Flushing is not just a place in Queens
There are many things about North America that can be frustrating to an Australian. Among them are the lack of fruit (except in NYC) and the amount of waste (except in San Francisco). One of my pet peeves is their insistence to have the most featured public toilets available by having automatic flush systems. The one above, from Yorkdale Shopping Center in Toronto, Canada, flushed for my convenience at least eight times while I was using it. This is a consistent phenomenon across the USA and Canada, it seems, prevalent at airports where such systems are commonly used. You can stand outside the bathroom and just hear flush after flush, and wonder how rapidly the crowds must be doing their business (especially considering the lack of visible crowds). So not only is it highly annoying (although some might consider that rush of water refreshing—why they call them “washrooms”?), but it is a large waste.
In many such high-traffic washroom destinations, the toilets are also equipped with another feature: paper seat covers. But while completing the perforations to set the cover up, the toilet flushes once. Once you place the cover and are getting ready to take your seat for the show, it flushes again. Your cover is gone. Take out another and try again…
Sorry if that was a little cruder than some of you have taste for. =)