*unorthodox* father-son bonding observed on 14th street
Comments
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I have to say one thing about businesses not letting people use their bathroom. If they don't serve food, a business isn't required to have a public restroom. That means that it's the employee bathroom that people want to use. We used to let people use our bathroom but we ended up really regretting it. Cleaning any bathroom isn't much fun, try cleaning one where a stranger has seriously blown it up. And our bathroom is tiny, it barely fits 1 average sized person. So if a kid wants to use it, their parent can't go in with them. Kids don't usually have the best aim and don't always wash their hands. With our bathroom, at least I know who's been in there and what to expect when they come out.
Oh, and the bookstore next door has a bathroom and there's a starbucks on the next block. -
Gags- taking the heat ... of peeing in the street!
Haha.
I kill myself.
Well, not really.
I mean, it sounds like something you avoid and recognize is not a good thing. Yer an adult, do what yer gonna do, I suppose.
This honestly isn't an issue I'm particularly worked up about, nor will it be unless it reaches epidemic proportions.
Macfoo, I would assume that the situations you describe are "emergency" situations, and not something that happens on a daily or even often basis. I totally understand about the backfire thing, I've found you to be 100% correct on that. For those uninitiated in potty training, it goes something like this: once the kid figures out that he _can_ go in his pants, and it really isn't that horrible, he will continue to do it. We made that mistake on our first boy, never again.
As far as your reasoning, I find it pretty lacking. But like I said, this really isn't an issue that I am terribly concerned about. -
I feel like ESPECIALLY in PS there is always an establishment within a 5 minute walk that has a bathroom- there are places to eat and drink on EVERY block. And if they won't let you use the bathroom without buying something? BUY SOMETHING. This is the cost of having children- I dont think I should have to smell pee because you won't fork over $1.89 for a coffee somewhere.
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Gags- taking the heat ... of peeing in the street!
Join the Free-Pee Movement TODAY!
LIVE THE DREAM - LOVE THE STREAM (sorry - needs work)
For the record - I was talking about the subway platform. But the doggerel / rhyme is much appreciated . . .
Look I grew up in the woods where it was totally ok - in fact you were more MANLY - when you could whip it out and douse a tree or write your name in the snow. You felt a part of the environment and returned nitrogen to the soil. This is a freedom that many a woman expressed envy over . . . the female being handicapped somewhat in this department.
Of course, an urban environment imposes all sorts of restrictions that are sensible, but personally I find it very difficult to get all worked up about some small child taking a tinkle in the gutter.
I mean seriously . . . . -
yea, i pee off subway platforms only late at night when i'm drunk. same with street peeing.
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Subject: kids pee
I have let my kids pee 'in public' 1 x for the girl and 3 or 4 times for the boy. We actually have a portable potty that we carry in the stroller. The 'bum' thing was a bit of a gag. I guess I found it sort of funny that the person who started the whole thread was a dog owner 'walking' Fido - who I can only presume pees all over the area every day. So I found it interesting that one who thinks nothing of allowing a pet to pee all over the place is taken aback by a young child urinating on the street [with adult supervision & yes, 8 is still pretty young]. We should all be thankful that it was a strange thing to see since it is not something you see every day. Just an emergency measure that some parents are willing to take. I happen to be one and know the risk is a $100 ticket and if I ever get one I'll know if was well deserved (but worth letting my kids feel comfortable).
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hey macfoo! i acknowledged in my original post that my dog pees on the street! the point of my post wasn't that it was gross, necessarily, to be peeing in the street...but it is rather surprising to bear witness to it. i was surprised. startled. a touch agog.
ps, ok, ok ok, i admit i thought it was gross. not because of the pee itself; i have nothing against human pee that i don't have against dog pee. more just the whole scene. gross but also slightly endearing, like that adam sandler movie, "big daddy." i guess because of the proximity of stores that DO serve food and ARE open at that hour, it struck me as the kind of slightly incompetent thing young dads are famous for doing, as immortalized/hyperbolized in the aforementioned sandler flick.
pps i would not have been nearly as surprised if the kid had been more the height of a 3 or 4 or even 6 year old. they're tiny. but who knows? maybe this kid is tall for his age and i was needlessly maligning him and/or his dad.
ppps wish i could pee on subway tracks from the platform! i think being able to do so is really influencing the perspectives of a lot of the dudes weighing in here. not to put too fine a point on it, one might say that bragging about their respective peeing exploits has become something of a - dare i say it? - pissing contest.
ahem. -
lnelson
Those of us in the "pro-piss" camp are gonna get you a statue for your foyer . . .
It is a replica of the famed Manekin Piss statue in Brussels, which celebrates the endearing image of a young boy urinating.
Why is there a statue to a boy pissing? IDK - but there is one legend I found online that offers an explanation.
"In the 14th century, Brussels was under siege by a foreign power. The city had held their ground for quite some time. The attackers had thought of a plan to place explosive charges at the city walls. A little boy named Juliaanske from Brussels happened to be spying on them as they were preparing. He urinated on the burning fuse and thus saved the city." -
OMG, gags, do you think my father-son team from this morning was saving Park Slope from some kind of explosive device, like your Brussels kid? They should get a medal! A statue, erected in the very spot were the peeing happened! A TICKER TAPE PARADE! (NYC needs more of those anyway.)
And hell, I'll take the statue if you'll pay to upgrade me to an apartment with a foyer.... -
. . . . or maybe he just wants to be a fireman when he grows up . . .
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Well, no foyer . . . so maybe you'll accept the peeing boy liqour dispensor?
the peeing boy bottle opener
or the manekin piss ashtray?
