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How long have you been in there?! A popular tourist destination in China has installed toilet timers. Reactions are mixed. (edition.cnn.com)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/nottheonion

48 comments fedilink hide all child comments

A video recently shared on various Chinese news and social media sites shows a set of timers installed above a row of toilet cubicles in a female washroom, with each stall getting its own digital counter.

When a stall is unoccupied, the pixelated LED screen displays the word “empty” in green. If in use, it shows the number of minutes and seconds the door has been locked. ‘We won’t kick people out midway’

The original video was reportedly taken by a visitor who sent it to the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, a state-run local newspaper.

'We won’t kick people out midway’

The original video was reportedly taken by a visitor who sent it to the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, a state-run local newspaper.

“I found it quite advanced technologically so you don’t have to queue outside or knock on a bathroom door,” the paper quoted the visitor as saying.

“But I also found it a little bit embarrassing. It felt like I was being monitored.”

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[–] aeronmelon 39 points 4 months ago (1 children)

If the Chinese are anything like the Japanese, some people (especially old people) will just lock themselves inside and sit down to take a nap. Even in a busy toilet, with no regard for people who actually need to use one.

That feels like part of the reason this exists.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago (2 children)

What? Are these people who don't have homes? That's really weird to me

[–] [email protected] 34 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I had a coworker at a previous job who used to take naps in the bathroom stall because it was the only place in the office with a bit of privacy.

I kinda get it. I used to sit in a stall to decompress my brain because open plan offices are incredibly stressful to me. Every couple of hours I needed ~10 minutes of privacy.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

These are public toilets though

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

As the guy who used to have to clean public toilets:

Those are someones only office!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

For some elderly, they may find that they need to nap again to function. If you don't drive, you don't have a private location to sleep beyond home or a hotel. Rather than go home, they sleep on a bathroom stall.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Interesting. Thanks