toilet talk

Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands (aka the Prince of Orange) created a bit of a stir at the African Union summit in Egypt yesterday (30 June 2008).

He used the word toilet and talked about it (in his speech*), which happens to be not just a delicate subject matter, but also taboo in some countries.
*as chair of the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation

Yet perhaps you, like many others, will find it difficult to go home and speak passionately about sanitation and related subjects like human faeces. I would urge you to personally help break through the deadly taboo that surrounds this subject. That is why UNSGAB advocated declaring 2008 the International Year of Sanitation. We must overcome our discomfort at talking about toilets and personal hygiene. We need the words, the courage and the dedicated resources to do what we must to make a difference.

In the light of all of this, it will come as no surprise that I was delighted to note that some distinguished African Heads of State and Government took the initiative to have themselves photographed with a toilet. Their courage symbolised the step forward Africa needs to take. I can only invite you all to follow their lead, and break through the sanitation taboo. Let us call a spade a spade and a toilet a toilet. It worked in many countries for HIV/AIDS, so why shouldn’t it work for sanitation too?

I agree. I ask where the toilet is, not the bathroom. I don't want to take a bath, I want to use the toilet. I don't ask about the restroom. I don't want to have a rest. I want to use the toilet. After I shit, I use toilet paper, not bathroom tissue. The purpose of toilet paper is to clean one's arse. I don't understand why talking about toilets is embarrassing or offensive.

I've never found out if anybody I know who has travelled whether they have used a squat toilet. I want to know how people keep their clothes like trousers from touching it and how to stop things falling out of pockets.

a French squat toilet


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I could do with a few more days off work.

Martin who used to be the back neighbour came around tonight for a simple pasta dinner and beer. Actually, I used the sauce from the coq au vin from the Saturday a week ago to stir through spiral pasta, and only added additional chicken meat. It's a great sauce to go with pasta.