A Flush Above the Rest

 

            The American Standard Lynbrook 1.0 Urinal is a Men’s Room classic. The shiny chrome plated copper plumbing juts out from the wall at five-foot five-inches and takes an immediate 90 degree turn to meet the flush valve which is triggered by the four inch toggle-switch handle. The piping continues down from the valve handle for about a foot and a half before meeting the body of the Urinal which is made of solid white vitreous china, a kiln fired ceramic that is impervious to water. Extending out eight and a half inches from either side of the chrome piping connection, the top of the urinal forms a six-inch ledge that is flush with the wall. From the top, the urinal measures 23 ¾ inches down to meet the apex of the inverted hump base that encloses the exit plumbing and also attaches to the wall. In addition to the two pluming points that connect the urinal to the wall, the back of the ceramic body is mounted flat to the wall at two points.

            The face or working end of the urinal is framed on the right and left side by privacy barriers that extend out ten inches on either side to protect the user during use. Just prior to the base of the working end of the urinal is a lip that protrudes out four inches past the privacy barriers and toward the user.  There is a bowl at the base of the working end, also enclosed in the inverted hump, that is constantly holding water and stands at the ready to collect nature’s calling. Once the call is complete and the flush handle is pulled, one gallon of fresh water is released from the top plumbing. Gravity carries this fresh water down the working end of the urinal and to the bowl where it replaces the used water after forcing it and it’s contaminants to exit the bowl via the plumbing contained in the inverted hump.

 

            Who invented the urinal?

            What was the reasoning for inventing a urinal?

            What is the difference between a men’s restroom and a women’s restroom?

Is the urinal sexist?

Does the urinal influence men’s ideas of sexual equality?

 

1. http://www.americanstandard-us.com/products/productDetail.aspx?area=professionals&cat=10&col=&prodID=190

This is the urinal that I am focusing on. It is the most common brand and style that I have encountered.

2. http://www.eeoc.gov/types/sex.html

This is the site for the US’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. From  a summary of Title VII, “Title VII prohibits both intentional discrimination and neutral job policies that disproportionately exclude individuals on the basis of sex and that are not job related.”

3. http://www.now.org/

This is the site for the National Organization for Women. In 2004, Virgin Atlantic was due to install urinals in JFK Airport that were shaped and painted like women’ mouths. NOW was extremely offended and complained to Virgin, which got the urinals replaced.

4. http://banzhaf.net/docs/potty_parity.html

This is John Banzhaf’s journal entry on the sexual disparities of public restrooms. He is a professor at GWU and looks at numerous issues including the unequal number of toilets for men and women, having pay toilets where it would cost less to use a urinal than a toilet but how unfair that would be, and having women urinals that give women the same choice men have which requires women to expose themselves without the provided protection of a closed stall.

5. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-oe-stein31aug31,0,2649407.column

Joel Stein wrote this article in the LA Times about his want for a urinal in his home. He asked numerous people for their opinion on urinals and got a lot of good in site as to what women and real estate moguls think about urinals.

6. http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/peter-potty-training-urinal-163730.php

This is an advertisement for Peter Potty, a training urinal for little kids. Here is a quote, “Why is it that all those potty training toilets for our sons are of the sit-down variety? Because women control the world… no longer will your son have to suffer the indignity of peeing like a girlie.”

 

            In a society where gender discrimination is grounds for judicial prosecution, the public restroom constantly provides men with proof of the divide between the sexes. The urinal is the only common and everyday fixture intentionally created for and used solely by men. In a place were women are not permitted, the urinal communicates to men that men and women will never be equals, the fact that men and women can perform the same duties is incorrect, and men will always be provided with opportunities that women will not be provided with.

           

 

 

 

 

             

Retirement Communities = Unhappy Me

Lets take Leisure World for example. This 610-acre, fenced in community, located on the Silver Spring/Rockville line of Montgomery County Maryland is home to around 9,000 elderly individuals.

I work as an EMT/Firefighter whose firehouse is located less than two miles away from the main gates of this delightful World of Leisure.  I actually like old people and running numerous calls a shift, into the gates, is not what I dislike about Leisure World; it is the type of calls, abuse of the Emergency Medical System (EMS) system and the lack of resources provided to its residents that makes me dislike Leisure World.

When you have a dense population of elderly individuals with deteriorating health, the demand for healthcare is obviously going to be greater than your average suburban population. Leisure World has recognized this and has a Health Center located on its premises. Problem solved, right? Nope, the Health Center is only open during regular business hours(9-5), is by appointment only, and you must be mobile enough to get yourself there. Leisure World residents have learned that there is an alternative, 9-1-1, that provides free and immediate transport to the local hospital where the Emergency Department (ED) doesn’t ever close or require appointments.

