Image
Image
Circa late 1970's
The Urban Dictionary defines old school as “anything that is from an earlier era and looked upon with high regard or respect. Can be used to refer to music, clothing, language, or anything really”. I’m definitely an old school kind of girl in most regards. The world is constantly trying to improve upon things and doing some serious backsliding.
This was further witnessed on a recent trip to Fort Myers to visit my brother in law and sister in law. When they initially moved into their home back in 1986 the whole family pitched in to help. My job was to line the kitchen and bathroom shelves with shelving paper since I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist.
It had been a few years since we visited and I was impressed with how great the house looked. They are both retired now and that must leave more time for remodeling and keeping things in perfect order. After settling into ‘our’ room (formerly my niece’s) and getting ready to take a shower I looked at the toilet before sitting down and noticed how low it was.
I don’t travel with my squatty potty and miss it while on vacation but this toilet in the pretty yellow and blue guest room was much lower than what I have at home or have seen recently in hotel rooms. It put my legs at parallel which is not Squatty Potty level but was greatly improved over the current standard.
Why is it so much lower I wondered or why are they making toilets so much higher theses days. After mentioning it to my sister in law she hadn’t thought about it but agreed that “yes, they are much higher in newer homes and hotels.” This prompted me to measure the toilet height and then compare it to the one in my home which came to a difference of 2 inches. And we know 2 inches can make a huge difference.
Why do you think that is? One reason that comes to my mind is that people are getting too weak to sit down and stand up. I get it in terms of someone that is ill or disabled and needing assistance thus requiring modifications. But what about those that are just deteriorating from inactivity and poor lifestyle habits.
Modern man’s answer is to make the toilet higher which doesn’t solve the problem merely enables it to continue. My answer is to make the person stronger. But then again, I’m old school. . .