Your call . . . there is no limit to the crap you can find on ebay. -
well, the bottle opener seems most practical because i can use it as an ashtray once i've imbibed the contents, and i can also pee in it if i aim real careful. but the ashtray does have a certain je ne sais quoi....
the liquor dispenser, on the other hand, is tres gauche. get some taste, for god's sake! who raised you?
wait, never mind. i know who raised you. someone who also indoctrinated you with the idea that street-peeing is OK! -
daver wrote: I saw a chick pee on the subway one night a couple weeks ago. #2 train (haha) Brooklyn bound from 72nd St. Damn, there is a public restroom at 42nd St. Her friends held a big coat out as a privacy barrier. She pissed right on the train, in front of the door leading to the next car. I changed cars at 42nd. Ew.
Man, and someone had to clean that up.
If only you had photocrapped that action and emailed the images to her friends and family. -
The liquor dispenser is lame, no doubt . . . even I don't like it! The bottle opener has a certain appeal, stong, iconic . . . but maybe the ashtray kind of takes the prize, I dont know. Its very elegant AND it makes a statement . . .
"I piss on your cigarette!"
Tough call. -
raw wrote: [quote=daver]I saw a chick pee on the subway one night a couple weeks ago. #2 train (haha) Brooklyn bound from 72nd St. Damn, there is a public restroom at 42nd St. Her friends held a big coat out as a privacy barrier. She pissed right on the train, in front of the door leading to the next car. I changed cars at 42nd. Ew.
Man, and someone had to clean that up.
If only you had photocrapped that action and emailed the images to her friends and family.
Oh man, pics didn't even OCCUR to me. What an opportunity wasted.
Or something.
I was kinda more in the, Oh My Gawd, She Is Seriously *pissing* On The Train. Literally. That Is So Gross. She Must Be A Tourist. Damn They Suck More Every Day. Pissy Bitches, Them All. -
raw wrote: [quote=daver]I saw a chick pee on the subway one night a couple weeks ago. #2 train (haha) Brooklyn bound from 72nd St. Damn, there is a public restroom at 42nd St. Her friends held a big coat out as a privacy barrier. She pissed right on the train, in front of the door leading to the next car. I changed cars at 42nd. Ew.
Man, and someone had to clean that up.
If only you had photocrapped that action and emailed the images to her friends and family.
There was a video online of a woman crapping on the subway platform, and no I will NOT link to it. Just wanted to share. -
johnife wrote: Maybe the kid had been on a bender at Union Hall.
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There's something people didn't consider: What if the kid was autistic?
When an autistic kid is bombarded with sensory overload, it's really difficult for that kid to monitor what's going on with his bladder, the result being that he doesn't know he has to go until it's already an emergency. And many places are much less likely to let someone use their restroom, particularly if they think the kid's acting oddly, which is really discrimination against the autistic. This probably was a worst-case scenario for father and son. I doubt either of them thought this was an ideal solution.
I used to work with an autistic man who would go for long walks around Manhattan, and if he ventured outside his neighborhood where people knew him, he frequently would get barred from using the facilities because of his behavior even when I was there to buy something. Legally, I wasn't allowed to talk specifically about his disability, (which is different here because I no longer work with him and I am not disclosing his name) so I couldn't explain his behavior. Fat lot of good it would have done though because most people equate "autistic" with "crazy". We've managed to avoid him peeing in the street, but one time it was a very near thing. -
A lot of the comments on this thread seem a little shrill. Peeing in the street is not pretty, but it is better then a child getting a bladder infection or being in pain. I work in Bay Ridge and parts of Queens and I often see children peeing on the sidewalk, boys and girls. From what I can tell, it is usually recent immigrant families. Frankly, I kind of admire their inhibitions on this matter. The bottom line for me is that if we are going to accept dogs peeing all day on the streets of Park Slope, then we shouldn’t get all high and mighty about a child doing the same in an emergency.
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what are you trying to say about immigrant families? :-k
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Dogs drink out of toilets and eat out of trashcans too...should we allow children to do so?
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they also lick their asses, but I'd probably allow my child to do that if he or she was limber enough to make it happen.
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don't feed the sock puppet
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Mamacita,
I take offense at your PC comment.
I work in immigrant neighborhoods. I see young children peeing on the streets with their parents or grandparents on a regular basis. I admire the ability of these parents to take care of their child’s emergency without having to worry about what Park Slopesters think. If you want to suggest that I am saying something negative about immigrants, then that is just silly.
By the way, on any given summer weekend in Prospect Park you have plenty of guys and gals peeing in the bushes – so don’t be so high horsey on this. -
Caremn,
Your description of yourself fits you well - I rather agree. -
curious. shall we try to figure out who this is?
jah? imasloper? preciouswilliams? -
Both my parents were immigrants, I have no high horse, I just though you view was.... interesting
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Mamacita,
Thanks for explaining yourself, my grreat grandparents were immigrants.
I also teach a college class with mostly first generation grad students and I really find that people from other countries are often much more direct then we long time Americans are.
Taking care of a child's needs seem pretty basic. That is wat I love about France, public bathrooms everywhere! You just have to pay a little change to use them - a fair deal. -
Weighing in as the OP, I think Apple Pants' view is shrill - and way more PC than Mamacita's. One can be pro-pluralism and anti-street peeing.
As they say, when there are indoor restrooms a'plenty in Rome, do as the Romans do even as you continue to nurture your children's pride in their rich cultural heritage. -
Inelson,
How about pets? Is it okay for a dog to pee in front of my house but a child can't? I love animals, but they are not better then children. if that is shrill, so be it.
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