Porta-Potties

[bandit957]

I usually go to Oktoberfest in Cincinnati each year, and they have big rows of port-a-potties. People always put things in the toilet bowls. At least once, someone put a metal pickle jar lid in the toilet. Other items include a pair of jeans, a phone book, and a lid from a tub of Blue Bonnet margarine. Miss Blue Bonnet leered at all bathroom goers from the abysmal depths of the toilet bowl. I remember one year when they gave out cardboard fans with the Geico Gecko on them, and people kept putting them in the toilets.

[1995hoo]

The Preakness Stakes in Baltimore used to be notorious for the people in the infield having "port-a-john races" where they'd run across the tops of the rows of those things (while other people threw things at them).

[TheCatalyst31]

Are we talking about clinching individual porta potties or banks of them? 

Depends on how anal-retentive you are.

Pun intended?

Very much so.

[kphoger]

a pair of jeans

And somewhere, there was a guy walking around in naught but his underwear.

[Scott5114]

I'd guess that's true at most tribal casinos around the country as well.

It very much depends on the tribe, the age of the casino, and what tier of property they are.

The second casino I worked at in Oklahoma was technically classed as what the Strip would call "luxury tier" but was just called "Tier C" there. It had a bathroom where one of the stalls didn't lock correctly, the mirror had graffiti engraved into it, it was warmer than the rest of the casino, and it always vaguely smelled of pee. But that particular property had started with a Conoco as its nucleus and more and more wings were added onto it (of varying quality) as they decided to add more and more machines. That bathroom had originally been the one in the Conoco. Needless to say that property attained Tier C status by something like machine count or coin-in (it was popular due to location) rather than its amenities.

The other Tier C facility in that region (which was the first one I worked at) was once the site of an identical Conoco, but for that property they just demolished the Conoco and built a casino from scratch. It was appointed similar to a typical Strip property (from memory, its gaming floor was roughly the size of Excalibur's). Much nicer restrooms, although I absolutely despise the management there.

In case you're wondering what a "Tier A" must be like, those were the facilities that started as a Conoco and never really grew beyond that—imagine something like a typical Nevada gas station if it had a couple more banks of machines.

[TheCatalyst31]

I'd guess that's true at most tribal casinos around the country as well.

It very much depends on the tribe, the age of the casino, and what tier of property they are.

The second casino I worked at in Oklahoma was technically classed as what the Strip would call "luxury tier" but was just called "Tier C" there. It had a bathroom where one of the stalls didn't lock correctly, the mirror had graffiti engraved into it, it was warmer than the rest of the casino, and it always vaguely smelled of pee. But that particular property had started with a Conoco as its nucleus and more and more wings were added onto it (of varying quality) as they decided to add more and more machines. That bathroom had originally been the one in the Conoco. Needless to say that property attained Tier C status by something like machine count or coin-in (it was popular due to location) rather than its amenities.

The other Tier C facility in that region (which was the first one I worked at) was once the site of an identical Conoco, but for that property they just demolished the Conoco and built a casino from scratch. It was appointed similar to a typical Strip property (from memory, its gaming floor was roughly the size of Excalibur's). Much nicer restrooms, although I absolutely despise the management there.

In case you're wondering what a "Tier A" must be like, those were the facilities that started as a Conoco and never really grew beyond that—imagine something like a typical Nevada gas station if it had a couple more banks of machines.

Now I'm imagining there's an Oklahoma state law that all gambling facilities have to begin life as a Conoco before they're allowed to add machines.

[Scott5114]

Now I'm imagining there's an Oklahoma state law that all gambling facilities have to begin life as a Conoco before they're allowed to add machines.

WinStar in Thackerville started as a tent with bingo in it. The Artesian in Sulphur started as a motel (although the current Artesian is a fresh build intended to replicate the style of the 1906 Artesian Hotel which burned down in 1962; it isn't architecturally related to the motel which was built to replace the original Artesian, which was purchased out of bankruptcy by the Chickasaw Nation in 1972 to become the Chickasaw Motor Inn, the tribe's first business).

The whole point of tribal gaming is to use tribal sovereignty to operate a business which the state disallows other businesses from offering, then use the income from that for the tribe's benefit. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed in 1988, a lot of tribes didn't really have much in the way of an income stream, so they kind of had to start small and build their way up.

In 1988, several tribes already operated smokeshops (taking advantage of tribal sovereignty to sell tobacco at a lower price to the customer by circumventing state tobacco taxes). For whatever reason (likely because most of the area in Oklahoma's tribal service areas and thus eligible for gaming is rural), many of those in Oklahoma happened to also be a convenience store. (The ones mentioned in my previous post both had a fast-food restaurant too). So with the advent of tribal gaming, it made sense to clear out a little bit of space in the smokeshop/convenience store for a bank of slot machines. (Nevada convenience stores have a similar arrangement, so it's possible they got the idea from there.) Then, with the money they made from the tobacco and the few slot machines they could fit, they could reinvest in the business by adding on to add more space for more machines, and so on. (Newcastle Casino reached its present configuration from eight rounds of this.) Then take the money you're making from that and you can afford to start building casinos from scratch without having to work them up from a gas station. Then with that money you can build hospitals and housing and gyms and whatever else you want for the tribe's benefit (the route a lot of the larger tribes went), or else disburse it directly to tribal members as a dividend (which is what the smaller tribes tend to do).

