Spending a Penny - quickly
December 3rd 2007 03:33
While we were overseas in the UK and on the Continent, much of our time seemed to be taken up with finding toilets. McDonald’s is usually a reliable place to find one, whether you’re in England or abroad, but you don’t always want to buy something there just to use the toilet. And there are department stores, which usually have ample toilets. Again, it’s a bit of a cheek using them when you don’t actually do any shopping. In England I used to use the pub toilets, but it was always an issue trying to do this without the barmaid noticing.
We got to the point where, if we saw a toilet, we’d use it, because you never know when you’d see one again. We learnt our lesson after we got stuck one day while in Luxembourg. After refusing to pay more than the usual 50 cents in the railway station, we decided to walk on and find somewhere else. Do you think we could? Both of us were desperate by the time we came across a public toilet just near a bridge. The sign said Occupe, so we waited, and waited, and waited, and finally realised the thing must be closed.
This meant we had to walk across the long bridge, and up a hill – and there, finally, was a workman’s portaloo. There was no one around, so we nipped in there (separately, of course!). Great relief.
All this is by way of introduction to a new scheme in London that a 26-year-old student called Gail Knight has come up with. By texting 80097 on your mobile, you’ll receive a message telling you where the nearest toilet is.
So far the SatLav (!) is limited to the Westminster City Council area, which includes many of the famous sights in London. Hopefully the scheme will take off and be available much further afield, and quickly!
The cost to text is relatively cheap: 25 p. While most toilets in England are actually free now (as compared to the Continent), 25 p isn’t too bad a price for the convenience of finding one in a hurry.
We got to the point where, if we saw a toilet, we’d use it, because you never know when you’d see one again. We learnt our lesson after we got stuck one day while in Luxembourg. After refusing to pay more than the usual 50 cents in the railway station, we decided to walk on and find somewhere else. Do you think we could? Both of us were desperate by the time we came across a public toilet just near a bridge. The sign said Occupe, so we waited, and waited, and waited, and finally realised the thing must be closed.
This meant we had to walk across the long bridge, and up a hill – and there, finally, was a workman’s portaloo. There was no one around, so we nipped in there (separately, of course!). Great relief.
All this is by way of introduction to a new scheme in London that a 26-year-old student called Gail Knight has come up with. By texting 80097 on your mobile, you’ll receive a message telling you where the nearest toilet is.
So far the SatLav (!) is limited to the Westminster City Council area, which includes many of the famous sights in London. Hopefully the scheme will take off and be available much further afield, and quickly!
The cost to text is relatively cheap: 25 p. While most toilets in England are actually free now (as compared to the Continent), 25 p isn’t too bad a price for the convenience of finding one in a hurry.
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