Althouse: Oh, you states, don't you know we judge you by your rest stops?

March 31, 2007

Oh, you states, don't you know we judge you by your rest stops?

Oklahoma, I'm looking at you!

(If you can't read the text on that first picture, click here.)

25 comments:

Simon said...: Look closely at the shaky writing in the middle picture - how high do you have to be to write like that? ;); 3/31/07, 7:29 PM
Jeff with one 'f' said...: As bad as that is, it still beats the rest stops in Massachusetts!; 3/31/07, 7:38 PM
Dave said...: It is sights like this that make me a bit ashamed of my state of residence.; 3/31/07, 7:39 PM
catnapping said...: My travels in the military, and otherwise, have taken me to all but 5 states in the union. The FILTHIEST bathrooms I've ever seen were in:

Northern California (Yuba City, Marysville, Sacramento)

Idaho (Pocatello, Boise, Idaho Falls)

Utah...all of it.

East Coast...north and south...(Massachusettes and North Carolina probably worse than the other Atlantic Coast states...)

Oklahoma (all of it)

Indiana (those people are gross.); 3/31/07, 7:46 PM
Steve said...: Massachusetts has rest stops?; 3/31/07, 7:49 PM
Michael said...: Am I missing something? Don't they have automatic door closers in Oklahoma?

We have them in Washington, and I'm sure they aren't that expensive.; 3/31/07, 8:21 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/31/07, 8:32 PM
Simon Kenton said...: First and third scrawl by the same hand - note the formation of the letter G. Ms Althouse is hot on the trail of the phantom OK potty defender, who drives these hills in a long black veil, condemned by day to fast in fires, by night to deface the doors of crappers with libels about the feds, incurably infected by a confusion between the 97 theses she thinks to write, and the feces she hopes to sequester.; 3/31/07, 9:11 PM
Eli Blake said...: Keep in mind that these pictures are taken of the women's room. Men's rooms are ten times worse.

Especially with the pornographic grafitti, and some of the stuff that people have left smeared inside the stall (and feces isn't the worst of it.); 3/31/07, 9:34 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: This is perilously close to bodily fluids blogging, no?; 3/31/07, 9:42 PM
Eli Blake said...: Now, when you get to Texas, the restrooms will probably improve (though they may not, depending on what part of the state you drive through) but here is a necessary link for anyone who will be spending much time in Texas, especially between mid-March and mid-October:

ENOZ offers a complete line of fly tapes, fly swatters and roach powders to maximize your insect protection program

But at least you are there ahead of prime mosquito season (July-September).; 3/31/07, 9:48 PM
Eli Blake said...: Yes, Ruth, you've figured it out.

Rarely do I regret being male, but sometimes I do when I have to go into one of those stalls.; 3/31/07, 9:49 PM
Anonymous said...: There be nothing so puke-inducing as public toilet. It's the stuff of barbarian life.

Ah, but for me, a piss and shit in a quiet wood.; 3/31/07, 10:01 PM
ron st.amant said...: I enjoy how the second sign doesn't use government as its excuse...it just demands closed doors because it wants to!!
That and the fact that it provides handy reference should you ever require industrial soap...so it's demanding, yet helpful.; 3/31/07, 11:05 PM
ron st.amant said...: also, I just realized that if you ever visit us in Canada these signs would likely be in English AND French..and no one tells you off in cheap signage like the French!!!; 3/31/07, 11:06 PM
PeterP said...: Think Greek ferries in high summer and rejoice that, howsoever bad it seems right now, it could be a whole lot worse.; 4/1/07, 1:03 AM
Galvanized said...: Some comforting info. - Texas obviously takes great pride in her rest stops. Not meaning to brag, but...c'mon, seriously, with all this effrontery, they've gotta be clean.

http://www.lightrainproductions.com/PhotoGalleryEleven.htm; 4/1/07, 3:39 AM
Galvanized said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/1/07, 3:45 AM
Galvanized said...: Oh, good grief! Texas Rest Stops; 4/1/07, 3:56 AM
Meade said...: So. That diaper-wearing astronaut doesn't seem quite so crazy after all, does she now.; 4/1/07, 4:27 AM
hdhouse said...: Obviously you are traveling through a very anally retentive section of the country.; 4/1/07, 6:53 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Rarely do I regret being male, but sometimes I do when I have to go into one of those stalls."

But if you're female, you always have to use a stall. Looks like this one balances out. At least.

I've driven through many states in the last year, and I give top honors to Iowa. And not just because of the free WiFi.; 4/1/07, 7:52 AM
AllenS said...: Yesterday, commenting on another post, I said this: "Ann, if you were to wear a diaper when driving long distances, you wouldn't have to stop at those places. You need to take a refresher course at NASA."

Words of wisdom.; 4/1/07, 8:40 AM
Doug said...: Worst rest stop I was ever in was in West Virgina. Being a germphobe with subclincal OCD, my vote is based upon the soap dispensing method. It was similar to the ball in a Golden Tee video game, except it was metal and shaped like a Coke can. You pushed your hand over it and it was gooey and got soap or something on your hand.

I immediately ran for my purell after leaving that hell hole.; 4/1/07, 8:49 AM
Sigivald said...: The question, for me, is is there actually any Federal regulation on rest-stop doors being kept closed?

It's just plausible enough that I can't deny it outright, but it seems unlikely even for the Feds.; 4/2/07, 12:50 PM