The End of a Civilisation!

The kind of thing that fascinates me is the analysis of ancient settlements like our own Mohenjo Daro or the people who built Stonehenge. We tend to have a very myopic view of the life in those times with the basic assumption that since it happened in the past it was inferior to us on multiple counts. I do not subscribe by that however it brings perspective to humanity, somehow. No matter what slice of time we consider some things are all the same and strangely very temporary.

But then I also think how funny it would be if our civilization suddenly collapsed and people judged us by our remains. Rows and rows of metal boxes, inside of metal boxes. Here is where these humans sat in mobile chairs (why did they require wheeled sitting devices?) and viewed shiny frames that have been lashed down by wires and cords.

And assuming they have the technology to decipher our computer systems, surely the speculation will be the same as ours of Rome - these people died from debauchery. Their entire communications system, which they referred to as internet, was burdened with... Ahem! you know what. It's hard to imagine they found time for any other activities.

Oh how right those future archaeologists are/were/will be.

Cheers!

Pissed Off...

I'm just sick & tired of it.

Why can't we have dry urinals? A urinal filled with a pool of unmentionables is in the top slot of things I hate the most.

No matter what time of the day it is toilets just seems like a pool of urine!

Things get progressively worse as the day goes on. It starts out at 9am as a spray mist, turns into a small puddle by 10, then turns into a sticky puddle from noon on. After that, you could probably scrape it up with a putty knife. I simply refuse to stand in it any longer.

Is it asking for too much from the plumbers to ensure that the outlet taps are not leaky? Is it asking too much from architects who're as human to put adequate thought into their design so as to avoid having people to be standing in filth?

This is the state of toilets in offices, movie halls and places which actually either have an attendant or do undergo inspection atleast in principle. These are supposed to be clean. These are supposed to be places which in one form or the other actually spend considerable amount on the cleanliness of the toilets! I'm not even getting into the state of the toilets on express-way or similar.

Since my market research project during my MBA was Observing condition of Public Toilets in the City, I have become over observant when it comes to these things and have studied this topic in great depth. Thank you, Mr. Godbole! All this standing in pee, quite ironically, leaves me pissed off!

Last week, I went to this Chinese place -- All Stir Fry, for dinner. There I found something which I hadn't seen anytime before.

It was a pee pad. I didn't know the commercial name for those things but that was what I preferred to call it. I am not really used to going to upscale restaurants, that was the first time I had ever seen one of these. Normally, the types of establishments that I frequent if the bathroom has any sort of pee pad it's entirely coincidental and consists mainly of a pile of soggy paper towels and someone's vomit-stained sweatshirt. At first, I wondered to whom the cleaning duties fell, because that seemed like something I would like to see my worst enemy do. Yeah! Sounds fun...

Then, because I don't want to mislead you all, I did some research. It turns out that they are disposable and contain "inner super absorbent Trilex 20™ fibers to catch drips and splashes." I don't know what that is, but it sounds very scientifically valid. Supposedly, "Once the mat reaches its saturation level, you simply throw it away and replace with another." I am not sure I want to know exactly how "saturation level" is determined. I can only hope there is an alarm of some sort that warns someone that saturation level is fast approaching -- preferably someone who knows how to deal with such things.

Otherwise, your single, errant pee drip could be the one that breaks the camel's back and releases a urinary flood of epic proportions.

I know I wouldn't want that on my conscience. Or my shoes.

Cheers!