This post was sparked by two things really - something we saw on the way to Rojales market yesterday, and a blog post by Sam. It's all about the toilet habits of Spanish men.
Sam said in her post that, when she ran her bar, men would go outside to relieve themselves, even though they had to pass the toilet on the way. She wondered why this should be, and I have to say I think a lot of it is to do with the fact that there is only ever one toilet for caballeros and one for senoras in a bar. In fact, I've been in some bars where there's only one toilet for everyone.
Now, maths and biology weren't my strongest subjects in school - I'm an artist, not a scientist. In fact people have often said to me, 'Sandra, you're an artist!' That's usually after midnight, and there's another word inserted ahead of 'artist,' but it's good to know my creative talent is so widely recognised. Now, where was I?
Oh yes - maths and biology. What goes in must come out at some point. If a caballero has imbibed several litres of cerveza, and/or a bottle or two of Vino Collapso, then after an hour or two, he's going to need to Point Percy at the Porcelain. Multiply that pressing need by the number of customers in the bar, and you can see why there'd be a problem, and why some men may want to bypass the facilities and water the grass instead.
It doesn't excuse it, of course, but it seems to be part of their culture, along with things like beating everyone onto the roundabout, for example.
Another thing we've noticed, and which Sam pointed out in her post, is that Spanish men are not averse to relieving themselves at the roadside. Now, most of us have done that at some time or another, when there was a pressing need and not a service station in sight. However, we usually try to disguise what's going on. I'll let you into a trade secret here - Tony's favourite trick is to stand between the two open car doors, with a phone clamped to one ear while he does the necessary.
Yesterday, as we drove along the Algorfa-Benijofar road, we passed two men who had parked their cars in the big layby and were watering the grass. The thing was, they didn't even have their backs to us, let alone have a phone clamped to their ears. As they were getting on a bit, there wasn't a lot to see - skin isn't the only thing that shrivels with age.
However, they were executing two perfect arcs of moisture, so I presume they were having a contest to see how far they could go. Being generous Spanish gentlemen, they wanted passing motorists to marvel at their artistry, and possibly decide on a winner. I awarded them 6 out of 6 for artistic impression, and a similar score for technical merit. However, both these scores were wiped out for bad behaviour. It doesn't do to do your doings in public.
