A message to the genius, wherever he was originally from, who decided...

...that the light switches on European bathrooms ought to be on the outside of the room. My message to you, sir, is as follows: you're a fucking asshole. I thank you for your time.

you'll be wanting locks on the inside next. man up cowboy.

J0hn, I can explain: they're paranoid about humidity in bathrooms and how that mixes with electricity, so no switches or outlets (other than the mysterious 'shaver' outlet) are allowed in bathrooms. Stronger voltage relative to America might also be an issue.

if they did this in America, children would spend much creative energy scouting out an occasion to force their elders to shit in the dark

you can get lights inside a bathroom where you pull a string to turn them on.

^^^The string thing, connected to a bathroom light encased in a fixture, is acceptable.

If you'd quit being so lazy and construct a Rube Goldberg machine to flip the switch up or down...

Americans would sue the shit out of that designer, tear down those bathrooms and rebuild with light switches inside. The way they're SUPPOSED to be

(though we won't talk about failed American plumbing and little teeny toilet s-bends that need plunging thrice daily.)

I am looking for a house right now and you'd be amazed how many American houses have the bathroom light switch in the hallway. I haven't immediately disqualified houses on that basis, but it's tempting.

lool at college the lightswitches to the communal bathroom (toilets/showers etc) were on the outside of the main door. there were many moments of childish amusement derived from turning off the lights when people were in the shower

We have 2 lightswitches in our Jack & Jill bathroom, and if one is left in the up position and you try to turn it off with the other, they don't work, so you have to walk back and switch the other lightswitch. Gets v confusing.

that genius

was william shakespeare

high five

We have 2 lightswitches in our Jack & Jill bathroom, and if one is left in the up position and you try to turn it off with the other, they don't work, so you have to walk back and switch the other lightswitch. Gets v confusing.

speaking as an actual electrician apprentice, this represents a miswiring of your 3-way switch system and can be fixed fairly easily by somebody with the knowledge.

thanks sleeve!

For some reason light switches in a lot bathrooms in Boston apartments are on the outside. It's annoying at first but I'm used to it now.

when i was 12 i was part of a delegation of kids my age who went overseas to the british isles--i suppose under the pretense of spreadiing positive perceptions of intelligent young american students (funny in and of itself) but we really kind of just went places and did tourist things--and every time i'd go to shower some brat would take advantage of my fear of a) the dark and b) being naked by using the switch outside the bathroom to combine them. then again we did catch a pair of breasts on late night tv in the hotel room so i guess i came out even

dam john europe just got bathrooms like last week give em a minute to work this out for themselves ~~ otherwise they will never learn

I am in America. There are two light switches for the bathroom. They are both outside the room. Also the lightswitch for the bedroom is outside the bedroom, and the two lightswitches when you come in are SIDEWAYS even though the rest are the right way up.

Also, there are three lightswitches for the kitchen area. The one for two lights on the ceiling and the one for under the counter are next to each other, whereas the one for the other two ceiling lights, which are NEXT to the other lights, is on the other side of the kitchen.

http://www.sz-wholesale.com/uploadFiles/upimg4%5CTouch-light_44244.jpg

just keep this next to the toilet, guys

my switches are on the outside wall. i think it just makes it so that the majority run along the same line (ie less wiring work?)

it's so flying shitgerms don't smother the lightswitch u disgusting savages

oh shit dyao i have two of those sitting in my closet

just press them to light them, gbx

do they turn them on and off with their feet?

yes they do

How is this a problem - it just means the bathroom is lit up before you even set foot in it? That's better, surely?

Plus you can find out if there's someone in the bathroom by switching the light off and waiting for someone to say "Hey!"

and if there's someone in the bathroom, you can use the light switch to send them important messages in morse code.

thinking like this led Europe to defeat in WWII iirc

It would have been over a lot quicker if the lightswitch for der Fuhrerbunker had been on the outside tbh.

okay who's the genius who put the detonator for the atom bomb on the OUTSIDE of the bomb??

it wasn't that long ago we had the three day week mister, when you couldn't afford to poop. occasionally forgetting the switch is on the other side of the wall is a priviledge we should cherish before cameron sells all the lights.

or something.

would the last person to leave BROKEN BRITAIN please TURN out the LIGHTS (Switch located on the coast of France)

Even when there is a light switch it turns on an EC-approved low energy bulb that provides no real light and has been forced on the people of this great nation by foreign Eurocrats.

>EC-approved low energy bulb

My mother has been stockpiling 200 watt incandescent bulbs since she heard about this - she's got a bankers box full in the garage which she claims will "see her through"...

I don't think there's any "European" standard to this, I've seen light switches both on the inside and the outside of bathrooms in Europe. In Finland they tend to be outside in older apartments (like mine), but outside in the newer ones. Maybe it's because insulation has gotten better, so there's no worries about humidity and electricity?

Anyway, unless you live with someone who uses the outside switch to pull pranks on you, I don't see what's the problem. You put the light on before you go in, and you turn it off when you come out. What's the deal?

I think it's mure of a hassle, if you're using an unfamiliar bathroom with the light switch inside, to try to find the lightswitch in the dark bathroom. An outside switch makes it much easier.

who are all these people that forget where their bathroom lightswitch is in the dark?

Sometimes a combination of sleepiness and urgency can be pretty befuddling.

who are all these people that forget where their bathroom lightswitch is in the dark?

But sometimes you have to use other bathrooms than your own, you know?

then you should deal with the switch situation with grace and dignity, and be sure to flush each time.

hahah I just realized that our bathroom's switches are also outside the room. It was just something I, y'know, ACCEPTED. :-)

Plus you can find out if there's someone in the bathroom by switching the light off and waiting for someone to say "Hey!"

