This thing of the past called hand showers?!

[alimahadtheman]

I am sincerely sorry if I disgust anyone out or simply come across as pointless regarding this serious issue. I have also decided not to mention names of the countries/cities/hotels to avoid offending anyone =)

Whilst on recent vacation I noticed that our so called 'luxury suite' (a freaking 5 star hotel in case you wonder) doesn't even have hand showers in the lavatory next to the toilet bowl. I was shocked, but decided not to complain uselessly and placed a water bottle instead.

We went to another country and stayed at 3 different hotels, one also lacking this once-very-obvious facility.

To add up, the new international airport of the city didn't either. Just toilet rolls.

Now I am already pretty disgusted by urinals, everything about them; the lack of privacy, lack of hygiene, the concept of standing while at it (and OBVIOUSLY spraying some on your friggin clothes), but I ignored the growing social acceptance of this practice. But what I recently observed is way too much!

Guys and Girls, Am I the only one who doesn't want his future generations thinking this is okay? You eat with those hands for goodness sake, and the thought of even 'a little' secretion on my clothes drives me crazy! :S

Updates

+1 y

UPDATE! I don't know what you people call hand showers, but where I come from, hand showers are like pipes connected next to a toilet seat.

link


Err I am sorry if I confused anyone but I am totally unaware if it's called something else in your locality.

[Anonymous]

Hand showers = sinks?

I can't imagine going to a restaurant/airport/hotel that didn't have this NECESSITY. Hot water & soap kills germs & can prevent people from catching germs that lead to sickness... It seems very rudimentary that public facilities lack something so important to hygiene.

I always carry hand sanitizer with me & use it if there's no soap/paper towels/hand dryers in the restroom.

[Habakkuk]

well, it's actually the friction of rubbing your hands together that allows the water to wash the germs off of your hands, the soap just aids in the rubbing action. You shouldn't be using anti-microbial soap unless you're about to perform surgery. The commercialization of it is just a marketing ploy and is making bacteria resistant to antibiotics, it really shouldn't be sold in stores..

[Opinion Owner]

I thought it was the hot water that kills germs.

And using hand sanitizer makes me feel better. I DO WHAT I WANT.

[alimahadtheman]

Kindly refer to the Update guys, its something else what I am concerned about, although I have FREQUENTLY seen people use the urinals and just walk off. Trust me.

But I am referring to that hose thingy used to wash yourself once you are done using the toilet paper, taking a pee. No matter how much toilet paper you use, doesn't everyone wash themselves?! xS

[Opinion Owner]

I've never seen hand showers before. You really do learn something new everyday.

We don't have hand showers where I'm from, we just use sinks and that's it.

[alimahadtheman]

Good Lord. I think this is like those cultural variations (such as the West opposing to the common Eastern practice of using hands instead of cutlery). Anyways, hand showers are used to spray water and wash your concerned parts after you have used toilet paper.

It's like using tissues to clean hands or washing hands. I guess it's not very common, regardless I feel like I just exploited a difference in cultures. damn :S

[TheGodEmperorLeto]

So the same function as a Bidet of sorts?

[DonMichelle]

HA!

...Leto's got it... it's called a bidet!

Spot on mate, forgot what it was called. I've been calling it 'an arse washer'

[alimahadtheman]

Yes! Bidet has the same features. Although one is commonly seated when he/she urinates, a hand shower (the hose thingy) also washes your frontal area thoroughly, something Bidet is not usually purposed for :P

[Brando]

Am I a redneck or whatever if I don't know/never heard of a hand shower? Can't you just use the sink? Why do you p*ss on your hands anyway?

Just some questions to answer.

[alimahadtheman]

Toilet hand showers are different than wash basins.

N I didn't want to get into the details but here you go:

You unzip, pee into a urinal INEVITABLY creating some small splashes back onto your clothes/groin. And when you are done, you don't even wash the damn thing, JUST YOUR HANDS LATER.

Washing your hands isn't enough. You have let sneeze-sized vapours onto yourself.

And considering the topic I was actually talking about (read the update), if you take a crap you have to WASH it regardless

[Brando]

Oooh I gotcha. Sounds like you're a germaphobe lol

I suppose if hand showers or whatever is supposed to be in a 5 star hotel and it's not, then you got shorted on that experience.

[alimahadtheman]

I think I just never got to realize that hand showers are not used in the west. It's a cultural thing. Pakistan is obviouslyy not the cleanest most hygenic country, but you run into handshowers in every single house here. ha ha :P

[Brando]

That's interesting though. So what's the difference between hand showers and just washing your hands?

[alimahadtheman]

Hand showers are like a Bidet as an answerer pointed out. They wash your lower body once you are done, and you use toilet paper along a hand shower.

A basin/sink is just used to wash hands, not the

[alimahadtheman]

..area concerned when you use the toilet. Since it's like a spray, there is no spills or anything haha

[Brando]

Ooooh I gotcha. Hand shower is a misleading term then lol

[Anonymous]

You aren't able to wash your hands after a leak?!?!?! That's awful... and in a hotel?!?!?!

You've been robbed mate, sounds like a hotel run by gypseys to me

[alimahadtheman]

Nooo that's wash basins or sinks. I am not talking about those, and am unsure what Americans call it, but its a pipe thingy used to wash yourself after you've used the toilet? It's like next to the seat.

[Opinion Owner]

Ahhhh, you spray your arse with it afterwards? You'd expect one of those in a 5 star hotel.

And I'm not American by the way :)

[alimahadtheman]

Lmfao it cracks me up as much as normal as it is where I live (Pakistan). It can be seen in every household here, and isn't at all a 5 star feature lol. its like...another tap xD

But as I just discovered, it has to do with local traditions. nothing else hahaha

[Opinion Owner]

All Muslim countries standards of hygeine surpass the west! These washing basins should be everywhere! They're called Bidets (as I've just been reminded :) )

[alimahadtheman]

That's awfully kind of you but I think it works both ways. In Islam we have had concepts like miswak (an anti bacterial twig used to cleanse teeth thousands of years before the introduction of toothpaste) but the West is responsible for all the modern discoveries such as mouth wash, toilet paper, hand sanitizers etc.. things hardly used in the East at large.

And since you guys have far less spread of diseases, it's the East that needs to embrace most modern practices and educate themselves.

[Opinion Owner]

My dad's part arab, I know of all these things. I've had miswak before lol (don't taste very nice do they... make good brushes though! :) !) and using water when you go to the toliet is something I do at home. I'd be the same as you if I was in an expensive hotel... 'where's the water' :)

[alimahadtheman]

LOL I bet.

[MiTmechE]

Americans don't usually know what hand showers are, and therefore don't bother to use them. filipinos like myself go crazy when when we can't wash our behinds...

[alimahadtheman]

Pakistanis like myself do as well LOL, as you can notice my rage in the question.