Porta Potty Etiquette 101

Following two weeks of back to back music festivals in Western Colorado, perhaps now is the perfect time for a "refresher" course on the proper use and operation of the common, every day porta potty.

Today's lecture will not concern itself with worn out topics such as leaving the seat up, which way to loop the toilet paper or any other exhausted topic. Our concern today involves a far more basic, amazingly less complex issue, namely, the need to learn how to properly use the door so as to convey the fact the unit is occupied.

How many times at public events have you walked into a porta potty clearly displaying the "vacant" sign, only to discover someone inside, calmly doing their business? The "invasion" of the unit is both horrifying and embarrassing. More importantly, though, it is totally unnecessary, and easily avoided.

Please note the universal sign for "vacant" shown immediately below:

Now please observe the universal sign for "occupied," clearly marked by the red color-coded sign on the door handle.

The door mechanism consists of exactly two possibilities: red or green. That's it. Green is vacant, red is not.

The problems associated with the failure of the door lock mechanism are entirely human error in nature. Put simply, the occupant of the porta potty simply fails to turn the door handle, as was clearly demonstrated in the video above. By failing to do so, the person occupying the unit fails to communicate to those outside the porta potty is in use.

The next time you attend a festival, make the extra effort to turn the door handle, and clearly communicate to everyone in the world the unit is occupied. Let's all avoid embarrassment, horror, and a potential conflict, and turn that handle!