Potty Logic

As it finally made USA Today, thus our civic shame exposed, yes, Seattle's great Outhouse Experiment officially failed. So much so that the 5 million dollar investment sold on ebay for a whopping $12,459. I'll let you figure out how much that depreciated.

So, here's the thing. I like the fact that the city was trying to provide options for homeless folks and tourists to pee. That was pretty decent of them. There aren't a lot of options for said activity in the major tourist areas (which happen to also be the major homeless areas) and in theory, the self-cleaning toilets would meet the needs of both groups.

However, here's the issue. You take this pod that fits 2 people and closes to give privacy for approximately 10 minutes and plop them down in the middle of the most drug and sex work heavy areas of the city, and, well, what do you think is going to happen? 

Of course there's the whole tourist clientele - but given the doors on the pod had a tendency to malfunction and open at rather inopportune times, this wasn't so popular with the tourists. 

Imagine, if you will, you're here from Idaho, you need to pee. You are wandering around Pike Place Market with a camera hanging around your neck and a map in your hand, and you look up, see a large crowd of homeless folks milling around a pod. Sure, the first thing you're going to think is, wow, I want to use that toilet. So you make your way through the drunk and high folks and get to the pod, wait for whatever is going on inside to end and the pod to rinse itself off, you go inside, start to do your thing, and then the doors open - exposing your butt to the entire homeless and tourist population in Seattle. Not to mention the line of drug dealers and prostitutes waiting for you to finish so they can go in. Not exactly a memory you want to take back with you from your trip to Seattle.

Back to the drawing board.