Before we get all giddy about 2021
Or, perspectives from the hospitality business
As we happily enter 2021 I am hopeful that the amazing progress we made in creating viable vaccines for covid-19 will help render the virus inactive or even better, just a bad memory (in the distant future).
But in keeping with the mood of 2020, I'd like share two seemingly trivial observations.
The first is how our guests use air conditioning. If I think about climate change and global warming I tend to look at how people behave, to see if they are adapting their behavior in order to use less energy.
Unfortunately I only see about 30% of our guests using energy carefully. The rest turn on the air conditioning when they first check-in and then let it rip 24 hours a day. I do give hints to the guests that if they're going to be away from their rooms for a while to please turn off the air conditioning, but the recommendations go unheeded.
However, I still have faith that we can win the fight against runaway global warming but the optimism rests on technological solutions rather than a reliance on human behavioral change. Carbon capture, geo-engineering, solar and wind power etc will be our only hope, as people will make only modest changes to their lives.
The second observation is from an Indonesian perspective and has to do with bathroom or more specifically toilet manners.
For those that come from cultures using toilet paper as the primary cleansing material, it may come as a shock to learn that leaving any remaining fecal material on the toilet bowl wall is extremely rude in Indonesia (and other non-tissue using cultures).
Toilets in Indonesia come in two forms: squatting toilets for locals, and Western toilets for all tourist destinations (as well as for upscale Indonesians). Squatting toilets come with a big bucket of water and a small pail with a handle for scooping water in order to have it handy for cleaning yourself, as well as for flushing the toilet. A “flush” is created by emptying a pail full of water into the porcelain hole.
Western toilets come with a "bum gun," which is a hose and a sprayer attachment that rests in a holder on the wall. If you don't use the bum gun as a cleansing solution you should still use it to spray off any remains of your feces that is adhering to the toilet bowl.
Leaving remnants of your bowel movement for the next visitor is incredibly bad manners and Indonesians who have encountered such behavior tend to form opinions about Americans and other Western folk as filthy people.
To be transparent about this issue, I was guilty of not spraying down the toilet bowl after moving to Bali, as like most Americans, I never owned a bum gun. Once an American flushes by pressing the toilet handle it's game over. Whatever is left behind will eventually get flushed away. Time heals all wounds lol.
And to be honest I was unaware of the damage I was doing to non-Americans. It was as if I was blind to the fact that a very useful tool for cleaning the toilet bowl was right next to me each and every day. It took some forceful words from my Indonesian partner for me to "get my shit together". Literally.
Now that I'm a convert to the glories of the bum gun I recommend that you consider installing them for all of your toilets. They're a great cleansing solution. Paper is wasteful and not as good for getting the kind of excellent results you can be proud of. You can still use a small amount of toilet paper to dry off.
If you are having doubts consider this thought experiment: imagine falling down and having your leg accidentally smeared with dog feces. You have a choice of toilet paper or a hose with pressured water spray to clean up with. What do you choose? Clearly the hose does the trick.
Leaving a clean toilet shows respect for others. Yes, there are many important issues in the world but this one is entirely within your control. Again the dual benefits are a cleaner bum and less trees getting axed. A third benefit is to engage in culturally acceptable behavior outside of the USA (or other toilet-paper-centric nations).
May bum guns be a welcome part of your future.
In all sincerity these small changes in human behavior such as turning off electricity you aren't actively using, as well as being considerate of others when using public facilities are small tweaks we can make in the name of improved human conditions for all.
And getting a covid-19 vaccine won't hurt either!
Here's to a much better 2021 and to a more humane humanity!
Feel free to share your 2020 observations or your pet peeves right here. Get it out of your system so that 2020 is gone forever!!!
Later,
Neill
That's an interesting cultural fact. I always noticed the bum guns there but thought they were for cleaning the entire bathroom, only until recently I have used them and def are so much better and hygienic.
My pet peeve is when I see people taking 10,000 paper towels to wipe their hands dry after using the bathroom! Many people living in modern countries nowadays have it so good, they don't understand the term "wasteful" and don't think about how other people are living in this world and think their actions don't have any repercussions.