Monday, July 30, 2007

Bathroom Humor Part II - Best Bar/Club Bathroom

I’ve done a fair amount of research this summer on the Montrose area with occasional forays into downtown and the Heights, and Etro wins hands down.

Here’s a typical Houston area bar/club restroom. It’s has a little more graffiti than most and a little less grime but this is the women’s room for cryin’ out loud! I hate to think what the men’s room must look like in this particular establishment.

I won’t say where this is, because it is a fun place after all, and I’d hate for anyone to be scared away by the picture:


Here, on the other hand is the award winning bathroom at Etro. Isn’t it spotless?


And look at the men’s room! Women can use it without fear when both women’s rooms are occupied as they occasionally are. We won’t speculate as to why.

This guy could be responsible not only for the pristine bathrooms, but for the neatness of Etro in general. He is absolutely relentless, so don’t leave your cigarettes unattended. They’ll be thrown away faster than your lungs can say "Thanks so much!"

The owner, Reese, is good natured about fielding DJing questions for hours on end, and promptly restocks the toilet paper and mops himself.
I like Reese, because he denied that I’m a flake. He’s wrong of course, but at least he errs in a flattering manner. This is the type of conversation I have when I go into a club specifically to take a picture of the restroom.

Here's Reese:


Here's Bob:
Who knows what Bob’s exact occupation at Etro is? Perhaps it’s nothing more sinister than to flirt shamelessly with every female that walks in the door. I do know he occasionally ducks behind the bar.

I do know that a Bob Dylan song was playing when he was conceived, and that his mom loved Bob Seger, that his dad’s name was Bob resulting in his mother’s claim that there were four Bobs in the room when he was conceived. I know his cousin, Corey something-or-another played with Townes Van Zandt.

The first words I said to Bob when I met him were, “Where are the bathrooms, and are they gross?” Bob got a kick out of that, and I could see where he would, all things considered.

I told Reese that from now on I was going to stop in every time I was in Montrose just to use the bathroom. He respectfully requested that I buy a drink when I did so. So if you need a bathroom in Montrose, go see Reese. And, y’know, buy a drink. ‘Cause the guy’s gotta buy a lot of toilet paper.

Up next: Best coffee/tea shop bathroom!

27 comments:

  1. I'm lovin' these bathroom awards! So much more fun than most awards!! Not sure who would get these around here...something to ponder!

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  2. Wait, that bathroom has a toilet in it. You mean you sit down to pee in that country? Wild man, just wild. In Korea we have squatters at the bar. However, it becomes surprisingly comfortable once you get used to it being the norm.

    For example,
    see here.

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  3. I'm so glad I'm not pregnant right now, or this post would have made me have to run right to my bathroom. :) So funny! :)

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  4. Thanks Colleen!

    Saradevil - So cool! Who'd'a thunk I'd get an online tour of foreign toilets?!?!

    Lara - You might not want to drink a bunch of water or get pregnant before stopping back - Whenever I get my act together, my next post is going to be another bathroom award too! :-0 :-0 :-0

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  5. Damn. SaraDevil beat me to it with the Korean example.

    And another thing: you haven't had the privilege of *smelling* a Korean bathroom (not good I can assure you).

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  6. I am loving the bathroom awards also. Great pictures.

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  7. Awesome posts! What fun :)

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  8. Reese is adorable!

    Glad to see that I'm not the only one with an affinity for potty talk.

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  9. This post was a hoot! I love it! Reese reminds me of someone, probably an actor. He sounds very nice and he has a nice face, too. Plus he didn't think you were a flake, always a big plus.

    Is he single? ;-)

    My guess is he's not a writer or poet or warrior poet or someone I know might be uh, a puddle. Or needing to use the wonderfully clean facilities!

    Here's a link to a photo of an airport restroom at the Singapore Airport:
    http://qmusings.com/blog/2007/01/12/the-singapore-squat/

    Unlike you, I don't ask for permission to take photos. Well, it's not like I have anyone to ask at a public restroom. I just get very odd looks - my guess is the other women are seeing the flashes and wondering if I'm documenting my uh, output.

