Toilets, Loos, Privies, Earth Closets, etc by S. L. Carlson

Toilets, Loos, Privies, Earth Closets, etc by S. L. Carlson

I’m not one for bathroom humor. Toilets, on the other hand, are a different matter.

Roman engineers were brilliant sewer-builders. Fountains, public baths, public latrines, and important buildings were all hooked up to the system. Water washed the muck away into ditches,  rivers, or lay in cesspools.

Roman men and women went together in the same, open, many-seater latrine. With no toilet paper, they used sponge sticks to wipe their bottoms. Although wealthy people had servants to do this job for them.

A stercorarius had the opportunity to collect muck from cesspools and slop buckets. He’d take them outside the city and sell this black gold to farmers to use on their crops.

In the 1400’s Sir Richard Wittington left money to build a 64-seater latrine in London.

In the countryside during Victorian times, your privy would be a hole in a plank of wood overtop a bucket, called an Earth Closet, as dirt was tossed in between uses. When the bucket got full, the contents went onto the garden or field.

In the 1830’s thousands of people died in London from cholera from the sewage, dead animals, chemicals, etc dumped directly into the Thames, the same water used for drinking.

In 1858, London, a heatwave caused the Big Stink. With 100 ordinary citizens using the same privy, it overflowed into the streets and river. It was so bad that Parliament met away from the Thames. That same year, they started a new sewer system with over 83 miles of sewers.

In the 1860’s USA, Clara Barton climbed into a hole next to a “death bed” – every soldier getting that bed died. She discovered the hole led directly to the cesspool, which fumes were causing the deaths.

Today, there are millions of people who do not have a toilet system with chain or flusher to wash away our muck. Some travelers discover they are unwilling to “go native” over a hole in the floor, and request the location of a “western toilet.”

Bathrooms aren’t mentioned in many of our fictional stories. However, knowing what, where, how, when, and with whom your characters need to do their necessities may get you more into your character’s mindset. Or…perhaps not.

Tea On a Hot Summer's Day by Victoria Chatham

I am fortunate to have a neighbor who loves having tea parties. It's an open house for her guests and you never know who will be there. She has a beautiful silver tea service and a collection of cups and saucers so you can take your pick of a dozen or more different patterns and styles. The conversation flows, the pot never runs dry and, even on a hot summer's day, the tea is wonderfully refreshing. There have been a variety of themes from death by chocolate to cream teas with scones and jam. We've had a shortbread social and a cake corral but always, at the center of it, is the tea, or coffee for those that prefer it.

I drink more tea now than I ever did when I lived in England and, what's more, it's loose leaf tea. My grandmother had a ritual, which I somewhat follow. Tea with her was an event, with the tea pot, hot water jug, milk and sugar bowl on a silver tray. First, the pot had to be warmed. Then the tea was spooned in, one spoon for each cup and one for the pot. I might add the spoon was on the small side. The tea had to sit for a few minutes for it to warm before the freshly boiled, never boiling, water was added. This was allowed to steep and while that 'worked' she poured hot water in each of the cups to warm them. This water was tipped into a 'slop' bowl and then the tea poured into the warmed cup. For those that wanted it, a little milk was added and then sugar to taste.

When I go home to England now to visit my family, I cannot drink tea as they do and they are appalled at my 'naked' tea as I drink it as it comes without milk and sugar. For very special occasions I will have my tea at home, especially if it's White China tea, in a cup and saucer and treat the whole tea making process as an event.

It's not quite as elaborate as a Chinese tea ceremony, but there is a relaxing, almost meditative, pattern to it. My grandmother's edict was that a good cup of tea can fix anything and I think I can agree with that. It's my drink of choice while I am writing and with that I'm going to pour a cup and get back to work.

AVAILABLE HERE

Is the World Slipping Into Lunacy?

To Purchase From Amazon

Is the World Slipping Into Lunacy?

In The BC Province newspaper on Sunday August 5^th I came across a news article that made me realize the world is truly messed up. The writer stated that “A poisoned supply of street drugs continues to kill our loved ones and devastate families across our city. Lives are on the line---people need access to safe prescription drugs rather than being forced to turn to the deadly drugs from organized crime on our streets.”

First of all prescription drugs are legal, from your doctor. People aren’t forced to buy dangerous drugs, they choose to do it (I’ll explain in the next paragraph). Did it not occur to the writer that supplying drugs, legal or not is against the law, unless you are a qualified doctor. Who is supposed to pay for these safe drugs? We the taxpayers? My wife had to use the ambulance this last year when she had a brain injury. Guess what I had to pay for those trips, do you think the druggies are getting bills for their rescues?

