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Comment by _9vpl | Hacker News Reader

Interested to know how unique US is in this regard. If your name checks out, I assume Japan is one such country where things differ from your experience. I would guess that Japan is the exception though, not the rule.

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Why do you assume the behaviour in the US would be the rule? I have on occasion come across toilets in a terrible state, but for the most part, toilets in Europe, paid or not, tend to be fairly decent. In need of cleaning, sure, but it's certainly not common for people to kick in the doors or anything like that.

Well, the office in which I'm currently working seems to have some people with a surprisingly poor aim, so there's that. But there's certainly no culture to intentionally destroy the place.

My experience is mostly western Europe.

I wouldn't say it's common for people to kick doors in either, I'm sure it happens though. More likely to happen at a place like a dive bar - that wouldn't surprise me, or some place where the bathroom appearance isn't seen as a high priority - like a gas station.

I haven't lived anywhere else only traveled so my experience elsewhere is only from a few days. Found toilets nicer than anything in Japan in Copenhagen, Stockholm, a few places in Germany. They usually had a fee of 10 to 50 cents and so stuck out in my memory but like I said, only there a few days each no idea what the norm is.

But if the clean toilets have controlled access that requires a fee for use then that mitigates tragedy of commons effect. Not aware of many places like that in the US.

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