A difficult decision!

[Puffer]

I have just returned from a week's holiday in southern Turkey.   In the hotel foyer, next to the small souvenir shop, there was the pictured archway with a sign displayed each side.   I initially thought that this led to other shops (for tobacco and shoes) but it proved to be the entrance to the men's and women's WCs.   As a reformed pipe-smoker who has a modest interest in stiletto heels, I found it difficult to decide which WC I should use!

All guests adopted casual dress throughout the day and evening, in the hotel or outside.   Shorts and flip-flops (or equivalents) were almost universal everywhere, with just a few low wedges in evidence.   I reckon that, if Turkey imposed a 'Tourist Flip-flop Tax' of 10 lira (about £1.20 or $1.60), its economic woes would be solved within a month or two! 

[p1ng74]

Flip flops belong in communal showers, the pool, and the beach.  It's incredible how many people just wear them out and about.  Why not just go barefoot.  There was a lady yesterday in the office in flip flops.  Yeah we're business casual, but I guess anything goes.  In that case, I'm totally legitimate wearing green or purple boots in

Edited September 20, 2018 by p1ng74

[SF]

What’s a WC??  Ha ha ha......   Different worlds, different cultures....   Smile, sf

[CAT]

WC  water closet???

[Shyheels]

Yep - water closet.

And as for flip-flops they are ubiquitous anywhere it's warm. I've seen people wearing them in business class lounges at airports too. 

 

 

[p1ng74]

I never understood why Americans overcomplicate the bathroom gender topic.  Keep it simple.  In one you will find mostly pipe-smoking men, the other will have women in heels powdering their faces.  Take your pick.  

[SF]

I just call it the baffroom......   Even tho you may not be taking a bath....   ha ha.   sf

[Heelster]

Kinda funny - - In these parts, there are at least 100 names for the facilities - -Water closet would have most scratching their head !!

Oh - - - and no smoking !!!

[Shyheels]

In places like Greece and Turkey, I’ve noticed, they tend to have two areas - smoking, and heavy smoking...

[Puffer]

8 hours ago, SF said:

What’s a WC??  Ha ha ha......   Different worlds, different cultures....   Smile, sf

 

7 hours ago, CAT said:

WC  water closet???

 

6 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

I never understood why Americans overcomplicate the bathroom gender topic.  Keep it simple.  In one you will find mostly pipe-smoking men, the other will have women in heels powdering their faces.  Take your pick.  

Yes, WC = water closet/lavatory/toilet/loo/bog etc in proper British English.   I refuse to use the US terms and call it a 'bathroom' (as there will not be a bath in there) or a 'restroom' (as there will not be any encouragement to linger or relax)!

9 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

Flip flops belong in communal showers, the pool, and the beach.  It's incredible how many people just wear them out and about.  Why not just go barefoot.  There was a lady yesterday in the office in flip flops.  Yeah we're business casual, but I guess anything goes.  In that case, I'm totally legitimate wearing green or purple boots in

Flip-flops come in many different styles and qualities; I have no problem with them being worn in the right place and the more stylish types are perfectly OK out and about in casual mode.   What I don't understand is why the cheap-looking branded rubber types (e.g. Havaianas) seem to cost a lot more than smarter and better-made ones, often in leather.   At my hotel, almost everything revolved around the pool, so beachwear and flip-flops or other sandals were perfectly acceptable everywhere, but no swimming costumes were allowed in the dining areas and everyone respected that.   Incidentally, 80% of the guests were from former Soviet countries and the Russian language was dominant. 

[Cali]

WC is not an uncommon term on blueprints in the US.

 

[Aly]

10 hours ago, Cali said:

WC is not an uncommon term on blueprints in the US.

 

...and it's usually only referring to the area where the toilet is bolted to the floor!

