Monday, January 19, 2009

Why wait in line?

In efforts to reduce the amount of men who decide to whip out their... ahem... 'thing' and relieve themselves on the street corner or into a canal, Amsterdam has implemented the outdoor urinal.

I first saw the urinal on Queen's Day. The tube like openings where men's ... ahem... 'things' enter were full of trash, and I couldn't quite figure out what the contraption was. Later that afternoon, as I was walking around, I heard a British voice behind me saying to a friend, "... that is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. They smell so bad! I swear, if I see one more man peeing in that thing...". I wanted to turn around and exclaim, "SO THAT'S WHAT THAT IS!" Instead, I mentally concurred with what she had said, and hoped that I wouldn't have to witness the urinal in use.

Well, months have gone by since my first encounter with the urinal, and needless to say, my hopes were in vain. I've seen more than my fair share of guys who aren't at all embarrassed to relieve themselves in front of a sea of people. So, despite my sister's protest, when we happened upon a urinal in use, I couldn't help but take a picture since I actually had my camera with me. Take heed men: before using the outdoor urinal, think twice --because you never know who's going to imortalize you on the web-o-sphere.It's a given to say that urinals are gross and quite smelly... but mostly they ruin the beauty of Amsterdam, since they stick out like a sore thumb. Then again, ... in the 2 or 3 times I've passed by men who think we live in a third world country and 'just can't hold it any longer' (peeing on the side of a building), I've not only wanted to knock them upside the head, but I found myself wishing there were more urinals around. Moral of the story: always settle for the lesser of the two evils.

3 comments:

ReL said...

Now that is just funny! Silly man at least you didn't get his face, but it would be too funny if he ever saw this picture of himself.

Kristi said...

That is disgustingly hilarious! They have added that since I visited there.

Brigitte Castillo said...

That is too funny. Gibran was mortified though. Seeing his expression was just as funny as imagining the peoples faces that saw you take the picture! Oh gosh I'm still laughing!