ForteGVN said: Uhm any Chinese mind explaining the joke? O_O I don't think people in any country would steal toilet paper...
I'm not Chinese, but I'm from a socialist-minded developing country, and I can testify that, unless you're in a quite fancy facility, public restrooms doen't have toilet paper often, usually because there is no enough money for a constant supply, but also because the patrons waste a lot or just steal it because they can. The reasoning (?) behind this tends to be "Public (and unchained) -> No one truly owns this -> I can take it home -> Lets take it home! *grab*". I wouldn't be surprised that in China a similar reasoning could erupt.
Not exactly stealing. There is NO toilet paper to begin with, in public toilets in China. Either there isn't any at all, or you have to buy it at the door. Many of the toilet themselves have to be paid for, something like 30 cents per use. Most people bring their own toilet paper in bags when they go out.
Right now in Beijing there are some parks with free toilet paper, and there are proposals to provide free paper to all toilets in the city. But mind you that is in the capital, and the toilets already with free paper all have a gatekeeper to prevent stealing. China is far from having free toilet paper everywhere.
unicode said: Not exactly stealing. There is NO toilet paper to begin with, in public toilets in China. Either there isn't any at all, or you have to buy it at the door. Many of the toilet themselves have to be paid for, something like 30 cents per use. Most people bring their own toilet paper in bags when they go out.
Right now in Beijing there are some parks with free toilet paper, and there are proposals to provide free paper to all toilets in the city. But mind you that is in the capital, and the toilets already with free paper all have a gatekeeper to prevent stealing. China is far from having free toilet paper everywhere.
I will say that Belgium has a similar system with requiring to pay for restroom use. The upside is that there is usually a person in or outside the restroom that cleans it after every use so ostensibly you pay for a clean experience. Of course, this being Belgium, anything that isn't nailed down is stolen and anything that is nailed down will be stripped for parts.
Anelaid said: I will say that Belgium has a similar system with requiring to pay for restroom use. The upside is that there is usually a person in or outside the restroom that cleans it after every use so ostensibly you pay for a clean experience. Of course, this being Belgium, anything that isn't nailed down is stolen and anything that is nailed down will be stripped for parts.
I learned something new. Up until now I've thought that the Dutch is more famous for being extremely saving, but I've yet to hear toilet paper stealing.
rantuyetmai said: I learned something new. Up until now I've thought that the Dutch is more famous for being extremely saving, but I've yet to hear toilet paper stealing.
Belgium is a weird place. We have the Flemish, who are Dutch, and the Walloons, who are French. Neither side likes each other for one reason or another and blame each other for the country's problems.
Bear in mind how small Belgium is and how ineffectual our police are and all of this is rather funny.
I'm not saying that Belgians aren't into saving, but I remember this Christmas Season there were incidents of people stealing Christmas lights. Christmas lights, man.
I also love Belgium despite some of the political issues.
From where I come from it pretty much depend of the place... In Malls, toilet paper can be found anywhere, fast food places have a low chance of having it and gas stations won't have it. ever.
Note that the chances of finding toilet paper are proportional to the state of the bath itself, from incredibly clean to completely filthy... Maybe this just happens in many other countries.
the other issue with toilet paper in China is that many sewerage systems are not able to handle the more common types of toilet paper (basicly, anything that is thick enough to be of use).
Funnily enough, I'd read a book by an European guy living in Japan in the '80s who testified the exact opposite of this comic - according to him, toilet paper in Japanese public toilets was inexistent, which is why he was ever-grateful for the free tissues given out on the streets.
He left Japan in 1994, so I guess free toilet paper is a relatively recent development in Japan.
And once again my silly ethnocentric view of another topic is shattered. This time in regards to public toilets! Thank you fine ladies and gentlemen above me.
I'm from El Salvador and the common rule my brothers and friends thaught me was that you should not go to any toilet outside your own house unless it's an extreme case. Either public toilets (including most public schools) are totally unhygienic or there is no paper and you may come into some unwanted troubles therefore -.-"
I guess Americans are spoiled when it comes to public restrooms.
But for now, she is moved every time she goes to the toilet.As expected of Japan!!The furigana indicates the Chinese pronunciation for the kanji 日本.Amazing!As expected of Japan!What Yue's biggest shock when she came to Japan was
Yue being the Chinese pronunciation for the kanji character 月, indicating her Chinese background.There's toilet paper in the toilet!!pretty much this.At any rate, all of the toilet stalls contained toilet paper.Opened all of the stalls to checkWhy is it that the Japanese don't steal the toilet paper?It's not exactly a question of why is it?There's toilet paper here too!!