    I also have taken photos of the sinks and stuff with women avoiding my eyes. If they do catch my eye, I give 'em a "hey, you'd be taking photos of all this too, if you had a blog!"

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  10. Thanks Raquel & Toners!

    TS - Well we're still lacking a look at one with graffiti & I for one would love to claim a vicarious knowledge of...well...just about anything...but Korean graffiti and Korean restroom graffiti in particular. :-) :-) :-)

    MP - Isn't he? Luckily school will be starting back up for me soon, so I'm sure I'll be back at the bodily function posts soon. :-)

    MsQ - Yeah, I didn't explore the whole library card thing or the single or not thing for that matter, being too busy bombarding with the DJing questions. But according to his myspace he's engaged, which is I think is a lucky thing. :-0

    You know what else I forgot on that whole list thing we thought up? I would almost 100% of the time be happier outdoors if the weather is at all cooperative. It's another great thing about teaching: recess. The toilet - very similar to the one Saradevil posted, only cleaner!!!!!! I guess it *would* better if there were a tree in there though. :-)

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  11. Wow, and here I thought taking pictures of people's bananas was weird... j/k...

    Love the posts! (but not that grungy bathroom - one glance at that and my body would certainly forget any urge to go.)

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  12. Maureen - that bathroom is actually sort of on the clean side...there's one I would rather have a picture of for the "bad bathroom", but it just wasn't very convenient. Don't worry, if the bathroom posts aren't weird enoug, I have some other pictures to post that will be every bit as weird as a banana. :-)

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  13. Jill

    You've seen my fridge. Perhaps I should post a picture of my bathroom for scrutiny from you and your readers.

    Actually, that's probably (yet another) bad idea....

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  14. TS - *shrug shrug*...sounds like a good idea to me...

    Does your bathroom have any graffiti? :-)

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  15. Jill

    I can assure you my bathroom is clean enough for the Queen to pay a visit (there's certainly no graffiti on the walls).

    Damn! I'm such a poor liar.....

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  16. Yeah well...you can let us all know one way or another via photo once you're done with that dead animal/fruit post. :-) :-) :-)

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  17. You are totally cracking me up, I will be checking in regularly. Thanks for the morning laugh!

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  18. Jill, I can honestly say, you made my day! This post is just hiliarious. I love it. I never think to take a photo of the bathrooms I visit. Something to think about!

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  19. LOL Love it!!

    The graffiti bathroom brings back my college memories!! Fun places!

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  20. Too funny, Love all the posts.

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  21. @Jill

    I can assure you once it's posted you'll be the first to know !

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  22. What a riot! Cute guys and they sound so nice! I have been in a lot of bathrooms that look like the first one. Oh the college memories! But I definately prefer the ones that look like your second shots!

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  23. OK, heads up, the Starbucks in Myerland has a really bad bathroom, especially if you hit it sometime after 10 at night. You are lucky if there is even any toilet paper in it but besides that, it is usually filthy. Gotta check it out if you are doing coffee shops next!

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  24. Beth - Drat! I was just over there last night - wish I had stopped in for a photo! Thanks though - I'll see if I can run by there today! ;-0

    TS - Baited breath & all that! :-) :-)

    Heather, Debbi, Rachael - Thanks & hope your trip down memory lane was pleasant! :-)

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  25. Love this series! You need to come down to Philly and check out some of the bathrooms, the walls are glass that fill with a smoke screen when you lock the door, pretty cool.

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  26. Reece? Kinda cute.

    Bob? Scares the crap outta me.

    Finally a blog about something MEANINGFUL! ;)

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  27. Bastet - That sound neat! And to *think*, I was IN Philadelphia for a conference earlier this year and *didn't* get pictures of the bathrooms there!

    Ingrid - Bob *seems* harmless enough. :-) :-) :-)

    And thanks Bastet & Ingrid!

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