America, Why Are There Huge Gaps At The Edge Of Your Toilet Doors?
Yeah, you’ve got freedom. But at what cost?
1. The United States of America is a magnificent place. A place with freedom. And eagles. And breakfast pizza.
2. Unfortunately there is one thing that we (the rest of the world) just can’t get on board with:
3. Seriously, why does seemingly every toilet in America come with a handy gap for people who want to make eye contact with you while you’re taking care of business?!
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4. You get to America and you think, OMG it’s just like in the movies or, Wow, that sure is a large portion of nachos and life seems pretty great. Then you go to the toilet.
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5. And you close the door.
6. And pull down your trous- WAIT WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A GIANT FUCKING GAP IN THE DOOR?!
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7. Your country has done wonderful things for humanity. But WTF is this bullshit, America?!
8. Nope. Nope. Nope.
I will never understand this. Why do American toilet cubicles have a huge door gap?
— Lucy (@LucyMuckyKnees)
9. DON’T LOOK AT ME!
Also, due to there not being "occupied" notices on toilet doors, they instead make the door gap really large. 🚽
— Keith Pitt (@keithpitt)
10. The world wants answers.
question for americans why is there such a massive gap between the toilet door and the side of the cubicle i know people can see me peeing
— emma (@_stxteside)
American toilet doors are stupid and have such a massive gap between door and door frame I hate them
— Char (@char__elise)
Why do American restrooms have that big creepy gap in between the toilet doors? Might as well not be a door there. #helllo 👀
— Ashley Burnett (@BashBurnett18)
What the fuck is it with American toilet stalls? Who thought a massive gap all the way round the door was a good idea?
— Chuck B (@CBellUK)
America: the land of freedom, freedom to take a dump in a toilet where the door ALWAYS has a big gap in it #michigan
— Americanizms (@americanizms)
15. This gap makes mid-poo eye contact a real and terrifying danger.
America - what's the deal with the 1/4 inch gap around every toilet stall door? Looked a drooling, sweat soaked trucker IN THE EYES. AGAIN.
— Sam Russo (@SamRussoMusic)
Just looked through the gap in the toilet cubicle door and watched some dude pee and now i feel dirty
— James Dean (@AffableNitwit)
when u sitting on the toilet and u make eye contact with someone through the little crack in the door 😭😂 @PerlaDerla
— Cynthia Sandoval (@massiel_cynthia)
20. People have been known to go to great lengths to prevent such horrors.
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21. While others have come up with totally radical concepts.
Revolutionary product idea: toilet partitions without a large gap between the door and the walls
— Grant Bauermeister (@DaBauermeister)
22. It’s caused some people to get philosophical.
#lifequestions What's the point of a toilet stall door when there is a 2 inch gap on each side?
— Alicia (@AliciaRev)
23. It also means you can’t even get away with texting from the toilet.
24. This, on the other hand, is the sort of privacy the rest of the world enjoys as they do their stuff.
JUST LOOK AT IT. Beautiful, beautiful isolation.
25. It turns out the US isn’t the only offender. Canada is just as happy making eye contact with pooping strangers.
@ Americans & Canadians Why the fuck is there a two inch gap in between the door and the wall in a toilet stall 😂😭😂
— winnie loves joey (@bethersisowly)
27. And it’s not just the rest of the world that wants answers – it appears Americans themselves aren’t even sure what the deal is.
28. People have even reached out to us. Sadly, we’re unable to help.
@BuzzFeed The toilet door thing is so true. Huge gap at the bottom as well. Why?
— farandwide (@savanattah)
29. It does, however, appear that there is at least one gap-free American toilet.
OMG, first time I've ever found a US toilet stall with NO GAP on either side of the door! Well done, Minneapolis Airport!
— Monty Ⓥ (@theviscountess)
30. You do so many things well. So please, from the bottom of our hearts, sort this shit out. Toilet time is for you and no one else.
My only American gripe so far is the gap between the toilet door and wall in all public toilets. Why would you want to see in to a toilet??!
— Claire Doherty (@ClaireM_Doherty)
33. (We’ll leave the insanely high water level in American toilets until next time. One step at a time.)
Why is the water level in the toilet so high over here?! Also why is there an inch gap between the door and the cubicle?! #ToiletProblems
— C (@Clare0Bear)
why is there so much water in american toilets? It makes splashing a problem and generally seems sub-optimal
— Oliver Gill (@SwoopAE)
Update
It turns out that the one American toilet we mentioned that does have proper doors – Minneapolis Airport – is where the Larry Craig scandal occurred. So perhaps this is why they can’t have nice things/private toilets.
