# Things you've seen abroad you wish were adopted world wide **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 28, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094 "2021-05-28T14:31:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/403 "2021-11-16T16:00:30Z")
I don’t want it adopted… well, anywhere… but in Italy they’ve set up an “interesting” situation: Water is free. Like, everywhere. There are fountains all over the place, and you’re encouraged to just carry a bottle around to refill wherever you go. This is really nice because at least when we went there, it was really freakin’ hot. However… they charge for the bathrooms. Free water, all you can drink, but you gotta pay to get rid of it. I found that hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/404 "2021-11-16T19:08:00Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > I don’t want it adopted… well, anywhere… but in Italy they’ve set up an “interesting” situation: > > Water is free. Like, everywhere. Let’s use the Greek model - damned fine bottled water that is cheap AND the same price (€1.50) everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/405 "2021-11-16T22:21:45Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Let’s use the Greek model - damned fine bottled water that is cheap AND the same price (€1.50) everywhere. How about we provide damned fine tap water everywhere, which is cheaper yet, and doesn’t use huge amounts of unnecessary plastic? Most people who need to carry water with them can fill a reusable bottle. There are probably some cases in which buying a bottle every time one needs that amount of water makes sense; but not anywhere near as many as have become standard. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/406 "2021-11-16T23:00:44Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > How about we provide damned fine tap water everywhere, which is cheaper yet, and doesn’t use huge amounts of unnecessary plastic? Because many areas in Greece have droughts and this ensures everyone has access to cheap potable water. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/407 "2021-11-16T23:12:52Z")
But the thread subject isn’t specifically about Greece. It’s “Things you’ve seen abroad you wish were adopted world wide”. Bottled water may indeed be necessary to get water to people living in disaster areas. But encouraging people who aren’t in such places to use primarily bottled water seems to me like a really bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/408 "2021-11-17T00:30:37Z")
When my wife and I spent 3 weeks in Germany, it was normal to have a beer for breakfast. And the bathrooms cost money. Brilliant really. As odd as that was to me, the bathrooms where sparkling clean. Got used to it. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2021, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/409 "2021-11-17T01:29:27Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > As odd as that was to me, the bathrooms where sparkling clean. Got used to it. It’s not just because you pay for it. It’s because when you use a public toilet in Germany, you are expected to clean any mess you make. A toilet brush is provided in the stall for your use, and you are meant to use it. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2021, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/410 "2021-11-17T01:33:50Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > They may not want to simply because it allows them to put a cheaper price on the shelf. I doubt very much that is the case. It’s more what Doreen said. It’s because the ownership chain wants to be able to regularize the pricing labels across stores so there can be unified advertising, etc. (And the store, after all, isn’t the one who is charging the tax. It’s the governmental jurisdiction. So, to the store, it isn’t part of the _store’s_ price.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/411 "2021-11-17T12:01:15Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I doubt very much that is the case. It’s more what Doreen said. It’s because the ownership chain wants to be able to regularize the pricing labels across stores so there can be unified advertising, etc. (And the store, after all, isn’t the one who is charging the tax. It’s the governmental jurisdiction. So, to the store, it isn’t part of the _store’s_ price.) Maybe they should start thinking about it as the store’s price, because they’re the ones who pay it to the government, and they’re the ones who get in trouble if they don’t. Charge the same everywhere, and they make less of a profit where taxes are high. It’s not like each store’s expenses don’t vary anyway. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/412 "2021-11-17T12:52:12Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > But encouraging people who aren’t in such places to use primarily bottled water seems to me like a really bad idea. In much of the Caribbean, restaurants automatically serve water with your meal, bringing a one or two liter bottle to your table and opening it (so you can hear that it was sealed). There is typically no charge for “flat” water. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/413 "2021-11-17T13:11:39Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > In much of the Caribbean, restaurants automatically serve water with your meal, bringing a one or two liter bottle to your table and opening it (so you can hear that it was sealed). > > There is typically no charge for “flat” water. Ditto in the restaurants I’ve been in in Australia and NZ. There’s either a jug delivered to your table automatically or sometimes a iced keg of the stuff that you can walk up to and dispense your own. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/414 "2021-11-17T13:14:27Z")
Well, in the Caribbean they are specifically bringing you bottled water. The server opens the bottle so all at the table hear the”crack” as the sealed bottle is opened. Water from the tap is looked down on. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/415 "2021-11-17T13:18:46Z")
Sure, I can see the logic of that in places where the water may be of more questionable ancestry. That method of delivery wasn’t the norm in Oz (to my recollection) but the expectation that you could have still water free-gratis certainly was. I’ll defer to our antipodean friends as to whether that is purely a tourist-area practice or if it is countrywide. In the UK, you can always get tap-water for free but you do have to ask for it. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/416 "2021-11-17T14:20:42Z")
A free glass of water used to be automatic at a restaurant meal in much of the USA; and can still be requested IME even at places that no longer automatically bring it. But it was tap water; and still generally is unless a particular kind of bottled water is specified, in which case it’ll be charged for. Most places, the tap water tastes better to me than anything I’ve ever had bottled. (There are some exceptions.) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/417 "2021-11-17T14:21:26Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > In the UK, you can always get tap-water for free but you do have to ask for it. Although it’s not something I’ve seen abroad, I do wish serving water only upon request was adopted worldwide - I often don’t want water if I’m ordering something else to drink and it just gets wasted. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/418 "2021-11-17T14:23:54Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > A free glass of water used to be automatic at a restaurant meal in much of the USA; and can still be requested IME even at places that no longer automatically bring it. But it was tap water; and still generally is unless a particular kind of bottled water is specified, in which case it’ll be charged for. As I remember restaurants in the US stopped giving out glasses of water as some sort of water-saving thing, though it’s completely idiotic, as the amount of water saved is trivial. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/419 "2021-11-17T14:29:29Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > it just gets wasted One hopes… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/420 "2021-11-17T18:00:57Z")
This is my memory, also (that it was to save water), and the logic was that it’s not just the water contained in the class, but also the water (and labor) to wash the unused glass before serving the next customer. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/421 "2021-11-17T18:16:14Z")
I’m guessing whether it’s idiotic depends on when and why - I know that restaurants in NYC were prohibited from just serving water automatically for a time starting around 1989 or 1990 and it was because of a drought. How valuable it was in saving water itself and how valuable it was in making people think about water use, I couldn’t say. But it would have been kind of stupid to have restaurants automatically serving water when people weren’t allowed to water lawns or wash cars. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/422 "2021-11-17T18:21:16Z")
It seems that the amount of water saved is tiny compared to other uses. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094.md?page=22)