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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Have any of you ever used a real outhouse?"
Link to tweet
Christopher David
@Tazerface16
Have any of you ever used a real outhouse?
Bear with me here.
If you have, have you ever felt the urge to look down and see what's beneath your butt?
You know you shouldn't, but you do it anyway and your worst fears are confirmed?
That's a Rudy press conference.
12:18 PM · Nov 20, 2020
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,836 posts)Sneederbunk
(14,300 posts)Laha
(408 posts)woodsprite
(11,924 posts)I looked because I was afraid of a black widow spider or copperhead. Maybe with Rudy's hair dye, he's more a brown recluse.
OLDMDDEM
(1,577 posts)My grandparents had an outhouse. This was 60-70 years ago. Sears catalog instead of toilet paper. I never looked down, but I can imagine, from the smell, what his press conference was like.
Shermann
(7,428 posts)OLDMDDEM
(1,577 posts)That it was - - literally.
Harker
(14,034 posts)wish you had some t.p.
OLDMDDEM
(1,577 posts)I remember is joking about there not being staples in the catalog.
sarge43
(28,945 posts)Not unlike the Trump administration
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)looking in the hole. As one would imagine, it was disgusting. It's something I can't forget.
I also fell in a cesspool at about 2 years old.
I can't imagine!!
MyOwnPeace
(16,937 posts)I'm amazed that you didn't support those that wanted to "Drain the Swamp!"
ProfessorGAC
(65,168 posts)Sorry, natural mistake. You said cesspool & I thought trump!
AllaN01Bear
(18,384 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Number 1, but try to exit as fast as possible.
SWBTATTReg
(22,166 posts)you ... Rudi and his press conf. was far worse.
doc03
(35,364 posts)it always had WASP nests. You know bottle collectors look for old abandoned outhouses. They dig them up for bottles people threw in them. A few years ago a local bottle collector got killed digging one up when it collapsed on him. Anyway it reminds me of Rudy's shit stained face.
Spell checker capitalizes WASP
csziggy
(34,137 posts)Silly thing.
More than an exercise in homophonous humor, "Candidate for a Pullet Surprise" endures as a cautionary tale for all those who place too much trust in spell checkers.
Candidate for a Pullet Surprise
by Mark Eckman and Jerrold H. Zar
I have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.
Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it's weigh.
My checker tolled me sew.
A checker is a bless sing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when eye rime.
Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.
Bee fore a veiling checker's
Hour spelling mite decline,
And if we're lacks oar have a laps,
We wood bee maid too wine.
Butt now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
Their are know fault's with in my cite,
Of nun eye am a wear.
Now spelling does knot phase me,
It does knot bring a tier.
My pay purrs awl due glad den
With wrapped word's fare as hear.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should bee proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaw's are knot aloud.
Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays
Such soft wear four pea seas,
And why eye brake in two averse
Buy righting want too pleas.
https://www.thoughtco.com/spell-checker-poem-by-mark-eckman-1692348
doc03
(35,364 posts)it let me type Al. Like WASP it would not let me type wasp so I finally gave up. That was on my cell I am on my laptop now.
csziggy
(34,137 posts)It's still on for texting and it is a PITA.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)He built up a little compound in upstate NY which was actually pretty cool with bridges and paths and a few cottages and yes, outhouses. Everything was completely natural. They had a pump for water and bathed in the stream. There were wood stoves and it was so cozy and charming. Of course, I only stayed there in the summer. I am sure the winters must have been a bit tougher.
As for the outhouses, I never looked. I was kind of scared, so I just went and ran away as fast as I could. That was the least pleasant aspect of the whole experience but the rest was great. It was really kind of amazing now that I look back on it. They are still there and have built it into something quite sophisticated, yet still off the grid. Solar panels and all that. It's really an amazing place and I feel very fortunate to have had that experience growing up.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,494 posts)The tumblebugs were entertaining for us country kids along with reading the old Sears catalog.
That cold winter wind blowing out the hole up yer ass makes me think of a Republican's disposition.