Someone did this to me in our shared house in uni. But I was washing my hair and had my eyes shut, so my response was somewhat delayed.

can we deal with the much more pressing issue concerning us all. American light switches are upside down.

you what?

this fuckin continent imo

I read that as:

this fuckin content imo

eveything should be the same everywhere imho.

don't want to cross pollenate the controversial topics of our times, but i heard that in the US you need 76 SB's before you get banned.

poo's early work was much more engrossing

i also sing the Twilight Zone song "doo-doo doo-doo, doo-doo doo-doo" song while i turn the light on and off

tbh foisting nakedness upon others is my raison d'être

it's my banana d'joie

haha oh fuck I typed that without thinking about the fam-name implications lol my bad

So basically this thread boils down to three facts...

1) Americans don't like it when things are different than in America.

2) Americans need to be control of things all the time.

3) Americans have a heavy fear of pranksters.

O_O

also poo effects dont forget poo effects

4) Tuomas's hate of fun does not respect national boundaries

You've been reading ILX for how long and you just came to those conclusions?????

So basically this thread LIFE boils down to three facts...

1) Americans don't like it when things are different than in America.

2) Americans need to be control of things all the time.

3) Americans have a heavy fear of pranksters.

fixed

Tuomas how dare you make sweeping generalizations about America based on light switches

I don't hate fun, I just don't understand it.

Americans need to be control of things all the time.
Americans need to be control of things all the time.
Americans need to be control of things all the time.
Americans need to be control of things all the time.
Americans need to be control of things all the time.
Americans need to be control of things all the time.
Americans need to be control of things all the time.
Americans need to be control of things all the time.
Americans need to be control of things all the time.

5) American ilxors are aware of their country's cultural dominance, and think it's funny to express mock outrage about other cultures not conforming to the American way of life. (see also: pizza)

Donnybrook between two gangsters
And a bunch of merry pranksters
Two against a .22,
Well who d'ya think is gonna win
That...fight...fight?
Ten ta one it's the gangsters,
Those pranksters they can't even fight!

Gangsters like their knuckles bloody
Pranksters spike the drinks of their buddies

Gangsters treat their ladies right
And pranksters curse their chick-less plight
(Aw man, there's no dames)

I'VE GOT ALL THIS HARVARD LSD
WHY WON'T ANYONE FUCK ME ?!?

Whoops, missed an "in" there.

1. Not really, if they still make very good sense, which switch on the outside does not. Also, such madness does exist in the US.

2. Overgeneralized.

3. That's true. Ever since 9/11 we're wary of practical jokes on all scales.

I don't hate fun, I just don't understand it.

....

dammit, he really did just pwn us, and effortlessly too

I thought pizza was Italian?

okay you are trolling us

I'VE GOT ALL THIS HARVARD LSD
WHY WON'T ANYONE FUCK ME
^^^
the line that earned SM a permanent spot in the HOF

i'm still laughing from hearing that the first time

I don't hate fun, I just don't understand it.

― Tuomas, Tuesday, October 13, 2009 7:20 PM (47 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is beautiful

btw grats to Tuomas for the new ILE board description

omg lolling so hard

Tuomas, thanks for stepping up to the plate on quality while LJ is out of commission. It's very LOLpreciated.

This really is a quote for the ages. For real.

Ahem, credit where due, Dang P!

okay

props to WmC for posting on the mod forum that that should be the ILE board description

so excited, my third day posting and i've witnessed history

I've learned my lesson -- quit suggesting things and just do them.

Like bans?

Thank you, tuomas

I've learned my lesson -- quit suggesting things and just do them.

― WmC, Tuesday, October 13, 2009 2:46 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Like bans?

― Tuomas, Tuesday, October 13, 2009 2:56 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

if I read him correctly Tuomas means that we should turn the suggest ban button into a straight-up "ban" button

bold thinking T

Maybe if we put the suggest ban button on the outside of the thread, we could SB people without fear of reading their posts?

epic win

this thread has me LOLing so hard. fuck i miss you guys.

The pissing on your belt thread is even funnier.

1) Americans don't like it when things are different than in America.

was stunned to hear a Meth 'n' Red interview last week where they BEMOAN the food when touring in Europe, keeping alive one of hip-hop's oldest memes ever (all rappers exist solely on McDonalds while on tour, which I remember repulsing me as a kid in the 80s and thought would have been eradicated by now)

j0hn we know how you rep for vegemite and kettle chips and jester's pies in the .au, but are you having trouble coming to terms with fitting thick bavarian sausage in your mouth twice daily right now?

fnar fnar

'a thick bavarian sausage that is fitting, to go into my mouth'..

am struggling to come up with a disgusting food that could be called 'fitting'

my new place has two bathroom lights, one of which is fortunately controlled inside the bathroom. otherwise I would have had to reject the house, per this thread.

bump for companion thread purposes

Companion to what?

pissing on yr belt thread was revived yesterday, briefly, all too briefly

lol

every time "pissing on yr belt" gets bumped, this must get bumped too

It would have been over a lot quicker if the lightswitch for der Fuhrerbunker had been on the outside tbh.

― Obscured by clowns (NickB), Monday, October 12, 2009 9:03 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark

dying over here

crapping is an english delicacy, prepared by smearing shit on the skin of bacon before you roast it.

― Brewer's Bitch (darraghmac), Tuesday, 13 October 2009 15:34 (1 year ago) Bookmark

The local pig farm went up in flames last night.

The floor gave way during the blaze, said floor being directly above the slurry tanks

CRAPPING