Unnecessary Information.

My wife's decided she doesn't want to go on this trip.

Myself, I blame our travel agent.

While we were sorting out our paperwork, somehow the subject of "squat" toilets came up. Apparently these are more correctly known as "squatty potties" and Denise has been forewarned by our travel agent that she might well encounter them on our trip. Now some of you of the female persuasion may already have had some experience of these types of amenities in different countries around the world, and I can understand how an unexpected encounter with these types of facilities might be quite intimidating for the uninitiated. However, I don't think there was any good reason for an ad-hoc training seminar in the use of squatty potties to take place in our lounge.

There I was, sometime later in the day, innocently sitting at the dining room table having a cup of tea with my wife and sister-in-law, when this subject was introduced to the conversation. It turns out that said sister-in-law is something of an expert in the correct protocol and use of these amenities and was quite keen to share her knowledge and experience with her sister. It seemed to me that a lot of the instruction that followed had to do with ways to stop your feet from getting wet. I must say that I will be eternally grateful for the fact that she had the good grace to lead my wife into the next room (lounge) before demonstrating the correct technique and body positioning required when using squatty potties. Unfortunately, the distance between the two rooms and the volume of the instructions and accompanying laughter were such that I now have a mental image embedded in my brain that will quite likely cause nightmares.





The upside of this instruction is that I am sure that should my wife encounter these types of facilities she will be extremely confident in her ability to negotiate her way through the various steps required to ensure that she doesn't get her feet wet.

Alternatively, she might follow the procedure she used when we travelled in Thailand, where, upon encountering these types of amenities, we immediately stopped what we were doing and returned to the hotel.

Time will tell.