this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2023
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I hate peaking under the stalls or knocking doors to figure it out. The answer is so simple.

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[–] [email protected] 160 points 2 years ago (2 children)

TIL occupied indicators are not standard in the rest of the world.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

Exactly! I genuinely learnt something from this post. What a strange world we live in, something so basic for over a century is not used by the hegemon

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

I think it's uniquely US problem, along with weird gaps so you can always look at the person shiting

[–] [email protected] 123 points 2 years ago (2 children)

In the US just peer through the crack between the door and the wall. Ensure solid eye contact with the current occupant. Determine how much time they've left. Adjust plan accordingly.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I always reach under the stalls to grab their ankles. Scaring the shit out of them speeds things up

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

The most literal case of scaring the shit out of someone.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 years ago

You shouldn't do that.

The doors are deliberately designed to have a large gap on the bottom, so you can poke your head through. This is the correct way of doing it.

[–] [email protected] 79 points 2 years ago (3 children)

We have these for years in Europe

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 years ago

Where is the 6 in gap between the door and stall??

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago

I thought this is everywhere

And I've never been to Europe

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

I'm middle aged and I don't recall a time in my life when vacant/occupied indicators weren't on all public toilets.

[–] [email protected] 60 points 2 years ago (1 children)

They do. Or at least, here in Europe they do. Seems rather absurd there'd be a place where they don't.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Bear in mind the US also has massive gaps in their public toilet doors. They do seem to be struggling. Then again I'm from the UK, so... Yeah. Send help.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

We’re all about the transparency over here in the States. We believe in the free flow of information.

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[–] [email protected] 55 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

They do in the UK - where are you?

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 years ago

Yeah I don't think I've ever seen one without, but being red-green colour blind I wish most didn't only use those colours

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 2 years ago

Because in the US you can usually see the person shitting through the ridiculous gaps in the stalls.

This is why we can't have nice things.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yeah here in Japan most places have a red and blue indicator that moves with the lock. Bidets and toilet seat sanitizers are also pretty standard in any decently modernized areas. We kinda win when it comes to bathrooms.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

Just got back from Japan. I'm always surprised when I'm in the middle of nowhere and the public restrooms have heated sitting, deodorizer, bidet, background sounds. Like... Wtf? That's better than my toilet at home. And I'm not even from the US 🙃

[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Cost. The gaps in most NA stalls are so big you will know whether it's occupied anyway just by walking past.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Was a bit of a shock when I went to Japan and all the stalls are just small rooms within the restroom. It was nice. Bidet game is on point too.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago

The way it should be 😔

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Wait till you see Kansas City airport they have lights outside showing you how many occupied, and lights inside showing you red or green for what's empty full

[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Australia checking in, those are definitely a thing here

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Uh, like if the door’s closed it’s more than likely occupied.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Useless if the door swings shut by default, likely from poor horizontal alignment.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I've never seen one without.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 years ago (2 children)

In 'merica, we love to grab the door and shake it or look through the 2 inch gap to check if it's occupied 🇺🇲

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Don't forget to also knock loudly and yell "IS ANYBODY IN THERE???"

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 years ago

You guys don't have an indicator near the door handle?? It's super common in the Netherlands. Almost every toilet has a small indicator, except for maybe some old doors the owners didn't replace, but all else always shows if it's occupied or not (not that people won't try anyway even if red for occupied).

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 years ago (4 children)

I'm genuinely curious to know where in the world you live. I would be horrified if someone was peeking under the stalls or bothering people by knocking on the doors.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 years ago

Land of freedom.

Freedom to poop with a giant gap between the door.

Freedom to piss in a urinal with no divider.

Freedom to wipe with toilet paper so thin, so dainty, that it's practically see through.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

When I frequented small cafés before the epidemic lockdown, it was typical in San Francisco to get frequent impatient door-knockers.

Part of the problem is the lack of publicly available restroom facilities. Shopping malls often might have two restroom pairs, usually at the food court and by the movie theater, and then one each at thr major department stores, typically hidden by the changing rooms.

I cannot say how this compares to other towns or other nations, but designing public lots in The Sims 2, I quickly learned to make sure there were facilities a short walk from everywhere. (Also skip the sinks and install showers, since sims dress and undress with a quick spin)

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I just leave the door open, that way everyone knows I'm in there. I even wave at the kids.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

All the ones I've seen stand open when they're not locked.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 years ago

TIl us North Americans apparently are the only ones with this problem...

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Do your toilets not have these things:

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Some do. Most are too cheap to bother.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago (3 children)

In my experience most do? Maybe the US is different from everywhere else?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago

Probably.

Most stalls are bolted together pieces of cheap metal with the most basic latch you can imagine. If an indicator adds 10 cents to the cost it’s not going to happen.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

The US is cheap. We even famously have large gaps between the door/stall panels. I can only imagine it is to accommodate temperature/humidity changes so that they don't jam.

Nicer places sometimes have actual deadbolt locks connected to a vacant/occupied indicator on the exterior. But it is rare. Usually it's just a gapped stall with a sliding lock that will often not even line up correctly without wiggling the door.

In some instances I have had to use my gym key fob in place of the missing sliding mechanism to secure the door.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Never seen one in the US. Also in the US, 10% or so don’t even close right. Plus a 30 cm gap on the bottom and a half cm gap on both sides of the door.

It’s only an illusion of privacy; anyone can look through the door or under the stall.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 years ago
[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago

Basically they skimp like mad on this basic infrastructure because they don't care. Whatever companies make the standard shitty metal toilet cubicles in the US have a lot to answer for.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

How else am I supposed to make new friends?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I was using a public toilet that had one.

Turned out, you also had to lock the door!

Edit: now that I think about it, it said occupied, but a lady still just walked right in...

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

What do you think we live in, the future?

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