Comment by cammikebrown
2 days ago
A lot of them are becoming barn style sliding doors, with large gaps. So if you’re making some noise, everyone will hear you.
2 days ago
A lot of them are becoming barn style sliding doors, with large gaps. So if you’re making some noise, everyone will hear you.
This erosion of privacy is being taken to extremes.
One of my short stories takes place in a not-to-distant future, where there is absolutely no privacy. In one chapter a child goes to a bathroom in an old building, and he sees that there is not only a door, but there is a contraption on it. A lock! The child runs out of the bathroom in fright. The audience learns only a little later that the child is frightened about what human-eating animals might stalk prey in that area, that anybody would ever think to lock themselves in there.
> One of my short stories takes place in a not-to-distant future, where there is absolutely no privacy.
You might like “We” by Eugene Zamiatin.
That's the book that was similar to 1948, but written a few decades before? I've heard of it, I will see if I can find an audiobook. Thank you!
1948 is one of my favourites, by the way.
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It was quite shocking for me as somebody from eastern Europe to see ie Danish or Dutch homes having no curtains whatsoever, so me walking on sidewalk looking at them 3m from me behind the windows having breakfast, in pyjamas, kids doing early morning nasal cavities treasure hunt with finger etc.
Same for living rooms and bedrooms (those I would expect to at least have some curtains aside).
Still not used to it, i like my privacy and ability to shamelessly say scratch my butt when alone if needed.
Haha dutch guy here... Who cares? Our bedrooms have curtains! Actually living rooms usually as well, but we are reluctant in closing them I guess. Also, you'll often find patches of intransparant glass to prevent directly looking in.
But then the horror to go to the US and find toilets in i.e. hospitals that don't have doors closing all the way. You can literally stare someone in the eye through the crack in the door, or over the door, while he's taking a dump. Holy cow. Imagine the sounds echoing through the collective toilet room. My god. I'm still recovering from my visit to the prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Having a s* together with someone in the next stall is a whole new level of intimacy I was not ready for.
When I lived in NL, it was explained to me that closing the curtains would imply, in some sort of weird Calvinistic belief, that the occupants were engaged in some nefarious activities; therefore the curtains are left open to show that the occupants have nothing to hide and are engaged only in wholesome activities.
The other side of the social contract obliges passers-by to not look inside.
The other strange thing that I found is that some apartments have little spy mirrors mounted on the exterior wall to allow the occupants to monitor what's going on in the street.
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The Dutch simply shamelessly scratch their butt, and if someone's watching that's their problem ;)
I think that system requires that passers by don't look inside the houses.
Yes! I was just recently traveling for work in a decent hotel but not a suite, just one with two queen beds but by myself. It had a glass barn door and the top half was frosted glass with "painted" glass on the bottom. Irritating but at least it was just me.
The worst aspect of the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport was the sliding bathroom door. Almost everything else about the place was really great but the bathroom door wae 1/2" from the face of the wall and bounced off the end of the slider track.
I think it's an unavoidable consequence of the space constraints they're working with.
On the plus side, when I dayroomed there it was dead silent and the room had blackout curtains.
Lowes hotels at Universal Orlando has them. Worse is they sometimes just slide open on their own.
People make noise when they piss and shit. It’s not scandalous.
Well, I still don't wanna make everybody in the room have to listen to my grunts as I push out an unhealthy binge-drinking hangover turd followed by a liter of flatulent gas and and liquid spraying into the bowl. I like my privacy, kthx.
AI can't generate this prose yet.
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You oughtta pride yourself on being able to make that jobsite porta potty ring like a bell.
How will we know your digestive health otherwise?
Just yell out "Who is number two working for?" and then give a courtesy flush.
If it's not scandalous, can I shit in the lobby trashcan? If the hotel wants me to have an audience, might as well...
It's not, but I prefer not being heard and not hearing over being heard or hearing.
Just make an even louder jungle cat snarling noise.
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Some people make noise when they eat with their mouth open. It's not scandalous, it's just ignorant and gross. It's always an utter clod that is so unaware of themselves just smucking and squelching away on their open mouth full of gloopy donut muck.
It's not a virtue to be so unselfcounscious. It's not about being ashamed or inhibited or in pathological denial of biological realities. It's about being fucking minimally considerate and just the tiniest bit self-aware.
Tell that to my asshole. I’ve tried training it to be silent on the shitter for near 40 years but it fails more often than not.
I had a friend growing up who ate with his mouth open. I fucking hated it. But he had problems breathing through his nose due to something with his soft tissue in his throat. So, you learn to ignore it.
It would be virtuous to not judge others based on some small thing they do that annoys you, just as you do things that annoy others.
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I agree but only because that's the standard for our culture so somebody not doing it is probably being disrespectful which means it becomes offensive to others because it normally only comes from people with some sort of negative feeling or inconsiderateness for those around them. In some cultures, noisy eating is the proper way and shows you're enjoying the food. Same goes for clothes, toilet sounds, etc. It's a lot more repulsive seeing a human poo on the street than a dog even though it's not fundamentally very different.
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But it is a good argument for privacy.