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Other Places, Even Now (Part 2)

             Since we come from a western culture, there is nothing more comforting than to see a standard ceramic US toilet when you are traveling. It is what you hope for in a foreign bathroom. And sometimes there is even wonderful, soft toilet paper – It can make, or break, the “energy” of a vacation. Our view of what a “toilet” is, is so ingrained into our culture, that I know people who can’t poop in anything else. Some, when forced to camp overnight, have even held it for days until they returned to a “proper” facility.

And given the choice, without knowing any Human physiology, I would always rather have my ass as far up and away from the turf as possible. Up off the cold hard ground, warm is good, and comfortable is great too – just in case I might be a while.

However, we, with our ceramic thrones, are a minority.

If you add the population of United States, with our 300 million people, to that of Europe with its’ plus-eight hundred million, and then throw in another 900 million from parts of Russia, North and South Africa, Japan, Australia, you get a couple of billion humans. That accumulation is about 30% of the total World population, which is now over 7 billion. I’ll even throw in the enormous number of toilets that are installed in US hotel chains abroad.

30% – one third. That is a rough estimate of the percentage of the world who poops on a pedestal, a toilet bowl, or a throne like yourself.

That number, which I think is liberal, was near to Zero only a few hundred years ago. More than three million years of squatting, versus plus or minus 200 years of sitting (yes, there might be persons of Roman descent that have 3,000 years of accumulated ancestral sitting experience) – still, not really much time for a DNA mutation.

But, it’s not like everyone without a toilet is going out and crapping behind the rocks and trees around their house. The 70%, consisting of the rest of the world, is civilized too, and they too have plumbing. Their cities do not necessarily reek of sewage.

What do they do?

Well, generally their toilets consist of two foot-prints and a flush-able hole, surrounded by clean tile or concrete.    Toilet paper? – Maybe, but probably not.

Here are some examples:

Cambodia:

China:

Italian:

Japan:

Thailand:

Turkey:

Vietnam:

The “squat” works for Billions of people – and why shouldn’t it? There is nothing more “normal” (or basic to our anatomy) to a child, or an adult. And as a side note: Fiber-filled diet or not (and MANY are not), their incidence of Western gastric diseases and cancers remains very low.

But, it’s not like you have a choice of “squat” toilets at the local plumbing outlet here, and I don’t condone using the bushes behind the house – So what can you do if you want to find out if your pooping “position” might be an issue?

Part 3, “Compromise” is next.