Never saw anything as ugly as Rudy down there, though.......
murielm99
(30,761 posts)We had one when I was a little girl. We lived in a trailer that had no indoor plumbing. We moved away from there when I was six.
mopinko
(70,208 posts)and a lot of birdwatching in county forest preserves.
i try not to look.
marie999
(3,334 posts)There weren't any outhouses so we made do. If you don't know what leaves to use, you better bring toilet paper. Either that or a bowl of water and your left hand.
Biophilic
(3,691 posts)I spent 7 years in south central Missouri with outhouses as the main thing. They were orderly, clean, sweet smelling (most of the time) using ash and wood shavings. As I said, way better shape than Rudy's press conferences.
Klaralven
(7,510 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,168 posts)Well, fun might not be right word!
Klaralven
(7,510 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,168 posts)Oddly though, he lived only 7 blocks away from us, both houses in the middle of the near west side of a 75,000 person river city.
No indoor plumbing at all. A hand pump mounted on the sink hooked to a cistern
In the 60s!
I think my mom grew up pretty poor, but somehow she went to private schools G1 to 12.
When I was 10 or so, I'd put his clean clothes in my bike baskets & ride them over.
If I needed to go, I'd just ride faster & wait until I got home!
The kids next door did shovel that sidewalk for him!
CRK7376
(2,203 posts)talks about shoveling snow to get to the outhouse. He got a scooter in the late 1929-30 for Christmas and had to shovel a path from his house to the outhouse so that he could ride on his scooter until spring and thawed out streets occured.
Tommymac
(7,263 posts)Not a good feeling. I know.
Midnightwalk
(3,131 posts)You don't need any reading material...
handmade34
(22,757 posts)I currently have an outhouse I built on my property and have used plenty when out hiking... and No. Using an outhouse doesn't even come close to witnessing the shit coming out of Rudy Giuliani
central scrutinizer
(11,661 posts)No electricity, no running water, no propane. Wood cook stove, kerosene lamps. The outhouse was an old truck cab on railroad tie skids. Every few months Id dig a new hole, drag the outhouse over it, fill the previous hole.
ismnotwasm
(42,008 posts)Gothmog
(145,554 posts)Buckeye_Democrat
(14,856 posts)I stayed with a cousin of my mother, and his outhouse was within the fence for his bull for whatever reason. So we had to avoid the bull for the privilege of using his outhouse with a wasp's nest on it.
sinkingfeeling
(51,473 posts)building our farm house in the early 1960s.
I know what he's talking about.
OregonBlue
(7,754 posts)an indoor bathroom and septic. My parents kept it very clean and there was toilet paper so not really terrible. We also took baths in a great big wash tub in the kitchen. And yes, Rudy press conferences and his mind are worse than anything I ever saw down that hole.
I_UndergroundPanther
(12,480 posts)Back in the mountains of north carolina in the 70's..They had toilet paper in there a chain holding it to the wall
with nails and an eyehook to change the roll. Yes I looked below my butt but it was so dark all I saw was dark.
It was a long ways down.
Response to Nevilledog (Original post)
I_UndergroundPanther This message was self-deleted by its author.
I_UndergroundPanther
(12,480 posts)Back in the mountains of north carolina in the 70's..They had toilet paper in there a chain holding it to the wall
with nails and an eyehook to change the roll. Yes I looked below my butt but it was so dark all I saw was dark.
It was a long ways down.
Midnight Writer
(21,795 posts)My family lived there just a few months. We rented it from my uncle whose parents had lived there until they passed. A lot of our daily lives involved hauling water in from the well. Taking a bath was quite an operation, especially with four kids.
And just down the road from me is a tourist attraction. A two story outhouse. A friend of mine bought the land it sits on and built a little park and garden around it. He maintained it, kept it painted and clean. People think it's a joke, but folks used to use it.
Ms. Toad
(34,087 posts)There was an outhouse on the farm when I grew up - we had indoor toilets, but we used the outhouse when the electricity was out since it could be days before it came back on again. Just missed the outhouse in the one-room-country school I attended until 7th grade. They build an addition with a toilet just before I started kindergarten (but the outhouses were still on the property and were also used when the electricity was out).
