Thursday, July 25, 2013

Pit Toilets

    Over the weekend we went camping, which is part of the reason I haven’t been posting.  No worries because I intend to catch up so I can finish the Ultimate Blogging Challenge in epic style with my 31 posts!   I love camping and it was the first time all summer we have went to an actual campground.  Sure there have been plenty of nights out in the camper outside our back door, but we never actually went anywhere.

     We packed our gear and headed to the Eby Pines Campground in Bristol, Indiana.  They have a ginormous swimming pool that has a water slide my son loves and a huge water umbrella you can swim under.  I digress though.  Nearby our campsite was the traditional pit toilet.  This year the campground had erected a fancy new building over the pit toilet site complete with electric lights.    Thinking this might not be so bad, my kids and I made a beeline for the pit toilet with an urgent need to pee.  I was impressed until I walked into the door.  Sure it was clean enough, but as soon as you opened the door, and in some cases before that, you were bowled over by an eye watering, gag reflex stench that literally took your breath away!!  A person literally had to hold your breath to pee then vault for the door as if shot off the shitter by a canon.  The smell was that bad.  What could I possibly expect from a pit toilet?



 
    As my son marveled how far down his pee had to drop, I wondered how much more money it would have taken to have an electric fan installed along with that nice building and  those electric lights.  Can we get some ventilation please?  Perhaps an industrial sized can of Febreeze?  What is the point of building such a fine structure and installing electric lights and a hand sanitizer dispenser if you fail to provide some form of ventilation?  From that moment on we walked a little farther to the shower house to do our business skirting a wide path around the reeking pit toilet.

      I love to camp but I have got to have a clean toilet devoid of God awful shit and urine smell.  It is a must.  Even if a person squatted behind a tree to take a leak you would have better air quality than that.  Since I am traipsing into those menopausal years I always have to pee in the middle of the night so my daughter always makes the trek to the bathroom with me when we are at the campground.  Even if she doesn’t have to go, by the time we get there, she probably will.  





       The moon and stars were bright in the sky and we were singing “I’m walking in the moonlight” and laughing our fool heads off all the way.  Not another soul seemed to be stirring except for us.  As we neared the pit toilet we noticed this creepy woman that appeared quite not all there staring at the pit toilet but making no moves to enter or retreat. Maybe she was waiting for someone, maybe she was wondering whether she should stay, or whether she should go,  whatever the case, we walked a little quicker and sang a little quieter with a bounce in our step and a song in our hearts.

         

18 comments:

  1. I'm glad to say I've never experienced a pit toilet :)

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    1. Moms Gone Crazy, you are missing out. The smell just might kill you but if you really have to go, it is better than squatting on the ground and peeing on yourself. Thank you for stopping by and for your kind comments. ♥

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  2. Gosh I thought they all smelled.....

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    1. Sandra, LMAO...they do!!!! LOLOLOLOLOL Thank you for stopping in and for the giggles. ♥

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  3. I have experienced these dry-pit toilets last year at a camping site! These dry pit toilets are the only toilets that have been permitted by the Forest Department on beach camps. They are eco-friendly, no fuss toilets. There is a hole in the ground with a western style wooden “thunder box” placed over the hole. No squatting required!! You’d like to thank the inventor for this one!! The back of this “thunder box” is open so that it is easy to scoop in sand and lime from the back for covering up. A scoop is provided for this purpose. Toilet paper is provided too!! Thank God for small mercies! :D

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    1. Shilpa, yes they are a modern day wonder all right. If only they could alleviate the smell factor I could do my business with a happy smile on my face and be able to breathe instead of hold my breath. Thank you for stopping by and for your kind comments! ♥

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  4. Pit toilets are a dampener, I agree.

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    1. Shail, we managed to have a splendid time regardless and I had to use it a couple of times because I had to go NOW and couldn't make it clear to the shower house so it is all good. Thank you for stopping by and for your kind comments! ♥

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  5. I encountered toilets like that today in the ladies room at Walmart. I was going in as a woman was coming out and she said, 'don't go in there, every one is disgusting'.

    the pit toilet is why I refuse to camp. Russell has friends w/ a rustic camp in Maine and I told him I'm not going up there until they put in a proper bathroom. Sorry. This girl needs electricity, climate control and running water. lol

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    1. JoJo, OMG the toilets at Walmart are the worst!! You can usually smell them from afar they are that bad. Most campgrounds have nice toilets in their shower area. At least the ones I go to do. I like my electricity and all that too which is why I go in a travel trailer. LOL I would never survive in a tent. Thank you for stopping by and for your kind comments! ♥

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  6. Never experienced Pit toilets but your experience tells me it sure aint a good one O_O

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    1. Sukupedia, it is surely an experience!! LOL Thank you for stopping in and for your kind comments! ♥

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  7. When my Mom and Dad were building the house I was raised in, we lived for several months in the garage part with no running water yet. We had a pit toilet. Later that spot grew the best tomatoes in town! Actually pit toilets were pretty common at rural homes at the time, including my husband's and my cousins'. Of course, so were dinosaurs. : - )

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    1. Angela, past generations really had it going on because they made do with what they had and had no problem doing so. Future generations are spoiled. I know I am. Thank you for stopping by and giving a glimpse into how things used to be.

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  8. haven't seen one ever.... but the stink is imaginable..what with several hundred people using it! ur lucky if u don't get UTI using one of these!

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    1. The little princess, I can just about imagine!! Ewwww! Thank you for stopping by and for that pleasant thought. LOLOLOL and for your kind comments too!! ♥

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  9. The one reason why I have always had second thoughts on going for camping because of the same reason! But I am sure Kathy it must have been fun :-)

    Richa

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    1. Richa, it was so much fun!! You must try it at least once! Thank you for stopping by and for your kind comments! ♥

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