Faeces: public enemy #1

When Val Curtis wanted to effect some real good, she turned to the powers of evil.

 

Dr Curtis, an anthropologist, decided positive action needed to be taken to stop the millions of unnecessary deaths from diseases caused by dirty hands. Handwashing with soap can reduce the risk of diarrhoea by about 47% and the risk of respiratory infection by 23%. So Dr Curtis turned to the organisations who know better than anyone how to convince people to do something - marketing companies.

 

She knew that over the past decade, many companies had perfected the art of creating automatic behaviors - habits - among consumers. These habits have helped companies earn billions of dollars when customers eat snacks, apply lotions and wipe counters almost without thinking, often in response to a carefully designed set of daily cues.

 

Read the whole article for a truly creepy and unnerving understanding of what it is that makes us do what we do every day without thinking - and who is controlling our habits.

 

 

Ghanaians had no problems washing their hands when they could see the dirt, but didn't think it was necessary to wash after going to the toilet because they couldn't see the germs. Employing freaky manipulative marketing tactics, Dr Curtis's team produced a public health campaign which sold disgust, and it worked - a 13 percent increase in the use of soap after the toilet and a 41 percent increase in soap use before eating.

 

Dr Curtis's team has managed to use the 'powers of evil' to effect real good in Africa, and I think that's brilliant. Clearly other campaigns hadn't worked so the team turned to something radically different. Other campaigns had attempted to blame the mother for their sick children, without properly educating them or changing their habits. In her 2003 article "Talking dirty: how to save a million lives" Curtis points out that handwashing may be at least as effective as some vaccines under development, and eminently more reachable by most people.

 

There are of course serious concerns about multi-million dollar peddlers of questionable health products intruding into the public health sphere. There is a risk that it can all go horribly wrong a la Nestlé, but if Dr Curtis's Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap manages its campaign effectively, then the risk should be minimised.

 

Dr Val Curtis is an interesting cookie. Her research interests include the evolution of human behaviour, the role of disgust and its relationship to hygiene and morality. Her research suggests that disgust evolved to protect animals, including humans, from disease and helps explain the peculiar history of hygiene - and that the cues which signal disgust can be manipulated. Clearly, she is a woman who is researching new avenues to change old problems, and I admire that.

 

Diarrhoeal diseases are the forgotten killers of children. Every year about 2 million children die from these neglected diseases (WHO Report 2002), the equivalent of a full jumbo jet every 2 hours. However, there are ways to prevent these deaths, and one of the best is also one of the simplest: washing hands with soap. (International Journal of Environmental Health Research: 13, S73 - S79 June 2003)

I wouldn't want to be the Aviation Minister with statistics like that!

Friday Flush 1.08.2008

Bringing you all the loo news you can handle, and some that you can't - just in time for the weekend!

 

Sheffield artist Jacqui Bellamy has been snapping photos of women in the toilets of nightclub Razor Stiletto "queuing, chatting, putting on make-up etc," and will be showing her series at The Forum Bar as part of its Wednesday night live programme. They look like an interesting lot, those Razor Stiletto people, so if you're in the area check it out.

 

 

You might remember the story of Pam Babcock, the woman who sat on a toilet for two years. Her boyfriend, Kory McFarren, was charged with mistreatment of a dependent adult. Last month he pleaded no contest to the charge, and this week he was sentenced to 6 months in jail, but was granted probation after Pam asked for leniency. Good on you, Pam. Clearly, both Pam and Kory have some social and mental problems that they need to work through, and I don't think jail will help ol' Kory at all.

 

 

This one's actually an old story, but it's popped back up in my news feed and it's quite awful. Brown Brothers meat processor, which supplies meat to Tesco in the UK, demands that employees clock off when they go to the toilet. This so obviously discriminates against women, particularly menstruating and pregnant women, that I'm agog! The restrictions are part of a pay deal that tries to streamline toilet break times - and look, I totally get it that it takes workers 20 minutes to go to the toilet because of all the gear they're wearing, but seriously! This is the 21st century! Can't we come up with a better solution? It's not the fault of the workers that they have to wear a spacesuit - why should they pay the price? And more importantly, why do women have to pay a higher price?

