Toilets Lock After 5 Minutes

I just can't get enough public toilet stories. There was Seattle selling its fancy public toilets on eBay (at a 99.75% loss). There are the Paris public toilets that open after 15 minutes, whether you're finished or not. Now comes the story out of Klaipeda, Lithuania of their new toilet systems.

Vandalism is always a problem with public toilets, of course. To combat the vandalism problem, the Klaipeda Mayor's Office has set up the toilets to lock after 5 minutes.

After the toilet door locks, the only way to get out is to call a specialist who will detain the occupant while he examines the facilities for vandalism.

Brilliant.

And (talk about serendipity), when looking up other toilet-related stories I found one other reference to Klaipeda. In the July 20 archive of Neatorama there were two stories, one about Science Fiction Toilets, and another, remarkably, about the CATcerto, performed by the Klaipeda Chamber Orchestra, which is a concerto with Nora the Piano Playing Cat at the keyboard (yet another cat video below).

Toilets that lock after 5 minutes and piano playing cats: Klaipeda may want to work on improving its image.



Sources:
Seattle Times
Europe for Visitors
All Voices
Google Maps
MSO News (via FolkD)
Neatorama
CATcerto
Wikipedia