"Using" the sink
A couple weeks ago, during the Phish Merriweather show, I needed to use the restroom.
During intermission, I got my chance. Even though Merriweather recently tripled the size of the restrooms, it was a sold-out show, and the line for the men's room was super long.
The "gentleman" in front of me, who appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s, had his own theory for how to get the line to move faster:
"USE THE SINK! GO IN THE SINK! THE SINK! USE THE SINK!"...
This dude probably shouted this same message a couple dozen times in the 15 minutes it took for us to get inside the bathroom.
Once we were inside, nobody was using the sink. Even the dude didn't use the sink.
"There's plenty of sinks open," he lamely said, as he used a urinal.
Do people actually use the sink?
(Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum)






Comments
The is now the blog about where men urinate.
awesome.
sink peeing. no flush urinals.
whats next? #2?
how do we all feel about clean poos? I'm for 'em.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 26, 2009 12:39 PM
I can not count the number of times I have seen trashy, drunk males use the sinks at concerts, bars, clubs and more. I think it is an absolutely disgusting act.
Unlike most men after using the bathroom, I like to wash my hands... I prefer to use soap and water, and not ... So please, stop peeing in the sink. Thanks.
Posted by: Jay R | August 26, 2009 1:09 PM
a friend of mine got unceremoniously booted from Transit in Philly for advocating a sink-peeing revolution. apparently, he was more successful (or at least did it himself.)
Posted by: Annie | August 26, 2009 1:12 PM
Congrats Sam, with the last two posts your blog has officially gone down the drain. Zink!!
Posted by: sturmy | August 26, 2009 1:13 PM
Congrats Sam, with the last two posts your blog has officially gone down the drain. Zink!...or sink?
Posted by: sturmy | August 26, 2009 1:15 PM
I really dislike that many places around town have opted for a unisex bathroom. Men have some really disgusting habits like peeing in sinks, peeing all over the floor, and peeing in the heat vents. Just gross! I know women aren't perfect bathroom-goers either, but we really don't have the aim for peeing at different targets.
Posted by: BaltBabs | August 26, 2009 1:16 PM
I was in a hotel recently, and I called the front desk shortly after check-in. I said "I gotta leak in my sink" the guy said "Go ahead".
Posted by: Andy | August 26, 2009 1:20 PM
BaltBabs, I have to disagree and I "believe" a lot of cleaning people would disagree with you as well.
Women bathrooms are always a lot worse than men's bathrooms.
Women usually don't "tag" (graffiti) in bathrooms and they do less drugs, however they make a huge mess.
Posted by: jason z | August 26, 2009 1:23 PM
never use the sink, i am in the same boat as jay r.
i once had a girl back her way onto a urinal next to me while on a st. patty's day bar crawl in northeast philly. she was actually cute, just sick of waiting for the girls bathroom. we even struck up a conversation while we both went. now that is a cool chick.
Posted by: bill | August 26, 2009 1:24 PM
Jason, do you have a favorite (bloggable) tag from Don't Know or No Idea?
Posted by: Sam Sessa | August 26, 2009 1:25 PM
Women are notoriously worse than men when it comes to the destruction of a bathroom. I'd never have believed it myself, but it's true. Ask any bar or restaurant owner, and they will confirm this.
I've seen guys use not only the sink, but the floor drains and the trash cans, so yeah it does happen. Ironically it's not by the guys chanting "use the sink", though. These are the guys that clam up real fast when it's their time to pee and stand so close to the urinal that their clothes are pressed up against it gasket-like so that either A) no one can see [ahem], or B) [they can't] reach the urinal unless they do that, or C) both. That action always kills me. What amuses me even more are the guys that stand two feet away until you walk in, and then they shimmy up to the urinal mid-stream to assume the afore-mentioned pressed against it position. I don't know about you, but I don't want my hands or clothes anywhere near the device. Look all you want.
Posted by: johnnycat | August 26, 2009 1:29 PM
BaltBabs, I too must respectfully disagree.
Some men might not aim as well when they're intoxicated...but quite a number of women will hover above the toilet whether they're drunk or sober (in a vain attempt to avoid sitting on another person's supposed germs), which all too often results in "stuff" going everywhere.
