# Sochi Bathroom Sign **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665 "2014-02-06T15:50:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/21 "2014-02-06T20:54:43Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > What the heck is the person in the bottom right corner doing? That’s Philip Seymour Hoffman. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/22 "2014-02-06T20:57:39Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > There is at least one sign that has a good reason to exist, the one prohibiting squatting above the toilet seat. In some parts of the world, squatting above a hole, even a porcelain hole with metal foot pads and a flush mechanism, is the standard bathroom appliance. I can see the need for this instruction in an Olympic village. Yes, it’s called an “Eastern toilet” (because it’s not a Western one) and google can find you many photos. At some Eastern toilets, they have instructions for baffled Westerners too. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/23 "2014-02-06T22:43:21Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > That’s Philip Seymour Hoffman. Too soon, man, but well crafted nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/24 "2014-02-07T00:15:28Z")
For a while, when I was a factory janitor, I cleaned the restrooms in the office building. One stall was apparently the favored spot for a guy who picked his nose and wiped the boogers on the walls. I grew weary of scraping the snot off the wall. Then I posted an open letter. (This is from memory. I don’t think I have a copy.) Dear booger wiper, I don’t know how it is where you come from, but here in civilization, the only people who wipe their boogers on the walls are commie fag goat fuckers. (To be fair, some commie fag goat fuckers have exemplary hygiene.) Please, for the sake of the rest of us, wipe your boogers on the toilet paper and flush them away. Sincerely, Your janitor My boss’s boss’s boss happened to visit that stall the next morning, and he wanted me drawn and quartered, and my head on a pike. My boss pointed out that the letter didn’t have my name on it, so I was spared. (I should have said “your co-worker” instead of “your janitor.”) The big shot’s concern was that vendors and visitors use that restroom, and “we” might have been embarrassed. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/25 "2014-02-07T13:56:24Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Too soon, man, but well crafted nonetheless. I couldn’t wait. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/26 "2014-02-07T13:57:37Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > My boss’s boss’s boss happened to visit that stall the next morning, and he wanted me drawn and quartered, and my head on a pike. My boss pointed out that the letter didn’t have my name on it, so I was spared. (I should have said “your co-worker” instead of “your janitor.”) The big shot’s concern was that vendors and visitors use that restroom, and “we” might have been embarrassed. :rolleyes: Or your boss’s boss’s boss was the booger-whiper. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/27 "2014-02-07T14:09:10Z")
That’s the least disturbing thing about Sochi bathrooms. A Russian official, eager to deflect criticism about the conditions in Sochi hotel rooms,[revealed Russia has hidden cameras in hotel bathrooms:](http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/02/russian-official-our-video-surveillance-sochis-showers-proves-sabotage/357801/) > [@](#): > > “We have surveillance video from the hotels that shows people turn on the shower, direct the nozzle at the wall and then leave the room for the whole day,” he said. An aide then pulled a reporter away before Mr. Kozak could be questioned further on surveillance in hotel rooms. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/28 "2014-02-07T14:52:23Z")
> [@dauerbach](#): > > Also, clearly you are allowed to pee while standing, just not on the wall. No, he is bouncing it off the rim and causing splatter. Not cool. Don’t do it at my house either. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/29 "2014-02-07T15:05:18Z")
Bear in mind the signs would not just been for Russians but for visitors from all over the world. It might just be a Russian assumption that less-civilised folk (such as Americans or Swedes) may not realise that the toilet is not a fishing hole etc. ---
**Author:** ![Hallucinex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba9def/32.png) [@Hallucinex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallucinex)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/30 "2014-02-07T15:53:38Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > The twin toilet thing (linked in the article) is also amusing. Maybe they think the partner sport participants do _everything_ together. The twin toilet thing is [more common in Russia than you’d expect.](http://radulova.livejournal.com/3142030.html) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/31 "2014-02-07T15:56:40Z")
> [@Hallucinex](#): > > The twin toilet thing is [more common in Russia than you’d expect.](http://radulova.livejournal.com/3142030.html) Oh dear god. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/32 "2014-02-07T16:14:34Z")
I guess this is necessary, when your diet is mostly beets and cabbage: [![](http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/tonyhofstra/55426938/16042/16042_original.jpg) ](http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/tonyhofstra/55426938/16042/16042_original.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/33 "2014-02-07T16:18:52Z")
Most of those bathrooms are the natural result of people doing construction together with vodka. It’s just what happens. At least none of them were installed upside down. P.S. I ain’t never going to Russia. This city by the way is one of the only cities in Russia that is warm all year round. It is a summer resort. So, naturally, that is where they would hold the winter games. How did they ever defeat the Nazis in WW2? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/34 "2014-02-07T17:16:24Z")
I’ve seen double toilets in China. I don’t really know how they are used, but it’s not uncommon there for platonic friends to go into a bathroom stall together, presumably to continue their conversation or to provide some protection for ladies who don’t want hang outside the bathroom alone. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/35 "2014-02-07T19:02:22Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Taking drugs. I was going to say that anyone liable to take drugs in a toilet was not likely to be deterred by any sign. Then I remembered the little plastic mats that I have seen in urinals in the USA, that you piss on, and that say “Don’t do drugs!” But fishing! Come on! ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/36 "2014-02-08T22:52:39Z")
> [@Hallucinex](#): > > The twin toilet thing is [more common in Russia than you’d expect.](http://radulova.livejournal.com/3142030.html) I particularly like the facing pairs, so that one may more conveniently converse with ones fellow participants, but the picture with the waiting seats is somewhat disturbing. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/37 "2014-02-09T03:18:57Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > I particularly like the facing pairs, so that one may more conveniently converse with ones fellow participants, but the picture with the waiting seats is somewhat disturbing. :eek: You expect the people waiting to stand? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/38 "2014-02-09T03:33:28Z")
Nobody remarks on the "no fishing " icon? Ah well, such is life in Moscow. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/39 "2014-02-09T03:42:09Z")
The only one that remakes me skeptical is the no fishing one. The others make some sense. 1. Use this toilet while sitting. 2. Do not stand and urinate, because it causes a mess. I’ve heard that in Germany, and maybe other countries, it is considered rule to stand at a sitting toilet. 3. No vomiting in the toilet. Probably because of the quality of the plumbing. 4. Don’t climb on the toilet seat and squat. It is quote often in some countries – like India – where both sitting and squatting toilets are used, people used to squatters try to use sitters this way. There are even sitters that accommodate such use by adding “wings” to the sides of the bowl that you can stand on. 5. Never heard of people fishing in the toilet. 6. Don’t shoot up in the restroom. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665/40 "2014-02-09T03:45:46Z")
> [@dauerbach](#): > > Hmmm, I have heard many women claim that is strange restrooms they pee while squatting. I had always assumed that they meant on the seat just like that picture. No. They “hover” over the seat with their ass; their feet firmly on the ground. My mom taught me to hover. I haven’t done it since I graduated to being able to pee in my own stall. I just lied when she anxiously said, “You didn’t sit on the seat, right?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sochi-bathroom-sign/680665.md?page=1)