New York Bathroom Attendants

(Or, Do You Want Mouth Wash With That?)

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Image: Bathroom attendant and his well stocked service center

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Reading through my travel journal the other day, I noticed an entry about a profession that I thought had died out and disappeared along with hole-in-the-floor toilets – at least those that may have once been found in New York City. That profession (if it can rightly be called that), is the Bathroom Attendant.

Let’s be clear about what we are discussing here. Bathroom attendants (as opposed to workers who clean bathrooms periodically through the day), are employed to stay inside restrooms throughout their shift where at a minimum they dispense towels (paper or cloth), liquid soap, and a spray of perfume, hairspray or hair gel. The more elaborately stocked service centre’s might also provide perfume/cologne, mouthwash, chewing gum, cigarettes, deodorant, prophylactics, aspirin and much more besides.

I am well aware that bathroom attendants still exist in some European countries and elsewhere (Turkey, Morocco, Egypt…), but I certainly didn’t expect to stumble upon them in New York, where I first encountered bathroom attendants while visiting the Apollo Theater in Harlem – or should that be while visiting the men’s restroom at the Apollo Theater. I ran into another one at B.B. Kings Bar & Grill, while attending an Iris DeMent gig there.

In my journal I wrote: Like the Apollo Theater, B.B. Kings Bar & Grill staff their bathrooms with a person whose job it is to hand you paper towels and hand cleansers after you use their restroom facilities. Of course, once they have seen to your needs, you must tip them a dollar or two to show your appreciation.

I also asked myself rhetorically: How far back does this archaic ‘service’ go? And is it still needed in the 21st century?

How far back this position goes, seems to be lost in time. However, a quick online search reveals that the bathroom attendant as a modern institution is still alive and well – even in America – which presumably means the service is still needed today. Attendants are generally found in large music venues and other well attended locations such as up-market restaurants, casinos, night clubs and bars, sports stadiums, theaters and such like.

I found a couple of job descriptions online for potential attendants seeking a career in this area. One reads: Restroom Attendant (Cleaning): Makes sure that the restrooms are clean and neat and stocked with towels and toilet paper. Includes the following duties: wipes down sinks, cleans mirrors, mops floors, and cleans toilets. Will need to work with chemical cleaning agents.

Another site added: Some washroom attendants … keep good order by preventing drug-taking and fights.

Initially, my reaction on encountering the attendants was one of surprise and discomfort. I don’t know of any Australian venue or location that employs bathroom attendants in its restrooms, and I was unsure of the ‘rules of engagement’ on seeing the two gentlemen at the Apollo Theater and B.B. Kings.

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Image: A cheerful bathroom attendant with his tools of trade

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Unlike the cheerful fellow seen above, the elderly African-American attendant at the Apollo Theatre looked completely and utterly uninterested in his work, and basically sat, slouched in his chair accepting tips. The Hispanic gentleman at B.B. Kings was much younger, and was at least making an effort to assist his ‘clients’. I noticed that the female restroom at B.B. Kings had a female attendant (also Hispanic), and can only assume the female restrooms at the Apollo are staffed as well.

I mention ethnicity deliberately, since my research (brief as it has been) indicates that this is a job that rarely attracts white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants – to coin an old phrase. Despite the suits and ties on display in the two photographs above (found after an internet search), this is hardly a job for the upwardly mobile.

Bathroom attendants will almost certainly be on minimum wage, if that, since some of my research even suggested they may live entirely off tips!

An article in the New York Times of October 8, 2004 (which referred to attendants as “valets”, presented a tale of exploitation, and numerous violations of American federal and state laws. To quote the article: The restroom valets who stand hour after hour in New York's restaurant bathrooms come from varied backgrounds. Many come from Africa and Central America, but many are also native-born Americans. In booming restaurants, they can make more than $100 in tips on a good day, but on slow days they often earn less than $10.

A ‘miss lynnster’ corroborates this in a comment she attached to a blog post on the topic: When I worked in the LA House of Blues in 1994 or so, some of my favorite fellow employees in the club were actually the bathroom attendants. They … used to tell me that they only worked on tips, which I still have a hard time believing... but I don't know. I don't know that I'd stand there in a bathroom all night just for tips.

To add insult to injury, attendants have to supply their own stock (perfume/cologne, mouthwash, chewing gum, cigarettes, etc). Presumably they are able to mark items up to turn a small additional profit on this stock, but it hardly constitutes a road to riches.