Posted by: Spam | August 26, 2009 1:30 PM
Hey, I never said we were perfect, but men seem to play target practice a lot than the ladies!
Posted by: BaltBabs | August 26, 2009 1:39 PM
The three biggest tags that I have received or seen have been
Caspa- got me really good, carved his name into the bathroom door and papertowel dispenser, total cost $500
Fishy- blue magic markers all over the place, got me good as well. a lot of goo off and elbow grease
And I see Cuff Link all over the neighborhood.
Posted by: Jason Z | August 26, 2009 1:53 PM
BaltBabs- Speaking of target practice, I was once in a bathroom in New Orleasns that had something, I forget, too drunk, that went up the wall when you peed on a target in the urinal. I always thought that was funny.
Posted by: Jason Z | August 26, 2009 1:56 PM
I'll admit it, I've definitely peed in a sink or two, but only at 'sold-out' shows and only when there were in fact lines for the sinks.
In all instances portable sinks that require foot-pumping action were available for hand washing.
Posted by: lab rat | August 26, 2009 4:37 PM
during the phish show sam! really!!!
Posted by: Shankman | August 26, 2009 7:14 PM
ok so this was a phish show and no one was peeing in the sink? this is an injustice. i did the whole tour this year and i have been everywhere from the sink to the wall next to the stage to directly in front of me while the music is going on. for crying out loud, it's just piss!
Posted by: trey | August 26, 2009 9:02 PM
I've seen dudes use the sink at bars, concerts & sporting events multiple times. I have also seen girls pee in the shower when I lived in the fraternity house. People can get pretty instinctual when nature calls. ;-)
Posted by: Erik | August 26, 2009 10:17 PM
Jason, I've used those, they're great. The I used had a little .."pinwheel" I guess would be the best way to describe it, and when you whizzed on it, it spun. Nothing earth shattering, but still pretty fun.
Posted by: Allan | August 27, 2009 9:42 AM
In "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", Tomas, the male protagonist and a physician, urinates in the sink and washes his hands as a matter of routine. In fact, Kundera notes that it is "standard procedure among Czech doctors".
Posted by: Anonymous | August 27, 2009 10:00 AM
sink peeing sounds gross, but if you think about it objectively... urine is sterile. So as long as you wash your hands afterward it's nowhere near as gross as people make it out to be. I don't advocate doing it, but I can understand why people (I hope it would just be men) in certain circumstances would do it.
And as a woman, women's restrooms are nasty. In fact, if I'm somewhere non busy and they have single stall bathrooms, I try to sneak in the men's room.
Posted by: flippityjane | August 27, 2009 10:23 AM
Someone I know once pooped in the trough that used to be in the old men's bathroom at Mother's before the renovations
Posted by: TheBeav | August 27, 2009 12:15 PM
Ok, as long as we're exchanging little stories...
Does anyone remember the Admiral's Cup at the foot of Broadway before the bar was moved to the left side wall? The old bar was from the late 1800's, and it had a trough along the floor behind the footrail that ran the entire length of the bar. That was for your convenience in whizzing. It was piped to go right out to the harbor. It was removed sometime in the early 1990's I think when the bar was relocated to across the room. I thought that was the greatest thing ever.
Speaking of whizzing at the bar-- I've known of guys just pulling it out and going right up against the bar in a crowded place. Who would know? Unless of course you were barefoot...
And last but certainly not least... I know of a bartender in an extremely well-known and always crowded Baltimore bar that usually cannot leave his post behind the bar long enough to go to the bathroom. So what does he do? Always resourceful, he just goes in the ice.
Posted by: johnnycat | August 27, 2009 12:40 PM
"And last but certainly not least... I know of a bartender in an extremely well-known and always crowded Baltimore bar that usually cannot leave his post behind the bar long enough to go to the bathroom. So what does he do? Always resourceful, he just goes in the ice." - Johnnycat
No, you don't.
Posted by: Mark Twain | August 27, 2009 8:45 PM
Dead End Saloon still has a trough that runs at the foot of the bar.
Posted by: Evan | August 28, 2009 4:08 PM
Yeah Mr. Twain, I am afraid I do. You can't make up stuff that good.
Hey Evan, thanks for that info- I'll have to look at that trough!
Posted by: johnnycat | August 31, 2009 7:04 PM