24.1.14 McDonald's On Ice

This is not a play on words, and any sort of clever link to 'Dancing On Ice', but rather an observation after a recent visit to a McDonald's this week.  The focus of my attention now (and then) is (was) the toilet facilities, and more specifically the size of the men's toilets, plus the use of ice.

The above photograph gives an impression of spaciousness; however, this photo is of the McDonald's Head Office in Finchley, London.  It in no way resembles the facilities available in a typical restaurant.  Usually, as in this week's visit, I find myself in something that a fucking magician could saw in half!  Anyone using the M42 might like to stop off at the services at Junction 11, where there's possibly the smallest men's loos imaginable.  There are two urinals, although anyone standing and pissing at the one nearest the door will be hit by said door if someone enters mid-piss.  Further, the one hand dryer is located alongside that first urinal, and this renders it unusable should there be a person pissing.  In effect, this whole facility is suited to single occupancy, with the possibility of a second visitor on occasions.  WTF?  Simply awful, and if there were a design award for the most useless and inappropriate design ever, then McDonald's would win hands down - exactly where one puts hands to piss, or dry them.

Let's now turn our attention to the 'water free' aspect, promoted and indeed rammed down our throats by McDonald's,

There is an alleged saving of 100,000 litres of water each year, through use of these water-free things.  What is baffling, after this claim, is the policy of using taps which stay on for 12 seconds.  Whatever water is saved by not having to clean piss off a urinal is wasted every time a tap is turned on.

Back to the M42, and a weird phenomenon that I encountered - one I've never seen or heard of before.  Instead of the water-free bowl, I was confronted with an ice-filled receptacle.  Yes, that's right - the urinal was filled with a massive heap of ice which I had to piss over.  This fucking 'water feature' was simply peculiar.  It was preferable to the lake of piss that confronted me at another McDonald's in Liverpool the week before, but still strange.  The experience suggested (by default) that I was preparing some sort of drink, like Martini on the rocks.  If the contraption is supposed to be water-free, why on earth was a bucket of ice tipped into each one.  I pondered this, whilst peeing, and was glad of being alone in the small area.  I finished, used half of the water dispensed to wash my hands, and left.

...