The Vancouver 2010 Olympic official transportation motto is: "Know before you go." As in ... know where you're going before you attempt to go there. Good advice for anyone who isn't a wandering minstrel or a druid. But actually, it's not that simple.
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic official transportation motto is: "Know before you go." As in ... know where you're going before you attempt to go there. Good advice for anyone who isn't a wandering minstrel or a druid. But actually, it's not that simple.
Vancouver is crammed with people. The lineups are endless. But there are very few toilets that you don't have to pay to visit. And I can't help but notice that more and more businesses have put up signs like the one at the top of this post. "Washrooms only for customers."
Fran Stewart is a long-time nurse continence advisor who knows everything there is to know about that (seemingly very un-Olympic) thing we all carry around with us ... a bladder.
Fran's suggestion for an Olympic transportation motto is: "Know where you're going to go before you go."
Trouble is that's hard to do. Fran told me she thinks it's ridiculous that VANOC didn't distribute maps with toilets clearly marked on them for people visiting the Games (not to mention the dearth of public toilets in Vancouver to begin with).
Now, while we're on the subject of VANOC - is it just me or does every Olympic organizing committee sound like a Klingon. I am Vanoc! This is Athoc! Fear Toroc! Here's how you say: "Where the heck in Vancouver can I find a public bathroom where I don't have to buy a muffin to get inside" in Klingon.
Now the WTO - that's the World Toilet Organization, not to be confused with the less-powerful World Trade Organization - points out there is something called the "Bladder's leash." This is the idea that many people will only venture out when they know there are clean and accessible public toilets that they can use.
Clara Greed of the WTO, says: "A nation is judged by its toilets."
And Olympic cities should be judged, too. Vancouver is crammed with people. The lineups to get into venues or to buy tickets are endless. But there are very few toilets that you don't have to pay to visit. And you can't help but notice that more and more businesses are putting up signs like the one at the top of this post: "Washrooms only for customers."
To make matters worse, as far as I can tell, all the fancy new public toilets the city put in a few years ago (to great fanfare) are closed. I did a tour and here's what I found:
Forget going for gold. Let's start with just being able to go.