Rudy, and what he, Trump, and others are doing to democracy is far more disgusting.
TNNurse
(6,929 posts)There is a lot to be done to get an inside toilet. A well, a septic tank and field and all the indoor work to connect them, so yes for way too long.
After we had things functional indoors, we invited friends who had helped us to a party. After piling scrap lumber in for a very long time, we shot bottle rockets at it and set it on fire.
Yes, we has an outhouse burning party. The only one I ever attended, burying the pit was a special event.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)lots. Our tailgate group was in one of those lots so I HAD to use them. the regular bathroom was a bit of a hike away but in nice weather it was a pleasant enough stroll. The outhouses were awful.
58Sunliner
(4,398 posts)gibraltar72
(7,511 posts)DanieRains
(4,619 posts)Gotta geter pumped once a year....
Old Terp
(464 posts)up until about 1970 when they got indoor plumbing. We did a lot of camping, especially on our cross country trips. The National Forest campgrounds often had outhouses, especially the smaller, more remote ones. Ah, those were good days.
democrank
(11,103 posts)Way out at the end of the barn. No lights at night.
Still better than Rudys lie-fest.
Stuart G
(38,445 posts)It was in 1959 or 60. For 10 days, , I was at scout camp. We lived in large tents..2 to a tent,
and it was everyone's job, to clean the outhouse once. So my turn came, and took the bucket and
water, and soap, (or was it ammonia) and cleaned the entire area in the outhouse - seat, floor, etc...And
yes, I did look down..it was a long way down, and saw nothing...I suspect it was a long way down, and I don't remember throwing the ammonia down the hole..(maybe I did)...What does one say? After a few days,
I got used to taking a s**t in the outhouse. Not the best experience, but as I look back, not the worst
either.
Ilsa
(61,698 posts)When you hike in the wilderness for five days, you make do with less.
Jirel
(2,025 posts)I can't say I've felt the urge to go look down. But then, I've used one on the ranch so many times that I don't really care much as long as there isn't a daddy longlegs plague in in there, and the TP is dry.
paleotn
(17,956 posts)2naSalit
(86,775 posts)Evolve Dammit
(16,763 posts)hunter
(38,326 posts)She was a cattle rancher in the Wild West.
When her grandson bought modern plumbing from Sears Roebuck & Company for the big house, to please his bride, my great grandma was convinced it would be the ruination of them all.
It wasn't.
We'd stay with my great grandmother, about 500 yards from the big house with Sears Roebuck & Company plumbing, in the small cabin with the outhouse out back.
As a kid waking up in the middle of the night having to pee, I usually didn't get so far as the outhouse. I'd go out the back door, take a few steps, and pee anywhere.
BusyBeingBest
(8,059 posts)I once pulled down my shorts to pee in a vault toilet at a trailhead in New Mexico and was bitten on the behind by a deerfly or horsefly that came up out of the overly-full toilet mess below me. I still cringe at the memory of that disgusting moment.
tinrobot
(10,916 posts)lastlib
(23,286 posts)(*"You Owe Me A New Keyboard"
These should come with a warning to cover it!
A trumpDump (portable toilet) has the same effect.
demigoddess
(6,644 posts)have indoor plumbing. Also I remember when I was small watching my grandfather build an outhouse in his backyard. My earliest memory. Don't know how old I was. But I remember it.
marble falls
(57,204 posts)DemoTex
(25,403 posts)One of the nicer outhouses, from my six years at East Butte fire lookout in Oregon.
Outhouse at Lemmon Rock fire lookout in Arizona.
trof
(54,256 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,706 posts)Kind of a disgusting weird one, but yes...
BumRushDaShow
(129,440 posts)or else -->
Used them at camp. Called them "latrines" to give them some "class".
Chipper Chat
(9,687 posts)As I remember they didn't smell. But looking down was crappy (pun intended). I canstill hear the sound of the flies buzzing. And yes to the sears catalog.
