# Neighbor has a port-o-potty in their driveway for past year, why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2023, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442 "2023-08-12T06:08:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/21 "2023-08-12T20:58:53Z")
Is the listed owner Flint Lockwood? ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/22 "2023-08-12T21:37:09Z")
I understood that reference. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/23 "2023-08-12T21:53:26Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > My first thought was the same as @DCnDC’s, namely that the resident has a rental business and it’s advertising. > > But, I can think of another possibility, maybe, which is that it is there for use by gardeners or other outdoor workers because the owner is squirrelly about letting people they don’t know well into the house to use the bathroom. I had a similar thought. In a nearby neighborhood, there is a public park where the city-funded pool and bathrooms with it were closed for COVID and have never re-opened. A single porta-potty was added by the city, which is entirely insufficient for the size of the park (multiple groups play team spots there during the summer, there are a few tennis courts, and a large grassed area). One of the parking lots for the park are directly adjacent to a residential area, and right next to those homes, there is an additional porta-potty with a sign stating “this facility is provided by the generous support of a local citizen”. In this case, they probably got tired of various parents, kids, and normal citizens coming by and begging “just this once” to borrow a personal bathroom, and one or more of them clubbed up to remove or limit the exposure. May or may not be the same for the OP’s scenario, but a thought. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/24 "2023-08-12T22:19:51Z")
Maybe it’s bigger on the inside. Or perhaps deeper. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/25 "2023-08-12T22:22:38Z")
Entry to the Ministry of Magic WC. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/26 "2023-08-12T23:16:39Z")
That’s why it’s been there so long, and never emptied. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2023, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/27 "2023-08-13T01:45:37Z")
Have you considered walking up to the front door, explaining that you live nearby, and are curious? _Ask them._ Unless they are Ninjas, they wont kill you. 🥷 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/28 "2023-08-13T02:01:27Z")
Or unless they are Texans. You can’t be too sure about many of them. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2023, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/29 "2023-08-13T03:57:30Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > make an American version of Dr. WHO!!! Doctor Poo!!! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2023, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/30 "2023-08-13T04:26:19Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Maybe he sells or rents them and that’s just advertising. Is there a phone number on the thing? Maybe I live in sheltered suburbia but there’s no way that local zoning laws would allow this. Unless @Asuka is in a loosely governed township or an unincorporated area? I’m with @StarvingButStrong . It has got to be long term work. Some contractors insist that they will have a portable toilet on site, worked into the contract. Owners may have said “nowhere near the house please!” ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2023, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/31 "2023-08-13T20:40:15Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > That sounds like how Hollywood would make an American version of Dr. WHO!!! I went looking for Irrelevant Astronomy, which used to have some comedy astronomy-related videos, one of which had a character actually flying a porta-potty-shaped space ship. Sadly, the site is now called Cool Cosmos. It is concentrating on infrared astronomy and no longer hosts the old videos. Pity. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/32 "2023-08-13T20:48:52Z")
Found the videos on YouTube. The character is called The Physician, which was voiced by Wil Wheaton. [Here’s the one with the porta-potty.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E94g-d9KB6A&list=PL9C8F3F2E3FE9F137&index=8) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/33 "2023-08-21T23:02:19Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > though they do have a tall chain link fence covering the entire perimeter of the house including the driveway. This sounds like they are under some sort of construction permit. Chain link fences in my area are commonlly erected when there is a major remodel etc, and may be required by the local permit. If that’s the case the port-a-potty may be required as well by the permit. The owner may be taking their time with the construction and are willing to pay for the portapotty rental, now it’s permitted, but want to take their time with the design of the remodel, or etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/34 "2023-08-22T20:04:37Z")
Maybe Superman nips in there to change, now the phone booths have all gone. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442/35 "2023-08-22T21:00:45Z")
Sigh… (Post 15, approx) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbor-has-a-port-o-potty-in-their-driveway-for-past-year-why/988442.md?page=1)