Mason Inman - science journalist

2007-06-18, 06:39:40

Looking for the hours for my favorite cafe (I've never gone there very first thing in the morning) I ran across a blog called "Poopin' Around Town: A guide to where to poop while out and about primarily in and around Boston, MA."

I thought it might be a joke thing, where someone put up a blog to do a couple funny reviews. But the guy behind it has been doing it for over a year, and has done extensive reviews on like 15 toilets at various cafes, restaurants, and hotels.

Each review rates the bathroom on a 1-to-10 scale on a bunch of important qualities, including stall number, stall quality, flush, and (because aesthetics are important too) scent.

At right is the cramped but cozy toilet at Sherman Cafe, the place I was trying to get info about in the first place.

The best part of the bathroom—something Poopin' Around Town and I agree on—is the wallpaper made of spoof news articles:

Aesthetics: It's in this category that Sherman's restroom really shines. Rare is a bathroom that provides any reading material beyond "Employees Must Wash Hands..." or "For a good time call..." But in the Sherman's WC the walls are adorned with pages of Boston's beloved late 90's redundant news source The Weekly Week, which was published for several years as a Boston-centric version of the Onion. This is that rare restroom where you actually might spend more time than necessary in.
Grade: 10 out of 10