Reading through the comments posted on numerous web blogs dealing with this topic, many readers find the presence of attendants irritating and think them unnecessary. A couple of typical responses: …I don't think bathrooms need attendants. I think most people are fully capable of operating the various functional areas of a public bathroom without the help of a third-party dude.

And: It really irritates me when establishments have bathroom attendants - they're completely unnecessary, and when I'm already paying rather a lot of money to eat and drink, it seems in poor taste that I would be expected to contribute more.

On the other hand, many readers pointed out good reasons for having attendants in restrooms: the added sense of security; cleaner, more hygienic restrooms; cubicles stocked with toilet paper and hand towels, etc. As one person wrote: I used to think that it was ridiculous to have them there … but go to a restroom at a busy club without one and wade through the piss and paper towels and you'll realize why they're there.

Another writes: These people need to eat too. Give em a break. How would you like to stand in a pisser all day and have to hand out towels to people in that setting. Many of these people are not going to be corporate executives any day soon. Don't be cheap.

I’ll leave the final comment to ‘Tom’, who wrote: I'm disabled and make my living as a self-employed bathroom attendant. I take great pride in my work by the way. Besides keeping each stall and such spotless, I…offer things like combs, small colognes, condoms and other small items for a modest price. …I only expect a tip since its my only source of pay. Its honest work I'm not on welfare or taking handouts, I provide a service and try to do it well. Then people look down on my profession, what am I doing wrong?

In the end, I remember tipping the Apollo Theater attendant a dollar, but to my shame (having learned a lot more about attendants/valets while researching this entry), I gave nothing to the attendant at B.B. Kings Bar & Grill. An oversight I will make up for if I ever visit the restroom there on a future New York trip.

Still, it appears those creative Japanese may have a solution to this whole issue. They are developing robotic hi-tech toilet attendants that are designed to clean up lavatories in highway rest areas. Apparently these cleaners (seen in the image below) will also be programmed to have simple conversations.

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Image: Ladybug, a Japanese robot bathroom attendant

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The Ladybug bathroom attendant uses a combination of voice recognition software, speech synthesizer programs and of course microphones in its antennae to engage in conversation with restroom users. Aside from offering conversation, Ladybug is equipped with water storage units, scrub brushes and other tools needed for keeping the restroom in tip top shape. You can have a clean bathroom and great conversation for a mere $30,000 U.S. when this robot hits Japanese markets.

More bizarre Japanese bathrooms facilities here…

Aircraft Enforced Speed Limits

Photo: Gregor Smith…

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So there I was, Greyhound-bussing it down the I-95 through Virginia, when I was startled out of my reverie by signage along the roadside proclaiming: SPEED LIMIT ENFORCED BY AIRCRAFT.

What? It had to be a joke, didn’t it? How on earth do you enforce speed limits using aircraft? My mind was immediately awash with visions of laser-guided missiles speeding to their targets from high-flying B1 bombers. No doubt, the resulting ‘shock and awe’ effect of this deadly force on any law breakers was sure to keep the rest of Virginia’s citizens (and other out of state road users), well within legal speed limits. It seems to me too, that these signs tap into the paranoia some people have that they are constantly being watched by ultra-quiet high-flying aircraft or satellites.

As it happens, the sign is not a back country Virginian joke. The state does indeed monitor speed limits on state highways by occasionally using light aircraft (such as Cessna’s) to check motorists driving habits.

Aerial enforcement (as it is known), has been monitoring motorists from the air in Virginia since July, 2000. Highways are marked at various points with lines measuring specific distances (generally half-a-mile apart and called “fixed course sites”). When a suspected speeder enters the course, officers in the sky determine the speed of the vehicle using their VASCAR system (Visual Average Speed Computer and Recorder). This is achieved by measuring average speed over that half-mile distance.

If the time taken to cover that half mile is faster than the officially recorded time it takes to complete that distance at the maximum lawful speed, airborne officers alert a waiting highway patrol car, whose officers then pull you over and issue you with a speeding fine.

This still conjures up visions in my head that suggests using a hand-grenade to kill a fly! And so it happens to be in practice.

The odds that a speeding motorist will be caught in this way are well in the motorists favour. Aerial enforcement is understandably very expensive, and given the parlous state of most state government finances throughout America (which I suspect includes Virginia), the chances that drivers will be busted for speeding by high-flying aircraft officers is virtually nil. But don’t quote me on that! If you get busted by a combined aerial and highway patrol – it’s your own fault. Still, I suspect the signs do have the effect of encouraging most motorists to keep within the speed limit, and that can’t be a bad thing.

