I was in two very stinky public restrooms yesterday, and it occurred to me that indoor plumbing is a really big deal. These bathrooms were stinky, but even they could be so much stinkier! Think about how stinky even private bathrooms probably used to be. Not to mention the halls of Versailles and all that.
Maybe I’m off base here, but I don’t think we could have air travel if not for indoor plumbing. I don’t think we could have all sorts of things if not for indoor plumbing. Were there passenger trains before indoor plumbing? I hope not. I dread the thought of rails covered in dropping from the outhouse car.
The only thing indoor plumbing has taken away from is the scented candle industry. You have to imagine we’d be employing a whole lot more of those if we’d never figured out pipes. Could still probably use more—like in those bathrooms from yesterday, for example—but if we didn’t have flushable toilets? There’d be a Yankee Candle on every corner.
So, thank you, Benjamin Franklin. I assume you’re the one who invented this all.
