August 9, 2002

12:57 PM

Speaking of butts, here's a little game that challenges you to wash a couple of "fag ends" down the hole at the end of the trough. Good luck, this is my Friday Flash challenge to you!
posted by RevGreg (35 comments total)

Actually, I think the game is pretty easy. Either that or I've got too much practice "under my belt." Ehem. I'll stop now.
posted by RevGreg at 12:59 PM on August 9, 2002

Well, I was too slow, so maybe I just haven't had the right kind of practice.

Thanks, that link made a very slow Friday afternoon at work much more bearable.
posted by greengrl at 1:04 PM on August 9, 2002

Ummm...where's the chewed gum and vomit obstacles?
posted by ColdChef at 1:06 PM on August 9, 2002

Ummm...where's the chewed gum and vomit obstacles?

I thought a bonus "Sink the Bismarck" level where you had to blast a floating butt to bits and sink it would have been a nice touch also!
posted by RevGreg at 1:38 PM on August 9, 2002

Okay, since we're talking about urinals here, lemme tell a little story.

My brother loves saying inappropriate things to me as we stand at the urinal. Being two men, the other "guests" have no idea that we are brothers (not that it makes it any less uncomfortable).

Among his favorite things to say:
"That's pretty big for a white guy."
"Dude. Is that nail polish?"
"Wow. Excuse me for asking, but...How did you get a scab there?"
"Hey, look! Things ARE bigger in Texas" (note, only works in Texas--and only at rest stations)
"Yo, Dale! I like what you've done with it. The racings stripes are nice."
"Pardon me, sir. But your penis is hanging out of your trousers." (said with a faux British accent)
posted by ColdChef at 2:04 PM on August 9, 2002

Thanks coldchef, those quotes make me want to get drunk with my buddies and act like obnoxious jerks.

Some standard jerk moves amongst my friends:

Pelting a guy at a urinal with wadded up paper towels.
Tossing water on the guy.
and the eternal, give the guy a healthy shove so that he has avoid peeing on himself and hitting the urinal
posted by Mushkelley at 2:33 PM on August 9, 2002

Sr. Chef: And why does he not have an account here again?
posted by daver at 2:34 PM on August 9, 2002

He has no opposable thumbs.
posted by ColdChef at 2:36 PM on August 9, 2002

What's with the communal urine trough going on there? Is this a British thing? I mean, I guess I could see it being more efficient and cheaper from a plumbing perspective, but it seems kind of wrong to me. Edumacate me, Metafilter!
posted by picea at 3:04 PM on August 9, 2002

They have communal pissers all over the US. Go to your nearest rat hole bar.
posted by DailyBread at 3:18 PM on August 9, 2002

Yes, communal urinals. I refuse to believe you don't have them. They raise the stakes somewhat in urinal etiquette in that you have to cover not peeing in your neighbours general direction as well as the usual talking, staring, cracking jokes, etc. Fairly common here though. You're especially likely to see them in a place like a football stadium or large bar where volume counts.
posted by vbfg at 3:21 PM on August 9, 2002

MassMOCA made the mistake of installing communal sinks in the mens room. Took about two weeks before they had to install signs that said "This is a sink."
posted by ook at 3:27 PM on August 9, 2002

Ah. The River of Pee.

Not so bad if you are at the start of the the river, where it begins its voyage as snow runoff from mighty peaks. Not so pleasant when you are near the drain, where the raging torrent of urine roils and swells with such ferocity, you half expect to see Burt Reynolds and the gang go rafting by, fearfully searching the porcelain walls for randy urinal hill people.
posted by Kafkaesque at 4:19 PM on August 9, 2002

reminds me of Wrigley Field with the troughs.
posted by jbelshaw at 4:48 PM on August 9, 2002

ColdChef: Your brother must make a hell of a mess in the bathroom.

Picea: I've seen trough style urinals in Denver, New Haven, Atlanta, and San Francisco. I don't believe I've ever been to a US based sports facility that didn't have them. Austin must be a strange place indeed...
posted by swell at 5:00 PM on August 9, 2002

Austin is a strange place. But what does that have to do with pee?

Don't know how old an Austinite you are, Picea, but there used to be a urinal trough over at the late, lamented, Liberty Lunch. For some reason, that's the only one that sticks out to me... I can't recall seeing any lately. Not even in the UT basketball arena... Man, this is starting to bug me. Where the hell are the troughs in Austin?
posted by shecky57 at 5:29 PM on August 9, 2002

You know, as a former Austinite, I tried to form a snarky response, but...when put to the task...I can't name a single trough either.

Hmmm. Not the Salt Lick. Not Rudy's. Not the Alamo Drafthouse...Maybe Texas Stadium? They used to have them at the Driskill Hotel, but they were removed and replaced with single shots.

