Would you allow strangers into your toilet?
September 20th 2011 09:15
I had my BBQ inauguration at the new place on Sunday with a bunch of work mates and had so much fun. It was an amazing day with a bunch of cool friends and we had the most bizarre mid BBQ random thing occur. We had a Japanese man walk the stairs to the house and plead to us, while holiding his stomach, if he could use my toilet. After a moment's hesitation I realised that if I was in that situation where my bladder could explode.....or worse....then I would desperately need the assistance of strangers.
A worse personal experience was about 10yrs ago when I travelled a fair distance on public transport to visit my mum who was housesitting a McMansion overlooking the water. My bladder started screaming for a loo when I was half way there - by the time I arrived I was in agony but the only way to get to the front door was on an inclinator. It was in the rain, I was drenched and I had the constant reminder of water which did not help the situation. Three quarters of the way down the inclinator I could not hold it - I just let it go and entered a drenched blissful relief.
I entered the house mum was sitting and stood at the doorway asking, or more, screaming for a towel yelling I had just pissed myself - then the world opened up and swallowed me as mum came to the door informing me of all her friends sitting around the corner of the lounge room having coffee.....................mm mm....................awkward
.
But all these toilet woes could be on the way out, if you would open up your loo for a small price would you get on board?
When you have to go, you have to go.
That's the basic philosophy behind the smartphone app CLOO', which wants urban dwellers to open their private bathrooms to strangers desperately seeking a toilet.
CLOO', short for community plus loo (plus an apostrophe mark to represent a GPS marker), aims to create a network of "member loos" from trusting, sympathetic people who will trade a few minutes in their personal facilities "for the cost of a latte", the company boasts on its website.
"Here's how we save those nice pants of yours," the website said. "CLOO' is a community of registered users who choose to share their bathrooms and make city-living easier, while earning a small profit."
Just open the app to see "hosts" in your area, then message a likely prospect. If they are home and feeling up to welcoming a stranger, you can race over and make full use of their toilet.
The app makes a nominal nod toward safety by showing any mutual friends you and the potential "host" may have on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, "turning a stranger's loo into a friend of a friend's loo," the company cheerfully predicts. The app will also include a system for rating member toilets.
The company suggests that "brand partnerships" with toilet paper manufacturers may also shower free products on hosts.
CLOO' co-founders Hillary Young and Deanna McDonald told a blog on tech site CNET that the team is gearing up for a launch in New York early next year - first on Apple iOS platforms and then possibly on Android devices.
Would you do it? I don't think I would, we thought the Japanese man was looking at the stuff in my house to come back and steal but then realised we were the only people in the street sitting on the balcony and approachable. I wasn't overly happy though when he went beyond the wee time and then the pooh time dragged on - what was he doing? Reading my book? Hahaha But he came out all apologetic and typically polite as most Japanese people are.
The information of CLOO' comes kindly from the LA Times.
A worse personal experience was about 10yrs ago when I travelled a fair distance on public transport to visit my mum who was housesitting a McMansion overlooking the water. My bladder started screaming for a loo when I was half way there - by the time I arrived I was in agony but the only way to get to the front door was on an inclinator. It was in the rain, I was drenched and I had the constant reminder of water which did not help the situation. Three quarters of the way down the inclinator I could not hold it - I just let it go and entered a drenched blissful relief.
I entered the house mum was sitting and stood at the doorway asking, or more, screaming for a towel yelling I had just pissed myself - then the world opened up and swallowed me as mum came to the door informing me of all her friends sitting around the corner of the lounge room having coffee.....................mm mm....................awkward
.But all these toilet woes could be on the way out, if you would open up your loo for a small price would you get on board?
When you have to go, you have to go.
That's the basic philosophy behind the smartphone app CLOO', which wants urban dwellers to open their private bathrooms to strangers desperately seeking a toilet.
CLOO', short for community plus loo (plus an apostrophe mark to represent a GPS marker), aims to create a network of "member loos" from trusting, sympathetic people who will trade a few minutes in their personal facilities "for the cost of a latte", the company boasts on its website.
"Here's how we save those nice pants of yours," the website said. "CLOO' is a community of registered users who choose to share their bathrooms and make city-living easier, while earning a small profit."
Just open the app to see "hosts" in your area, then message a likely prospect. If they are home and feeling up to welcoming a stranger, you can race over and make full use of their toilet.
The app makes a nominal nod toward safety by showing any mutual friends you and the potential "host" may have on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, "turning a stranger's loo into a friend of a friend's loo," the company cheerfully predicts. The app will also include a system for rating member toilets.
The company suggests that "brand partnerships" with toilet paper manufacturers may also shower free products on hosts.
CLOO' co-founders Hillary Young and Deanna McDonald told a blog on tech site CNET that the team is gearing up for a launch in New York early next year - first on Apple iOS platforms and then possibly on Android devices.
Would you do it? I don't think I would, we thought the Japanese man was looking at the stuff in my house to come back and steal but then realised we were the only people in the street sitting on the balcony and approachable. I wasn't overly happy though when he went beyond the wee time and then the pooh time dragged on - what was he doing? Reading my book? Hahaha But he came out all apologetic and typically polite as most Japanese people are.
The information of CLOO' comes kindly from the LA Times.
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Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Comment by K @ the Lair
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
I knew you would be a no K - he looked so innocent and in desperation and if I sent him away I would have ended up having to clean up my front lawn from his mess probably
Simon - not sure if you are joking or not - I did get a laugh but am glad you don't know where I live
Anon -