Having stopped for a quick drink after work to discuss the relative woes of the England and West Indies cricket teams with my friend Danny, I had occasion to visit the conveniences at Victoria station. Now, with the benefit of six of Her Majesty's pints of London Pride (that's 7 1/2 pints for our colonial friends) the pressure was building up. So, off I rush to the Network Rail provided depository. Now, the last time I had cause to follow this route was about a month ago so you can imagine my horror to find that the new cost is £0.50. Fifty pence for a piss (that's up from £0.30 a month ago - so a 67% increase) Apologies to those who may remember this rant of mine from a certain Porsche forum, when they put it up to £0.30 but this is my take on the situation: The term "to spend a penny" comes from the fact that you had to put a penny (1d) into the slot on the toilet door to gain access. The UK changed to decimal currency on the 15th February 1971. At this time there were 12 pennies to the Shilling and 20 Shillings to the £ - so 1d was worth 1/240th of a £. Today, a piss costs £0.50, or 120 old Pennies. so the true value of inflation between the 15th February 1971 and the 4th September is 12,000 % I guess that makes today's value of a pre-moon Speedie, a bargain.
Very amusing. I wish I could write that well sober let alone 6 pints in! Best analytical review of the Victoria Station urinal pricing I've ever read.
Excellent rant. And properly fueled, given the topic. Have another pint or three... Then I'd love to hear more.
Fear not. I'm home now and the wine bottle is open. As a disclaimer - ignore anything else I post today.
I remember a journey home at King's Cross after a drink or two when I was in a similar bind. We were already on the platforms, and I'm adverse to paying to pee, so my mate suggested I hop on the nearest train and use their toilets. Obviously my analytical skills were a little compromised so I did just that, without bothering to look where the train was headed and more importantly when. Luckily I managed to go and leave before the train did, or I'd have ended up in York instead of Finsbury Park.
They charge you the equivalent of GBP1.50 over here, but as they say: if you gotta go, ...... Cheers!
At least you got to go! Reminds me of a time in Budapest when I needed to drain the brains crossing a park square, the pay only style pisser said 1 euro, I only had a 2 euro coin on me so logic would say deposit a 2e coin and the door would open but you'd get no change, fair enough I thought so in went the 2e and nothing happened! That door on that pisser is now embossed with the outline of a size 9 RM Williams boot.
Even in Thailand where it was 1 Baht (33/52 to dollar/pound) they made it free. Frankly I would just pee on the machine.
Understand it's the norm over there but paying to piss just sounds silly from this side of the pond...
In most of Western Europe it's now €1.00 (used to be €0.50 a few years ago) for #1 and €2.00 for #2 in German and French speaking countries (my wife complains she pays €2.00 to pee), unless of course you go to McDonald's where it's always free. In Spain, Portugal, Italy, and most of Eastern Europe still free (as of last year)
In Greece, the smaller villages and particularly on the islands, public facilities are non existent, you have to have a meal or drink at a taverna or restaurant to get access!
Oh my God, no. I wouldn't set foot in a Witherspoons. It is the place that HRH The Princess Royal stood in for the Prince Regent during the recent celebration of the battle of Waterloo.