Hmmm. Oh! I know! I think they have them in the restrooms of the Headliners Club. It's cool because they're right under a picture window (on the twenty-somethingth floor) and you can pee and look out over the city.
posted by ColdChef at 6:09 PM on August 9, 2002

shecky57 - There is still a urinal trough down at the Horseshoe Lounge. Unfortunately, the this gum tastes funny graffiti on the condom dispenser is gone.
posted by chipr at 6:26 PM on August 9, 2002

the indianapolis motor speedway has the troughs. first time ive ever seen one myself.
posted by fore at 8:54 PM on August 9, 2002

As a current Austinite, i can't really think of any offhand.
posted by jbelshaw at 9:02 PM on August 9, 2002

I prefer urinals. A lot of my friends are total freaks who always go into the stall, but I am not that stupid (or cowardly).

Why don't I go into the stalls? Because I could do without seeing a half-flushed turd spinning around in the bowl. What is it with other men? Why do they think that because the toilet isn't in their house that they can take a crap and just leave it there?

So, I don't go near the stalls. Urinals are far safer. That is, unless someone from urinalpoop.org has been nearby.
posted by wackybrit at 9:58 PM on August 9, 2002

The urinal troughs at the University of Michigan "Big House" are really elements of wonder. I have never seen so many people make it through the bathroom so efficiently. They have 7 mens rooms for 110,000 people. Half time is a rush to say the least.
posted by MaddCutty at 9:59 PM on August 9, 2002

WackyBrit, I think the UrinalPoop.org post should of been a FPP even though it's a bit disgusting.
posted by MaddCutty at 10:03 PM on August 9, 2002

Rich Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills, has a trough system. Sadly, it's not big/long enough for the traffic during half time so invariably someone starts peeing into the communal hand washing area and then IT becomes a circular trough (with step flushing!). Not pretty at all.
posted by Grum at 10:03 PM on August 9, 2002

maddcutty: That's exactly why I wouldn't put it to the front page.. but hey, I can make a 'pretend front page post here'. Here we go:

Urinal Poop! Pooping in urinals is becoming a sport for many. Disgusting, but pooping shouldn't be a taboo! Would you believe that some people won't even take a poop at work? If you want to learn more, don't forget the #1 resource for your #2 business!
posted by wackybrit at 10:15 PM on August 9, 2002

wackybrit, I have not laughed so hard in months. I have no idea why (maybe it's 'cause I'm a bit drunk), but urinalpoop.org completely cracks me up. The delivery is so straight; so matter-of-fact. And it's a .org! Sigh...
posted by mr_roboto at 10:23 PM on August 9, 2002

Holy crap! I can't believe all these poop sites: who knew that people have even more time on their hands than I do?
posted by readymade at 10:47 PM on August 9, 2002

The ones that I can't deal with are the really old trough urinals, sometimes found at (say) state fairs, where they're accessible from both sides. Yes, you get to face each other.

You don't have to go low-end to find a trough urinal, either.

And of course: Restrooms of the Future. Maybe like in that Steak & Shake commercial, you just wear a big fishbowl helmet.
posted by dhartung at 11:22 PM on August 9, 2002

wackybrit, I know someone who won't poop anywhere but at home, if it can be helped.
posted by jbelshaw at 4:06 AM on August 10, 2002

Austin's Continental Club has a trough. I remember it distinctly, as it's the last place I got stage fright.
posted by donpardo at 4:55 AM on August 10, 2002

Perhaps paruresis is the reason that they can not go to the trough restroom, instead opting for the stall. Theres even an international association for the pee shy.
posted by benjh at 7:50 AM on August 10, 2002

I don't know how #2's got involved in this discussion but it's a good place to remind everyone to make sure they have plenty of Shitbegone on hand...gotta get me a case of that stuff - it would make great X-mas presents!
posted by RevGreg at 9:40 AM on August 10, 2002

I am now officially enlightened, and what's more, I have been given the location of local urine troughs to check out if some kind of perverse urge to do so overcomes me. I've only been in Austin for 3 years, so there's lots of places I haven't been, but I could see a good show eventually bringing me to the Continental Club. I'm originally from New Brunswick, Canada, and while I've been in many seedy places there, I have never encountered any of these piss tubs.

And Dhartung, the image you presented above of the fair facilities is a disturbing one indeed.
posted by picea at 10:16 AM on August 10, 2002

At Legion Field in Birmingham, AL they used to have circular urinals that depended like collapsed umbrellas from the central floor-to-ceiling plumbing pipe. I've never been pee-shy, but pissing into a circle of strangers was a daunting psychological challenge, especially before an adequate number of visits from the Cold Beer Man.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:22 AM on August 10, 2002

Broken Spoke in Austin. Used it last night and thought of this post.

Also: Emo's.
posted by wadner at 11:29 AM on August 10, 2002