mind my asking," she said apologetically  "why are you always late?"
The rather elderly woman answered sheepishly, "After sitting on that hole in the floor, I have a lot of trouble getting up!"

I don't know why no one in France or Spain picked up on the Roman design of toilets.  In modern cities you'll find the "sit-down" or western style, but off the beaten path a bit you'll often find a "squatter".  Why a country as sophisticated as France, which was instrumental in developing the Concorde supersonic airliner and the Airbus A-380, would still have a "squatter" toilet is beyond my comprehension. I can kinda/sorta understand how the Japanese would still have "squatters"; the Romans were never there, but France and Spain?

This lack of the evolutionary process does make life interesting. However, it's hard to find it very interesting when you're squatting over a hole in the floor and realize that the country you're in has not adopted the western custom of using toilet paper.

Author's note:  I applaud the "squatters" that have foot positions outlined on the floor and hand holds on the wall to assist you in getting back to the vertical position.