Even the tribes with big casinos still build the combo gas-station-and-slot-machine facilities, since there's a market there for the impulse gambler who decides to put a few bucks in a slot machine while they're in the store for something else. They are also usually strategically located near a larger casino. Most casinos forbid employees from gambling at the facility they work at for conflict-of-interest reasons. But those employees are welcome to hand their checks back to their employer at the satellite property.

[kphoger]

a pair of jeans

And somewhere, there was a guy walking around in naught but his underwear.

Side note.  History is fun.

I was recently reading about Origen Adamantius, who was one of the big names among very early Christian theologians.  He as born in the late 2nd Century in Alexandria, Egypt.  In the year 202, Emperor Severus ordered persecution against Roman citizens who openly practiced the Christian religion.  Because Origen's father was both a Roman citizen and also an openly practicing Christian, he was taken to be beheaded.  Origen, not quite seventeen years old at the time, decided to accompany his father to the executioners and give his life for the sake of his religion as well.  Now, Origen was the eldest of nine children, with six younger brothers and two younger sisters.  As such, his mother wasn't exactly keen on seeing him die alongside her husband.  So she hatched a plan to keep Origen from leaving the house:  she hid all of his clothes.  And it worked, too:  Origen stayed home and instead wrote a letter to his dad, encouraging him to stay strong in the face of martyrdom.

So, to sum up:  this 16-year-old guy considered leaving the house naked to be literally a fate worse than death.

[The_Ginger]

a pair of jeans

And somewhere, there was a guy walking around in naught but his underwear.

Side note.  History is fun.

I was recently reading about Origen Adamantius, who was one of the big names among very early Christian theologians.  He as born in the late 2nd Century in Alexandria, Egypt.  In the year 202, Emperor Severus ordered persecution against Roman citizens who openly practiced the Christian religion.  Because Origen's father was both a Roman citizen and also an openly practicing Christian, he was taken to be beheaded.  Origen, not quite seventeen years old at the time, decided to accompany his father to the executioners and give his life for the sake of his religion as well.  Now, Origen was the eldest of nine children, with six younger brothers and two younger sisters.  As such, his mother wasn't exactly keen on seeing him die alongside her husband.  So she hatched a plan to keep Origen from leaving the house:  she hid all of his clothes.  And it worked, too:  Origen stayed home and instead wrote a letter to his dad, encouraging him to stay strong in the face of martyrdom.

So, to sum up:  this 16-year-old guy considered leaving the house naked to be literally a fate worse than death.

To be fair, in certain social situations, it still is.

[Scott5114]

To be fair, in certain social situations, it still is.

It really depends on the society. In Las Vegas it'd go something like:

"Hey honey, guess what I saw on the way home? Some naked guy."
"Huh. You go through Jones and Spring Mountain for some reason?"
"Nah, it was Sahara and Valley View."
"That was gonna be my next guess."
"Anyway, what's for dinner?"

I think age is also a factor. When I was younger changing in front of people made me nervous. At some point I switched over to thinking, so what if someone looks at me? Either they don't like what they see, in which case they should stop looking, or they do like what they see, in which case, cool, maybe I made their day better.

[Takumi]

As a kid they were one of my biggest fears (along with dandelions for some reason). Now I'm completely fine with them.

I had an irrational fear of being taken by the waste company while using the porta-potty as a kid. It never occurred to me that they would check to see if it's occupied before taking it.

[Max Rockatansky]

As a kid they were one of my biggest fears (along with dandelions for some reason). Now I'm completely fine with them.

I had an irrational fear of being taken by the waste company while using the porta-potty as a kid. It never occurred to me that they would check to see if it's occupied before taking it.

When I was little I thought deer were carnivorous monsters that lurked in the back yard at night.  My mom only described them as being things out only at night to eat.  My imagination filled in the rest of that basic description.  I recall being afraid to look out the window at night because might become alerted to my presence. 

[kphoger]

I think age is also a factor. When I was younger changing in front of people made me nervous. At some point I switched over to thinking, so what if someone looks at me? Either they don't like what they see, in which case they should stop looking, or they do like what they see, in which case, cool, maybe I made their day better.

I've mentioned before that one of my pet peeves is gym bros posing in front of the mirror in the locker room.  So now, when I go in there to change clothes, I take all my clothes off before even unpacking my gym bag or unlocking the locker or whatever, just so I'm naked for as much of the time as possible, with the hope that maybe the gym bro will become uncomfortable and leave.

I can't say if it's been a successful strategy or not.

[Scott5114]

I think age is also a factor. When I was younger changing in front of people made me nervous. At some point I switched over to thinking, so what if someone looks at me? Either they don't like what they see, in which case they should stop looking, or they do like what they see, in which case, cool, maybe I made their day better.

I've mentioned before that one of my pet peeves is gym bros posing in front of the mirror in the locker room.  So now, when I go in there to change clothes, I take all my clothes off before even unpacking my gym bag or unlocking the locker or whatever, just so I'm naked for as much of the time as possible, with the hope that maybe the gym bro will become uncomfortable and leave.

I can't say if it's been a successful strategy or not.

Imagine if you photobombed one of them!

[kphoger]

Imagine if you photobombed one of them!

Or, just, —Heyyyy, lookin' goooooood!