Back in the 70's, I packed my bags and went off in search of myself - and, well, Europe too! Backpacking in Europe gives you many opportunites for checking out the local railway stations and public restrooms. On one such occassion, I was waiting in line in one (un-named) European city, and noticed that there was a strange swishing sound coming from behind the stalls. Swish, swish, swish. Finally, being my turn, I went into a stall, locked the door, hung my backpack on a hook and sat down. To my great surprise I saw that the toilet paper was nothing more than brown wrapping paper, shiny on one side and dull on the other. This paper was stiff as wrapping paper!! Then it hit me! The swishing sound I heard was the sound of experienced users rubbing the paper to make it soft. What a revelation! Me, coming from a 3-ply country and staring at this 1-ply piece of brown paper - can you imagine? :) I later heard that someone once wrote a book about knowing Europe from which type of TP they had in public restrooms. I never found the book. But who knows, one day I might write one too - I sure have the experience! Happy trails to all you future travellers.
3 comments:
ROFL! That is toooo funny! That would sure be a shocker to me too -- I never thought of such a thing! Of course - I've often found public restrooms to be withOUT the necessary! I have taken to carrying some when I know there's a "good" chance of ending up in that predicament -- but I've gotten caught a few times! Never had to use brown wrapping paper though ... nope... not me! LOL!
Somewhere I have a scrapbook with souvenirs of a trip to England. Among them are pieces of toilet paper printed with the name of the city (Birmingham) on it. It is stiff and white, like waxed paper. My grandma told me to carry tissues with me, so I never actually had to use the stuff. I just thought it made a great souvenir!
I have a piece of TP from my college trip to Europe. I couldn't wait to show it to my family and friends when I returned...lol.
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