Everybody Poops - in all seriousness

I have personally potty trained three people. Damek, Sadie and Simone....kids, you can thank me later. As most parents can tell you....the minute your kid gets it, you are suddenly aware of every public toilet at every store, restaurant and playground. Children love testing their new skills at any and every inconvenient moment. I had no idea how LUCKY we are....keep reading. Overtime, the kids adjust.

Mike got my folks a toilet for Christmas. Mike is infamous for his practical gifts. Mike is kind of an expert on toilets. He LOVES plumbing. Seriously, Mike loves plumbing. So when he visited the water closet at my parents house, it only took him one trip to notice the tiny toilet in their masterbath. UNACCEPTABLE. So, Mike got them a new one which is just what they were wishing for. The new one is what the marketing people call "Right Height"....and it uses .8 gallons of water per flush (Mike just came in and told me that I am unqualified to write about toilets and shared this info). NOTE: Mike is 6'2" so right height is relative....at 5'3', I don't necessarily agree with Mike on toilet bowl height. However, that said, Mom and Dad's original toilet was low even for me.

SO, Mike, Dad, and Damek spent 3 days of Christmas break installing the toilet and new tile floor - Mom slipped the new tile floor in on them. Family bonding time.

While reading my favorite online magazine www.elephantjournal.com , I stumbled across an article by Jayleigh Lewis. It's a sobering article about how 1 in 3 people don't have a SAFE place to go to the toilet. It discusses how sanitation issues are a leading cause of disease and even death - especially in children and the elderly. It details how girls in some countries QUIT SCHOOL at puberty when they start their periods due to embarrassment of not having a decent place to stay clean when menstruating.  How dangerous it can be for women in some places - to even find a place to squat!

WOW. I TOTALLY take my toilet for granted!

I knew my Dad had dug latrines in Vietnam - but that was 30 years ago...so I guess I simply did not think about the people in countries today that still need access to toilets.

PLEASE read the article - it is very informative and moving (no pun intended).

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2013/01/the-power-of-the-toilet-jayleigh-lewis/

If you don't take time to read the article...one link you MUST visit is....

www.toilettwinning.com - the website where you can twin your own toilet to a community that is without one...you even get a photo of the toilet you sponser as well as the GPS coordinates of your twin toilet. It's a charity based in England.

All joking aside, I look at my toilet today with a refreshed sense of gratitude. Hell, I look my personal plumber Mike with a refreshed sense of gratitude - ass crack and all. A good man to have around. Turns out, all kidding aside, Mike gave my folks a very thoughtful gift.