So while my visions of armed B1 bombers or Apache Attack Helicopters patrolling the highways and byways of Virginia, vaporizing transgressors from the highway are highly fanciful and obviously wrong, I’m sure I am not the only person to imagine this bizarre scenario – as this computer enhanced image attests:

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Image sourced from the Internet

Kampos, Ikaria

Image: Ikaria’s Atheras range in late afternoon light

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As I write this, wild winds are roaring across the top of Ikaria’s mountainous Atheras range. The bolder-strewn, bare hills of the Atheras range divide the northern side of the island from the generally, calmer, southern side. Today however, the winds are whipping up stinging dust, tearing at clothes hanging on washing lines, pummeling trees and potted plants, people and animals, and making flight all but impossible for even the largest of local birdlife.

The evening ferry will almost certainly be cancelled due to the rough seas and wind-lashed waves (see Who Pays The Ferryman?), and who knows what sort of damage is being dished out on the terraces and family gardens that cover the valleys and hillsides. Ikaria is entering olive picking season, and I have visions of millions of ripening black olives being shaken to the ground from olive groves across the island. As long as the winds and gathering clouds don’t bring heavy downpours of rain, I suppose the locals will be happy. The last thing the island needs is another devastating storm to add to the damage caused by the recent thunderstorms that have wreaked havoc on this and other Aegean islands (see The (Greek) Gods Are Angry).

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Image: Recent storms damaged this bridge near Rahes, Ikaria

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I’ve been hanging out at Kampos*, once the site of the ancient city of Oenoe. Along with Therma (see Therma, Ikaria), Oenoe has a history that goes back to around 750 B.C. Echoes of this history can be seen in the church of Agia Irini (St. Irene), parts of which date to the 11th century.

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Image: Night image of the church of Agia Irini at Kampos, Ikaria
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Image: Remnants of building columns and other structures in Kampos, Ikaria

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Near the church, the visitor will also find the remains of the ancient Oenoe temple (often referred to as a palati , or palace). The church and temple are thought to date back to the sixth century A.D. Today, Agia Irini is still used for regular church activities including weddings, baptisms, and memorial services.

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Image: Remains of the Oenoe temple wall at Kampos, Ikaria

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Image: This temple seating faces the wall shown in the previous image

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But what happened to the original marble and stone with which the temple was constructed, I hear you ask. Well, dear reader, it was used by enterprising villagers to build their own homes and barns, and even to build new churches. The image below shows an old stone house on the valley floor near the old temple. The rectangular blocks of white marble that have been used in the house’s construction were almost certainly taken from the temple of Oenoe and other ancient structures.

As outrageous as this may seem, it would have made perfect sense for villagers to use the nearest source of building materials for their own purposes. One suspects they would have reasoned that since the old temple was no longer being used, they might as well utilize the stone and marble slabs for themselves. Bear in mind, we are taking about an era when everything was done by hand, and when the only mode of ‘transport’ would have been the humble, long-suffering donkey. Like I say, it made sense to cart temple marble and stone the short half a mile or so to your new home, rather than have to extract the stone far from your chosen site and move it laboriously a few pieces at a time.

Image: White marble slabs from ancient structures recycled into ‘new’ homes in Kampos, Ikaria

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New discoveries of structures dating back to the days of the Athenian League and the Byzantine era, are still being made in Kampos. Some years ago, local villagers raised money to build a community centre less than a hundred yards from the Agia Irene church. During the excavation process, workers uncovered sections of walls and other early building remains, which have now been incorporated into the new centre.

Over hundreds of years, dirt, silt, mud and other debris has been washed from the hills of the Atheras range down onto the valley floor, covering a treasure trove of ancient sites. In fact the recent storms alluded to above have probably added hundreds of tons of new dirt and debris to previous layers. The remnants of Oenoe may never be uncovered again, which means we will never discover the full extent of its boundaries, the size of its buildings, or the uses to which they were put, and maybe that just the way it should be.

Let the earth keep its secrets, and let the living get on with the daily cycle of love, labour and life.

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*A note about the spelling of Ikarian place names. It occurs to me that authors writing about Ikaria, are in desperate need an Elements of Style guide, since no two authors seem to be able to agree on the same spelling for many of the locations on the island. Even the spelling of ‘Ikaria’ is subject to variation, often being Anglicized to Icaria.

Those readers wishing to do further research or look online for more information about the island, are sure to find numerous discrepancies when it comes to the spelling of Ikarian place names. As always, I try to stick as close to the Greek spelling as possible, or adopt the spelling used in English language Greek publications. Hence, I prefer to use the letter ‘k’ instead of ‘c’, since the letter ‘c’ does not occur in the Greek alphabet.