The Toilet Post

It's necessary.
We need to talk about this. I'm not sure if there is an acceptable way of travelling to Europe and not mention toilets.  We all use them, after all.  In all our travelling experiences, toilets are the common ground.

OK, that may be pushing it. I'll try be less philosophical about this.

My first toilet encounter was in my room at the bed and breakfast in Issum, Germany.  The flush mechanism was mounted on the wall, and I was a bit confused at there being two buttons instead of a lever. 

A different but similar 'two button' toilet.

Two buttons.  That seemed odd to me.  Being the curious Canadian that I am, I did what I normally do.  I asked my Irish colleague who was staying on the same floor what it meant.

He turned three shades of red before responding.  This should have been my first clue.

Then he managed, "Well, the small button is a small flush for... ummm..."

At this point the penny dropped.  I'm not the nicest person in the world, however, and I was hungry for experience and blog material so I made him keep going.

"And the larger button is for, errr... larger... jobs."

I almost died.  It was awesome.

Forevermore I shall look at the above photo with a good deal of glee at the strangled way he forced out the word 'jobs'.  I may even chortle a time or two.

Do you see now why it was necessary? Everyone needs a story or two like this in their repertoire.