Saturday, May 24, 2008
Night Life, Life...
People are always like, "Blah, blah, blah, I love the night life of this city. Ohh... look, people are doing this and that... blah, blah, blah." What the fuck's to love about the night in a city after people are worn out all day by the laborious work they have to do?! You see some guy hunched over a bowl of noodles because he's frickin' tired after putting in a 12-hour shift and you think that it's beautiful?! It's pitiful and sad! The guy is so damn tired, and he's hungry, so he's just burned at least half an hour of his pay on that bowl of noodles. The noodle-seller, in turn, is probably working even longer! Getting up early in the morning to get the noodles and the soup ready... working into the wee hours of the night just to scrape together a pitiful living. A life as such is horrible!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Don't Overlook the Toilet
One of the most basic things people do for entertainment is eat. Yes, people eat not only to provide sustenance to their bodies; they eat in order to spend time with someone they care about, they eat because it tastes good, they eat because they're bored or depressed. That's all people think about... eat, eat, eat. Even proprietors of restaurants only think about what they're able to offer in terms of eats. But... what about when all that food is processed and wants to come out the other end? That's right, nobody thinks much about shitting.
Shitting, however, is a very important thing that we all must do.
Why do most businesses, especially restaurants, neglect the value that their toilets have for their customers? In times of need, in times of great stomach pain... it is the toilet that is your friend. People would obviously rather do their business at home, but it is a good and clean public toilet that can be your friend when home is too far away. Some restaurants, especially those in countries without regulations, don't even have a toilet to speak of! What kind of craziness is that? Sure, if you've got some kind of street-stall, it's OK not to have a toilet... but definitely not for a sit-in restaurant. Therefore, I refuse to give my money to restaurants that don't even have the consideration to provide their customers with a place of relief. Forget shitting, what if you need to pee?!
In Canada, for example, there are regulations stating the amount of toilets needed based on the capacity of your restaurant... but in other countries, this is not the case. In fact, Starbucks is a really good example of an asshole company when it comes to toilets. Sure, their toilets are usually very clean... but they keep the size of their cafes to a minimum partly so that they only need two toilets available (one of them being for wheelchair users, of course). In Asia, even if the Starbucks can seat over 50 people - there is invariably only one toilet for females and one for males. If that's not inconsiderate, I don't know what is.
I don't know about you, but I appreciate a clean toilet when I'm in need. I especially appreciate a clean restroom that is well-designed. It's a life-saver in times of urgent need. For those of you who don't have any bowel problems (such as IBS or lactose intolerance), you may not appreciate the emotions associated with a good toilet. You may have been rescued by a toilet once or twice before - but not on a regular basis as the bowelfully-challenged, such as myself, are. We appreciate toilets and they're very important to us. If there's a public place we frequent, you can be sure that we know where the least-used and cleanest toilets will be. You can also be sure that if we live in ghetto countries where toilet-paper does not always accompany toilets, that we have some.
I'm sure you can empathize with all I've said.
For business owners, I'm telling you that a clean and well-designed toilet will bring your customers back again and again. Your customers will know that your place not only offers great food, but also a great place to relieve themselves if necessary. I once heard a customer come out of Din Tai Fung - the most famous pork dumpling house in the world, and one of the world's top 10 restaurants with locations in nine countries - raving about the restroom. She said it was the most amazing restroom she's ever been to in her life. Imagine that... you walk into one of the world's top 10 restaurants and you come out raving about the toilet. See what a big impact the other end of your business has on customers? Think carefully before you decide to put all your effort into the food and leave the toilet as an afterthought.
Shitting, however, is a very important thing that we all must do.
Why do most businesses, especially restaurants, neglect the value that their toilets have for their customers? In times of need, in times of great stomach pain... it is the toilet that is your friend. People would obviously rather do their business at home, but it is a good and clean public toilet that can be your friend when home is too far away. Some restaurants, especially those in countries without regulations, don't even have a toilet to speak of! What kind of craziness is that? Sure, if you've got some kind of street-stall, it's OK not to have a toilet... but definitely not for a sit-in restaurant. Therefore, I refuse to give my money to restaurants that don't even have the consideration to provide their customers with a place of relief. Forget shitting, what if you need to pee?!
In Canada, for example, there are regulations stating the amount of toilets needed based on the capacity of your restaurant... but in other countries, this is not the case. In fact, Starbucks is a really good example of an asshole company when it comes to toilets. Sure, their toilets are usually very clean... but they keep the size of their cafes to a minimum partly so that they only need two toilets available (one of them being for wheelchair users, of course). In Asia, even if the Starbucks can seat over 50 people - there is invariably only one toilet for females and one for males. If that's not inconsiderate, I don't know what is.
I don't know about you, but I appreciate a clean toilet when I'm in need. I especially appreciate a clean restroom that is well-designed. It's a life-saver in times of urgent need. For those of you who don't have any bowel problems (such as IBS or lactose intolerance), you may not appreciate the emotions associated with a good toilet. You may have been rescued by a toilet once or twice before - but not on a regular basis as the bowelfully-challenged, such as myself, are. We appreciate toilets and they're very important to us. If there's a public place we frequent, you can be sure that we know where the least-used and cleanest toilets will be. You can also be sure that if we live in ghetto countries where toilet-paper does not always accompany toilets, that we have some.
I'm sure you can empathize with all I've said.
For business owners, I'm telling you that a clean and well-designed toilet will bring your customers back again and again. Your customers will know that your place not only offers great food, but also a great place to relieve themselves if necessary. I once heard a customer come out of Din Tai Fung - the most famous pork dumpling house in the world, and one of the world's top 10 restaurants with locations in nine countries - raving about the restroom. She said it was the most amazing restroom she's ever been to in her life. Imagine that... you walk into one of the world's top 10 restaurants and you come out raving about the toilet. See what a big impact the other end of your business has on customers? Think carefully before you decide to put all your effort into the food and leave the toilet as an afterthought.
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