MALE TALES Issue 1.079; Outhouse....

Outhouse? What's that? That is where we used to housed the toilet, my dears'. And what fasninated me was that we see it, used it, and we hardly noted  it importance in our daily life. So here is an insight into the Outhouse as we don't know of.

Issue 1.079: Outhouse ..

No, I am not touching on the use of latrines.

That was covered by this chap in YOUTUBE. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKkryfdtMNQ and also to use ‘various’ designs of it too.

But I am discussing the concept of Outhouse. This was the concept before the sewers pipe system came into design.

So what is a ‘Outhouse’ ?

Many growing kids may not have seen this yet, unless you are visiting an old house which was build ie, 50 years ago. It looks like shed in the back, but its more elongated like the phone booth. For those of you who saw Dr WHO, then you got a better idea. ( No, darling, it does not open into a another dimension. You only wished you were when you are in one of them older outhouses. )

Under Wiki, the definition of ‘outhouse’ is as below:

An outhouse is a type of toilet in a small structure separate from the main building which does not have a flush and is not attached to a sewer

Surprisingly, when I did this check, I found so many names for these outhouses as stated below:

Dunny ( as called in Australia ) ( maybe it sounds like that when its goes down ......... dunk! )

Thunderbox ( as in NZ ) ( I heard of lightning strikes at Outhouses; so this could be the aftermath...ouch. )

Biffy by the Girls Guide and KYBO by the Boy Scouts. ( no comments here. )

And they are in used in some countries today.

Well, I had my fun on the use of local ‘Outhouses’.

I used one which was on your Maternal Great Grandparents home in the ‘estate’ ie. plantation area. It was built on stilts over the river. You can guessed it; its long drop of over 15 feet to the river. The worse part if that the stilts are wobbly and you are not sure it can carry your weight. And before you go in, you need to do a spot check for snakes or other small creatures whcih may be lurking there. This is more of a concern at night. Well, even reptiles need to use the outhouse too.

The other one was your Grandparents one in the old shop where we used to operate the coffeeshop. The shops were built just before the last World War, and its potty designed; serviced by the “midnight crew’. This is smelly and dirty, who cares as long as your needs overpassed your hygience concerns.

But nothing compared to your school ones, where the aroma is overbearing; no wonder how the school keeper used the fireman hose for cleaning. So being now in the new era, we are blessed with the cistern flush and central collection system. You can sit there for hours, and read “pottery’ book.

But beware, the day may come when you least expect it, you may find one of the other above when you need to use it.

So don;t tell me, I didn’t warn you. I will strongly recommend; clearance before departure.