[HappyinHeels]

Puffer,

I lived in Turkey for a year Sept1982-1983 and never saw these signs but would have definitely remembered them. Styles were more conservative then as the nation was still under military rule and no flip-flops were seen anywhere away from a beach. Yes, Turkey was a heavy-smoking nation just the old Soviet Union. I knew little about it when I arrived but learned about 500 words in Turkish and things like the Turks seem incapable of serving you a bad meal and they are approachable but do not underestimate their ability to fight back when stepped on. Lots of pretty landscapes throughout the country.  HappyinHeels

[Pumped]

On 9/20/2018 at 8:09 AM, p1ng74 said:

Flip flops belong in communal showers, the pool, and the beach.  It's incredible how many people just wear them out and about.  Why not just go barefoot.  There was a lady yesterday in the office in flip flops.  Yeah we're business casual, but I guess anything goes.  In that case, I'm totally legitimate wearing green or purple boots in

I believe you are the minority with that opinion! I see flip flops worn all over, I will wear them myself occasionally. We travel a lot by motorcycle and often my second pair of footwear are simple flip flops. After wearing boots all day it feels good to "air out" my feet!

[Bubba136]

It seems like T’s, shorts and flip flops are becoming a kinda “national costume” everywhere here in SC, especially this summer.  My own experience wearing flip flops (shower shoes) ended when I graduated from USAF pilot training years ago, moved back into my own home from the collegial environment in which I was forced to live while taking training.

I even noticed some people wearing this combination during the coldest part of our admittedly comparatively short winter last season.  Is the choice to wear this particular combination based on fashion or laziness?  Doesn’t make the ladies any more attractive in my opinion. In fact it demonstrates to me a pure lack of their caring about their appearance.  But then, it’s the fashion so it must be acceptable.  

There is sure a huge number of styles available for purchase.  Ever color, style and adorned with every conceivable ornament.  Making them more desirable, I guess.  I’ll pass if yo please.

Edited September 22, 2018 by Bubba136

[Puffer]

10 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

Puffer,

I lived in Turkey for a year Sept1982-1983 and never saw these signs but would have definitely remembered them. Styles were more conservative then as the nation was still under military rule and no flip-flops were seen anywhere away from a beach. Yes, Turkey was a heavy-smoking nation just the old Soviet Union. I knew little about it when I arrived but learned about 500 words in Turkish and things like the Turks seem incapable of serving you a bad meal and they are approachable but do not underestimate their ability to fight back when stepped on. Lots of pretty landscapes throughout the country.  HappyinHeels

My hotel was probably built within the last ten years or so, as was everything else in the entire surrounding area, which was nothing but a tourist development (and all clean, modern and spacious).   The signs may well be a supposedly clever idea for international comprehension, although surely the simple man and woman silhouettes do the job well enough?   In another place, I saw an alternative sign for the 'gents': a Tyrolean hat with feather - but I suggest not really 100% identifiable as male, unlike the pipe.   I didn't see the female equivalent.

My wife (who, alas, has very little interest in footwear) needed simple flip-flops for the beach and was delighted to buy a pair on our first day for 10 lira (£1.20 or $1.60) which, although of plastic/rubber construction, served her well and have survived for another holiday or three.   But the purchase made a huge dent in our holiday spending money!

I agree about Turkish food; my hotel offered a very wide range at the buffet meals and it was impossible to go away unsatisfied - although I see negative reviews from British people who miss their 'full English breakfast' and 'tea like mother makes'!   As to smoking, I estimate that about 20% of the predominantly Russian guests were moderate smokers (mostly of American brands); the percentage of obvious Turks, there and elsewhere, who smoked was probably nearer 50%.   All the staff and most of the locals were approachable and friendly - but the typical hustling by shopkeepers wanting to entice you inside (or who follow you round when inside) got very irritating and was certainly counter-productive.   Most of us like to view, inspect and consider potential purchases in peace.

[Shyheels]

I cycled across Turkey many years ago and the hospitality in the rural villages was quite delightful. They really wouldn’t let you get away without having tea or bread or dried fruit and nuts, very friendly and generous. It got so I was trying to sneak through the villages because otherwise you could spend all day and not get twenty miles! Fond memories of some very nice and generous people.