So as a writer, in some of the research I’ve done and the people I've talked to, I’ve found this out. Whenever a drug dealer is discovered to have dangerous elements in his drugs, Fentanyl or Carfentanil (which is even stronger), the police tell me that he is swamped with buyers. They want the better high, that is why the dealers make the stuff.

Also the government is supplying Naloxone kits, which if you overdose it will bring you back to life. So guess what is the newest craze, Yo-Yoing. One person OD’s and his buddy hits them with the Naloxone in order to bring them back to life. Why, can’t get a better high they say than Flatlining.

Free drugs? What’s next? If I was a alcoholic or a smoker and ran out, can I go to the government and ask them for free booze and cigarettes? Cause if they gave it to me, I’d only want more and more. Same with a large amount of drug takers.

So more than likely if you supply some of these people with safe drugs, they’ll find a way to sell them or spike them with something stronger. It’s the high they are after, ask them, I did. For some nothing else matters.

Not all, I sympathize with the families on this. So don’t get me wrong I feel deeply for the victims, which is the families, the parents that are left to suffer over a death of their loved ones. That is the bigger part of the horror of drug overdozing. These people care little about themselves and less for the ones that love them, like people that commit suicide, only this is a slower form.

What we need to do is start treating these people and asking why they make the choice to do drugs. Yes, Choice.

I choose to smoke and drink, and work. These people make the choice to take drugs. So you need to get in their heads and find out why. Simply enabling them to do more drugs safely isn’t the answer. Because if it was all of our Quote “safe drug sites” would be helping, but they are NOT as the number of OD’s continues to climb far higher after our province began to have safe injection sites and needles. We are simply enabling them and watching our loved ones die. That is compassion in reverse.

I think we should be doing the opposite, send the ones that are rushed to hospital into clinics, lock them up, clean them up and find out why they are doing what they are doing. After two or more trips, lock them up with severe prison times. Give drug dealers very severe charges, minimum twenty or more years in jail and longer after the first charge. Make anyone caught taking drugs take testing before they can get Welfare. In our province the bulk of OD’s happen on Welfare Wednesdays.

I’ve talked to several paramedics and ambulance people. They are getting very tired of trying to save someone’s life, only to go back the same day and do it again. And again.

The title of that article was, “It takes Moral and political Courage”. I think it takes more courage to take a firm and severe hardline in attacking this problem. Don’t believe me, research the countries that have severe penalties, they don’t have the craziness on our streets like we have and what we are doing is only getting worse every year. Look at the stats people that’s all you need to see and begin to protest to the government for a hard ball line on drugs.

What you need to do is empower these people. In Fort Worth, Texas they now hire street people and pay them to clean the streets, they also give them housing. The results? The street people are grateful and do a much better job than the paid city employees. It is obvious they take pride in their work.

 Make the drug people realize that they have control of their lives and everything they is a matter of choice. Make them accountable for their actions and if they break the law, put them in jail. It happens to the rest of us breaking the law.

I truly am starting to believe by being compassionate, I was in favor of the safe injection sites at one time. Not now, I believe we are simply enabling more to overdose. Check the facts, you’ll see.

And my dearest sympathy to those that lost someone to an overdose. My heart goes out to you.

Sincerely

Frank Talaber

twosoulmates@shaw.ca

Here's the link to my newest Video, Thunderbird's Wake

https://www.facebook.com/FrankTalaber/videos/1831807716887119/

To Purchase from Amazon

My webpage

http://twosoulmates.wixsite.com/frankt-author-blog

Frank Talaber’s Writing Style? He usually responds with: Mix Dan Millman (Way of The Peaceful Warrior) with Charles De Lint (Moonheart) and throw in a mad scattering of Tom Robbins (Even Cowgirls Get The Blues).
PS: He’s better looking than Stephen King (Carrie, The Stand, It, The Shining) and his romantic stuff will have you gasping quicker than Robert James Waller (Bridges Of Madison County).

Or as is often said: You don’t have to be mad to be a writer, but it sure helps.

My novels on Amazon are at:  https://www.amazon.com/Frank-Talaber/e/B00UC407R0

https://www.facebook.com/FrankTalaber/

https://www.facebook.com/franktalaberpublishedauthor/ (My facebook short story page)

http://bwlpublishing.ca/authors/talaber-frank-suspense-urban-fantasy-canada/

T\https://about.me/ftalaber

Twitter: @FrankTalaber

To Purchase From Amazon