 

Not so much toilet news, as toilet humour - Dave TV has a list of the 10 oldest jokes in the whole world ever - and I have to say I don't think I find them particularly funny. Maybe I need to scrub up on my ancient history or something. Anyway, they're here. I do like this quote from Dr Paul McDonald, who wrote the report:

What they all share [...] is a willingness to deal with taboos and a degree of rebellion. Modern puns, Essex girl jokes and toilet humour can all be traced back to the very earliest jokes identified in this research.

 

Unfortunately, Qantas is back in the news - this time because the pilot refused to allow passengers out of their seats during a delayed landing. One passenger was forced to pee in a sick bag. Look, people, the pilot is trying to look after you. And look, pilot, why not let people pee? Come on. Let's all start talking to one another, instead of just complaining.

 

 

 

A bus driver in Dublin has brought to light an interesting predicament for bus drivers everywhere - where do drivers go to the toilet on a long shift when there are no terminuses? I hadn't honestly thought about this; it's a similar problem to what the meat processors in Tesco are facing. People need to pee and shit, and their jobs don't always allow them to do this comfortably. Employees have the right to a clean private toilet with running water and soap - but not necessarily access to it when it suits them. This seems grossly inappropriate - why have a toilet if you can't bloody use it?

 

And lastly, in entertainment news, Kiefer Sutherland has revealed why you never see his character on "24", Jack Bauer, going to the toilet:

 

whenever they cut to the White House, Jack is taking a pee. And he’s also getting something to drink and eat.

 

And that's a wrap for this week... or a fold... or a scrunch...

Pam's boyfriend says 'not guilty'

The boyfriend of Pam Babcock, the woman who sat on a toilet for so long that she became physically stuck to it, has entered a plea of 'not guilty' for the misdemeanour charge of mistreatment of a dependent adult.

 

The boyfriend, Kory McFarren, is also appearing on an unrelated charge of lewd behaviour. Good on you Kory. You know, Kory had my sympathy. I can totally understand how days, weeks and then months can pass without alerting anyone that your girlfriend is a bit crazy. I can't believe I spent 9 months at my last job when it was the most miserable place in the whole of New Zealand - it just kind of happenned. But Kory, if this stuff about you flashing yourself to your neighbours is true, maybe you're a little bit wrong upstairs too.

At your convenience

I spoke recently about having job interviews in toilets, a ridiculous opinion that I stand by (I'm just that perverse).

I particularly stand by it when I remember all my resumé cover letters which say, "I am available to meet at your convenience..."

Why I love Malaysian newspapers

If I ever get cynical about the news, I just treat myself to a bit of Malaysian reporting. Where else can you get juicy leaders like this one:

 

"SOME homosexuals are alleged to be using public toilets in shopping centres in Kuala Lumpur to engage in unnatural sexual acts."

 

Unnatural sexual acts!! By homosexuals!!

 

 

"Guards would then carry out investigations before warning homosexual couples caught in the act."

 

Either those homosexuals are in the toilets for days, or the investigations are undertaken pretty quickly.

 

“We have our own ways to prove the offence besides having several security officers who are experts in handling these sort of cases.”

 

LMAO. Honestly, I can't even add anything to that.

 

A worker with a transportation company had admitted being caught in the act with another homosexual, who is a bank executive. The duo were caught by security guards at a staircase of a shopping complex in Jalan Pasar.

 

The 22-year-old suspect from Sungai Jelok, Kajang, said he did not realise his acts were captured on CCTV.

 

He said he started “becoming” a homosexual when he was 15, when he was studying in a residential school in Kajang

 

And so I think we can all learn something from this.

- don't use toilets in Kuala Lumpur

- don't go to a  residential school unless you want to 'become' a homosexual.

Pam update

Pam Babcock, who you may remember sat on a toilet for 2 years, remains in intensive care in Kansas, USA. Her aunt has said that she is still ''a very sick girl" referring to her physical wounds, but also suggests that Pam's mental well-being is anything but well.