Exhibit A:

My Ambulance gets a call to Leisure World where 82-year-old Betsy is complaining of flu-like symptoms, which have been present for four days, and she wants to be transported to Montgomery General (MGH). While I am with Betsy, there is a car accident a quarter mile away from my firehouse; 16-year-old Tom just got his license and meets a tree head on. I’m unavailable; the 2^nd closest ambulance (the one closest to Leisure World) is also unavailable as they’re just arriving at MGH with their patient, 78-year-old Bob with recurring back pain (also from Leisure World). The 3^rd closest Ambulance that gets the assignment is 15 minutes out (6 minutes over the standard EMS response time). When my Ambulance gets to MGH, the Charge Nurse has already assigned Back Pain Bob to the last available bed and my Ambulance remains out-of-service for the 20 minutes it takes to get Betsy a bed. The charge nurse declares MGH at capacity, meaning no more incoming Ambulances. The 3^rd closest Ambulance has discovered that Car vs. Tree Tom has a decreased level of consciousness and a fractured femur. They can’t transport Tom to MGH (5 minutes from the scene) and are forced to take him to the 2^nd closest hospital, Holly Cross (HCH) that is a 30-minute drive with traffic. 10 minutes en-route to HCH, Tom goes unconscious and his blood pressure drops. Once at HCH scans show that Tom’s fractured femur sliced his femoral artery and he died from internal bleeding that would have been discovered and controlled over 20 minutes ago if the two closest Ambulances weren’t being used as taxi cabs and if Leisure World meet the healthcare needs of its residents instead of allowing them to use MGH as their Primary Healthcare Provider. 

Hydrated... Take 2

Every time I leave my room, I conduct the same routine; pat my right pocket and I've got my phone, pat my left pocket and I've got my keys, pat my right butt cheek and Oh No! No wallet. I then spend two and a half minutes searching my place for my wallet and then finish my routine by opening the fridge to grab my Nalgene. After completing this routine, I am ready to take on the world. If I bypass this routine and I happen to forget one of the fantastic 4, I may as well forget about trying to have a successful day. 

 My phone is what keeps me connected and on time but it can't be trusted. I'm sure that any day now the tape that is so valiantly holding it together will fail and I will then have two pieces of useless Verizon chocolate floating around in my right pocket. My keys are boring and take up space unless they are with my car and my wallet is just a pain in my ass that constantly reminds me that I am broke. My Nalgene is what really gets me through my day. 

 

 

 My Nalgene is blue. It packs 32 ounces of whatever I can afford to fill it with (usually tap water).  It is carried by a red carabiner that sports the web address for a summer camp that I used to work with. Stickers cover this water bottle and make it My Nalgene. Yeah, it's purpose is to hydrate it's owner but it is really the memories that come with My Nalgene that make it an object that symbolizes who I am.

 The stickers read; Kuhl Clothing, a bumper sticker that I got from the outdoor store that I worked at, the origin of My Nalgene. Rappahannock, the not so lazy river that I have spent days floating down. (One sticker with two random kitty cats), I don't know where this one came from. From the Land of Pleasant Living, Nati Boh Baltimore, Maryland, need I say more? Bee Happy from Samantha, a dwindling memory of my recently made ex-girlfriend. I Live, because I plan to until I die.

 If my Nalgene were analyzed as an object marking identity, then I might find myself embarrassed. The bottle is heavily beaten, scratched and cluttered with stickers that are worn and messy. I feel that I must justify My Nalgene in order to prove that I am not an abuser of my own property and horder of every sticker that crosses my path.

 If My Nalgene were seen as an object of social marking, then I hope that it would tell the story of a culture that is concerned for the future of the environment. This object would be seen as one person's effort to end the overuse of disposable plastic beverage bottles. Maybe.

 

Hydrated

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming..."WOW! WHAT A RIDE!!"

 ~author unknown

I live by this quote and so does my Nalgene. 

Every nick, scratch, dent, and scar has a story worth telling and so does my body.

We're both made up of about 75% water, sometimes more/less depending on my thirst.

We both love nature and do what we can to cut back on plastic waste.

As I travel and discover I get pictures, my Nalgene gets stickers. We both like to remember where we've been and what we've done.

We both call ourselves indestructible but we know that we have our breaking points.

The larger cultural influence of my Nalgene tells a story of technology and conservation. The bottle is technologically advanced compared to it's disposable plastic predecessors. Made of polycarbonate, the bottle is heat and impact resistant. Polycarbonate is also extremely resistant to absorbing stains or flavors. With Americans using around 2,500,000 plastic beverage bottles an hour and throwing away (NOT RECYCLING) most of them, we as a planet are in a need for an alternative and Nalenes provide that alternative. I refill my nalgen about twice a day, I drink and therefore save the equivalent of 4 disposable plastic bottles a day. 

Who am I?

Hi there, my name is Matt and I am a junior in UMBC's Emergency Health Service Major. 

I'm the type of person who is constantly busy... and likes to be constantly busy. I am an EMT/Firefighter in Montgomery County, a Resident Assistant here at UMBC, a member of the Emergency Health Services Council of Majors, a semi-active member of Students for Environmental Awareness, and I am currently taking 18 credits (less than last semester).

I love everything outdoors. I bike, climb, camp, hike, ski, kayak.., and I really enjoy taking pictures of almost anything.

Here is a link to my photo site :http://www.flickr.com/photos/51503519@N0... let me know what you think!