So far, this week has had an interesting “weird news” theme. Just yesterday, the Synergy office debated the merits of the “five second rule” only to have it disproven by the results of a study reported in the Chicago Tribune this past weekend. Today, an interesting conversation developed about the concept of paying to use the potty. Yep, you read right.
Apparently some of us didn’t know – as perhaps, many of our loyal readers may not have known – that the City of Toronto installed an automated public toilet by the Harbourfront a couple of months ago. Now, we’ve all been in major need of a personal pit stop before, and for guys maybe, the location choices are more vast.
In all fairness to the ladies, however, getting to a legitimate restroom is a greater necessity. Perhaps this was the reason that many of our female employees spoke favourably about the concept of paying to use a conveniently located public toilet. Most of the male members of our team didn’t see it as necessary.
However, as Don Peat reported in yesterday’s edition of The Toronto Sun, the City of Toronto’s first automated public toilet is in high demand. So much so, in fact, that the toilet, which is located at the corner of Rees St. and Queens Quay, crapped out this past weekend!
Worth upwards of $400,000, the automated toilet generally allows for members of the public to make a pit stop for up to 20 minutes for the price of a quarter. However, yesterday, nearby pedestrians who may have needed to tinkle were out of luck.
Peat reports that the system shut down due to a problem with the toilet seat. After only two months in operation, this marks the first malfunction of the innovative restroom. As Peat writes: “the device that pulls the toilet seat into the back wall of the unit to sanitize it after each use, malfunctioned. With the retractor out of commission, the loo closed for business on its own.”
Malfunction aside, the automated outhouse has interestingly been quite successful thus far. Peat reveals that there have been about 3,500 uses since its grand opening two months ago. The only other time that the public powder room has been closed was during the G20 Summit as a “precautionary measure”.
At the time of this writing, it is expected that the pay-to-use-the-potty station on Toronto’s Harbourfront is back open for business. Our staff, however – particularly our female colleagues – are quite happy that the washroom facilities at Synergy’s headquarters are completely free to use.