 

Her boyfriend, Kory McFarren, who kept her victualled and watered during her seemingly self-imposed incarceration, has been charged for mistreatment of a dependent adult. He was also arrested last week on an unrelated charge, after exposing himself to his neighbour's teenage daughter!

Bog Psychology

A friend of mine, a psychology graduate, entertained thoughts of becoming a Poo Psychologist. 'So many people's psychological problems,' she claimed. 'Come down to their bowel movements. A healthy bowel leads to a healthy mind.' 

 

It comes as no surprise that I completely agree with her and encouraged her in her aspirations; alas, it was not to be. She still stands by her theory and we both hope that there's someone out there doing valuable research in the important field of Poo Psychology.

 

The Children's Hospital in Boston, USA has a Voiding Improvement Program (VIP - I kid you not) to help the parents of untoilet-trainable toddlers. The problem is not uncommon, and anxious parents pass their anxiety on to their anxious children, compounding it.

 

All that anxiety is pointless; as Dr Alison Schonwald, supervising paediatrician at "Poop School" poignantly says, 'No one goes to college in diapers, right?' But there must be a sense of inadequacy for parents who cannot 'train' their child to perform their ablutions. I'd bet a million dollars that their own toilet habits are adversely affected.

 

In China, there's no issue with toilet training. Babies and toddlers wear kaidangku (open-crotch pants - seriously) because relatives are cheaper and more abundant than nappies. This has problems of its own. I've seen a 2 year old crap in the aisle of a supermarket, but Grandma was there to quickly wipe it up and clean the floor. I've also seen a woman on the bus, laughing and running down the aisle with her grandson who was obliviously peeing, and holding him over the rubbish bin. Children in China learn from a very early age to associate their bladder and bowel urges with a physical act.

 

But back to those kids at the Toilet Hospital. Many of them actually have a fear of the toilet itself. And no wonder. They have no reference point for it. They might occasionally see Mum or Dad sitting on the toilet, but not often, and probably only in a demonstrative capacity. The bathroom is a strange place where adults lock themselves in and emerge minutes later with damp hands.

 

Ads on TV for toilet paper or air freshener will never show an adult, unless they are cleaning the toilet. Toilet paper companies use dogs or children to advertise their products, but never adults. Adults curiously never need to use the toilet - it's something that only children are forced to do; no wonder they are anxious about it.

 

As a daily bowel mover myself, I can't fathom those people who only crap a couple of times a week. If their bowels and intestines are so crammed full of shit, how can you trust them?

The Thinker

Often, when the world seems a bit much, I'll go to the toilet, sit down and have a long hard think. The toilet is a great place to have a 2 minute power nap at work, or a cry, or just a quiet sit down.

Kansas woman Pam Babcock sat down on her boyfriend's toilet for a quiet think two years ago, and was removed this week when her boyfriend finally called the police. New reports indicate that she may not have been sitting on the toilet the entire time, but may have actually managed to get up and bathe herself occasionally. Her boyfriend claimed that

his girlfriend moved around the bathroom, bathed and changed into fresh clothes he brought her. He claimed they had conversations and a normal relationship - except it all took place in the bathroom. (Telegraph)

After the initial report of "woman spends two years on toilet" the excitement around this story has died down and the coverage has been anything but journalistic. A satirical columnist at The Times brands Pam as the world's first "half woman, half toilet". Commenting on a woman's apparent prerogative to be irrational he asserts that "it is every woman’s very real right to become a woman-toilet hybrid creature if she so wishes". (The Times) Clearly, a person doesn't just confine herself to the toilet because she is a woman; this is a case of mental illness or trauma.

It's still unclear at this stage if her boyfriend will be charged.

In the meantime, I really feel for Pam. When I've been especially hungover, I find the comforting allure of all that clean porcelain and soft tissue paper utterly irresistible. At my previous place of employment, a woman from the floor below would retire to the ladies toilet twice hourly to have a good sob (I found out afterwards that she'd just had a bad breakup), which was occasionally disconcerting if you were in the cubicle next door.

I don't (believe I) suffer from any sort of mental illness myself, but I can totally sympathise with someone finding very real refuge in a toilet. I only hope that she and her boyfriend get the care they obviously need.