Third world behavior coming to your town USA.
Poop Phenom
There is a new phenomenon in public restrooms, and its not just your generic dirty bathroom problem. Now it’s poop filled toilet paper on the bathroom floor, right next to the toilet. This is not an American thing. This is being done by the immigrants coming through our southern border, as they travel along our highway system. But why? Why are they doing this disgusting, unsanitary thing to our bathrooms? Unfortunately, its a cultural difference that results from a lack of adequate sanitation in third world countries the migrants are coming from.
If There is No Wastebasket, Put It In the Toilet!
Inadequate Sanitation Infrastructure in Third World Countries
There are two main reasons this is becoming a current issue in the United States. 1. The current massive influx of immigrants. 2. Societal culture differences.
How do I know this is being caused by immigrants? Well, for starters, Americans don’t do this. That should make it pretty obvious it’s not us. No one who grew up throwing toilet paper in the toilet just stops one day and starts throwing it on the floor. In fact, Americans are generally shocked to learn about the weird bathroom practices across the world and have a hard time doing things like using a bidet, or squatting over a hole, and they definitely don’t throw used toilet paper on the ground.
I took the pictures in this article in Northern California, well north of Sacramento at an I-5 freeway truck stop. Even if people in southern areas of the United States have already experienced this problem to some extent due to immigration, the evidence of immigration is spreading north, as more and more migrants flood the country.
Secondly, the pictograph sticker in the restroom pictured above was designed to bridge any language barrier. If it was meant for English speaking persons, there probably wouldn’t be a picture, just words in English. Additionally, if all the migrants that throw poopy toilet paper on the floor spoke only Spanish, they would have written it in Spanish. The fact that they used pictures instead of words actually shows that there was some real thought behind this. Truck stop owners somewhere realized this is becoming a nationwide problem and thought ahead to design a sticker that can be read in any language.
As for my second point, this phenomenon is a societal culture issue that comes from third world countries with poor sanitation infrastructures and outdated plumbing practices. Again, not a typical American problem. Toilet paper clogs their antiquated plumbing systems and causes issues for their wastewater treatment plants. Also, in rural areas where they use mainly (probably undersized) septic systems, they’d have to pump them out more frequently. Because issues like this cause toilets to backup and overflow, it has necessitated the toilet paper in the wastebasket practice. People who grow up having to live this way do this as an ingrained habit. I mean honestly, who wants the job of having to take the feces filled garbage out every day? I doubt that this is a pleasant habit, its just a way of life for them.
Here’s your sign
So, while we can understand why this is happening, and have some grace for these migrants who are undereducated about American plumbing supremecy, it is still nasty and highly unsanitary. Ironically, immigrants are supposedly coming here because they want the benefits of American life. Did they never stop to consider that modern plumbing would be one of those benefits? I don’t care where you come from, if there is no wastebasket, the paper goes in the toilet! To quote Bill Engvall the comedian, “Here’s your sign!” But alas, people apparently need an actual sign. The hint of a missing wastebasket isn’t enough.
A big shout out to Love’s for making this sign, uh sticker. This particular Love’s has two sets of bathrooms (as most do). One for the general public, and on the opposite side of the building, one for the truckers. While this particular Love’s was renovating its older public bathroom, they directed the public over to the newly renovated trucker’s bathroom where I found this sticker. Guess what? The sticker works! There was no poopy paper on the floor of that stall. Later when the brand new public bathroom was complete, I find this stall, with no sticker, and all that poopy toilet paper on the floor. Maybe they ran out of stickers?
Sanitary Solutions?
So what should we do about this highly unsanitary, not to mention nasty, situation that is also a danger to public health? I mean truly, it’s not just gross, this practice encourages the transmission of diseases like E. coli, adenovirus, campylobacter, giardia, hepatitis A, Salmonella, and Shigella through the fecal-oral route. Fortunately, I do have a few ideas of how we can all pitch in.
The current administration seems to think that we need an open border, so they should be responsible for reeducating new immigrants through the Public Health Administration, right? Especially if they are not just here visiting and plan to stay. I’m thinking they should spend some of their gigantic new budget on public service announcements in the languages of the immigrants.
Businesses like truck stops should definitely keep it up with these informative stickers in public restrooms. Maybe throw in a few announcements about bathroom expectations in different languages over their PA systems. Why not, they announce when the truckers’ showers are ready for them.
As a member of the general public, if you know any immigrants, please do your part and inform them of the expected bathroom practices here in the United States. You wouldn’t want your new friends to embarrass themselves.
Or heck, going back to our government’s responsibility, they could just close up the border and choose to protect the health and well-being of Americans in the first place. Not just from those who throw poopy paper on the floor, but because of any other diseases that migrants may bring through the border unchecked. I hear Ebola is making a big comeback in Africa.
Hopefully this is all just a phase, and our new immigrant friends will figure out sooner or later that the plumbing here in America is trustworthy of their soiled toilet paper. It’s definitely an issue, but not the one that will end the world as we know it.
