Tuesday's Tidbits

For those of you out there with more, ah, sensitive, proclivities, today might be the blog post that you decide to skip and move on to more pristine sites, like Martha Stewart Living, or a nice cooking post from Paula Deen. For the rest of you who decide to stay, today we'll be discussing poop.

This is not poop, but rather, our puppy Dixie, the inspiration for today's Tidbits.

Dixie and I have re-established a morning routine since I've been home for the summer. (If you weren't aware already, I teach, and I'm home for summer vacation.) When we wake up, I take Dixie out, and she uses the bathroom. We come back in, and she refuses to eat until she poops, so back outside we go.

After sniffing every square inch of the yard, she decides she wants to play, so I give in and fling the leash back and forth as she chases it happily, until she finally stops and realizes....she needs to go. So, she wanders the same patch of grass fifteen times, back and forth, sniffing and analyzing until finally, the urge overcomes her and...it is done.

Then we come back inside, she eats some food, finds a place on the floor (or in her crate), and then proceeds to sleep for a few hours.

Each day when we return inside from the silly poop routine, I find myself grateful that we humans don't have to go through the same insane process before we used the bathroom ourselves.

Just think about it: what would it look like if every time one of us (humans) had to use the restroom, we had to sniff out every inch of a house, building, or room, then after we thought we found the best, most correct, proper spot, we had to run back and forth deciding on the exact spot where we wanted to go. What would the mall food court look like outside the bathrooms? How about a row of port-a-potties at an outdoor concert or event?

And yet, as silly as it is, it STILL makes me happy that over the course of human existence, we as a race of people have worked together to create and design the wonder that is indoor plumbing. We take it for granted- need a drink of water? Go to the sink, all the water you want. Need to use the restroom? Go to the bathroom, and there's a toilet just waiting for you, begging for you sit down and have at it.

I thought originally I'd provide a history of toilets as well, but unfortunately, it's much more boring than anyone would like to imagine. Basically, really really famous wealthy people (Emperors, Kings, Queens) throughout history improvised some form of indoor toilet or another. The Romans fixed outhouses over aqueduct sewers which ran into the Tiber River, but pretty much everyone else had to go where they could until the 1800's, when we FINALLY discovered that human waste led to disease. After that, by the 1900's, indoor toiletry was on its way to becoming accepted throughout the world.

(Sorry.  I told you beforehand it was kind of boring.)

So, in honor of my Dixie, who lies sleeping in her crate, every time you use the bathroom, just remember the trials and tribulations of our canine friends!

Enjoy the ride! :)