Random and slightly pointless thoughts: Dirty Public Restrooms

What is it about public restrooms that make them such foul places? Obviously I can't speak for women but men's are gross all the time. And there seems to be this everlasating stench of urine. What makes me laugh is when they have an inspection card on show. What does that actually mean? What purpose does that have? Yes, it stinks in here but at least it's been checked and inspected so now the people who work here know that. Nothing is going to be done about it, but at least they know. I swear I was just at a shopping mall tonight and the stench from the toilet was so bad it had leached out to infect the entire area surrounding the toilets. Waiting for the lift to arrive was not a happy time.

What is it about public restrooms that make people lose all sense of common decency or rational thinking? Or are they simply seen as an opportunity to do things that you wouldn't normally?

• You know I always pee in the toilet, I wonder what it feels like to pee on the floor - well now's my chance! I may even pee up the walls for good measure too!
• Every time at home I always flush the toilet after taking a dump in it... well not this time! Oh yeah, good times!
• I never dare to write random messages and telephone numbers on the wall of my bathroom... but this isn't my bathroom, is it?
• What would be really funny is if I had an opportunity to litter a toilet floor with cigarette butts and oodles of toilet paper... well here I am with a ripe opportunity to do so!

Some places know that their loos are going to end up a mess so don't even bother even trying to make it look nice to begin with. I've been in loos in Thailand where it is simply a hole smashed into the concrete. Other western style ones (still in Thailand) where the flushing action is carried out manually by use of a barrel of water and a pan.

Another thing; handriers. How useless are they? Has anyone ever managed to actually dry their hands using them? How is cold air supposed to dry things? And more often than not they blow air out with the same force as a grasshopper's fart. You stand their hands soaking and getting colder because of the cold air flow, a queue forms and then out of common curtesy you move aside so someone else can have a go. So you walk out with hands as wet as they were when you first took them from under the tap.

Actually I find that most public things are quite rubbish. Just look at public telephones.