Cheviteau
(383 posts)Late 30's - late 40's, Very rural Texas on my grandfather's ranch where I was born and reared. And yes, I did look down occasionally. Not bragging here, but the scene below was much more pleasing to the eyes than Rudy's press conference. Dare I say, in all likelihood, it probably smelled better.
Ms. Toad
(34,087 posts)Kaleva
(36,341 posts)pnwmom
(108,994 posts)Last edited Fri Nov 20, 2020, 08:40 PM - Edit history (1)
I decided I didn't need to return.
The idea of taking my turn at cleaning the outhouse had zero appeal. It was bad enough having to sit at tables, working on badges for hours. School was better than Girl Scout day camp.
BMW2020RT
(139 posts)We also bathed in big metal tub on the porch.
ChazInAz
(2,572 posts)Not only have I used a "Real outhouse", I have braved the Portapotties at Burning Man and Saguaro Man!
Marcuse
(7,506 posts)3825-87867
(855 posts)Later years as post teen, lots of wide jungle flora.
warmfeet
(3,321 posts)Rudy is an outhouse, the contents of the bottom of one anyway.
I would not call what he did, a press conference.
I would characterize it as shitting down your own face while lying your ass off. Just another typical republican.
Hassler
(3,390 posts)I once used an outhouse that was so out, it didn't have walls. In Minnesota's BWCA. Just a throne in the woods. Nicest view ever for a sit-down.
ThoughtCriminal
(14,049 posts)Made me think of the scene in "The 5th Element" when Zorg was on the phone with "Mr Shadow".
LeftInTX
(25,551 posts)I kept closing the stupid door to the thing, but couldn't breath and couldn't go either.
Finally, I just left the door open...heck with that....
Captain Zero
(6,823 posts)My grandfather's farm in Ohio was my first memory of one. I was less than 4.
It was a 2-Holer ! So you could sit on one hole and look down the other !
CRK7376
(2,203 posts)10 acre farm surrounded by another 300 plus acres of woods and farmland 32 years ago with what is now a 105 year old famhouse that we have raised 3 kids in, last kid in Paramedic school now....Anyway our farm came with a good barn, good granary, a rock biddie house for baby chickens, a large chicken coop 12x30 on a concrete slab, a collapsing pig pen also on a concrete slab, a 2 level corncrib full of the old farmers shoes, the original cookhouse, not attached to the farmhouse, the cookhouse had a very nice woodshed attached and beside the woodshed an outhouse. It was a perfectly functional outhouse that I used multiple times while we were refininshing floors (heartpine) and chesnutt chair railing, chesnutt beadborad paneling grown, cut and sawmilled on the farm. Anyway, the outhouse was a prefectlly useable outhouse. My wife was not happy with it, the house had updated plumbing and septic tank etc...We were also doing some work on the well and plumbing....we kept the outhouse for about six months until we got the well, plumbing and new fixtures fixed. Prior to moving in we tore down the outhouse, filled in the pit and now have a beautiful red maple gowing. The outhouse tin roof was saved to be used as needed. The rest of the outhouse, we burned it ontop of the pigpen killing two birds with one stone, 2 eyesores gone, the corncrib followed a week later. It's time to replace the barn, it's on the verge of falling down after the massive storm that rolled through here a few weeks ago. If we still had that outhouse I would gladly use it daily to dump on Trump!!!
IsItJustMe
(7,012 posts)Given that, the portable pottys are worse, especially at state fairs when hundreds of people are using them. For now on, I will think of Rudy every time I use one. Thanks for the memory, not. LOL
Lars39
(26,116 posts)of grandparents lived near gullies. A well built and periodically limed outhouse really doesnt stink.
colsohlibgal
(5,275 posts)My Maternal Grandmother lived on the Ohio Side and about a football field East of the Silver Bridge that collapsed into the Ohio River in 1967. She eventually put in a modern inside bathroom but before that had an outhouse. I remember stressing my leg muscles when I had to before my bladder burst.....but I was not going to touch any part of it.