A video recently shared on various Chinese news and social media sites shows a set of timers installed above a row of toilet cubicles in a female washroom, with each stall getting its own digital counter.

When a stall is unoccupied, the pixelated LED screen displays the word “empty” in green. If in use, it shows the number of minutes and seconds the door has been locked. ‘We won’t kick people out midway’

The original video was reportedly taken by a visitor who sent it to the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, a state-run local newspaper.

'We won’t kick people out midway’

The original video was reportedly taken by a visitor who sent it to the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, a state-run local newspaper.

“I found it quite advanced technologically so you don’t have to queue outside or knock on a bathroom door,” the paper quoted the visitor as saying.

“But I also found it a little bit embarrassing. It felt like I was being monitored.”

  • aeronmelon@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    If the Chinese are anything like the Japanese, some people (especially old people) will just lock themselves inside and sit down to take a nap. Even in a busy toilet, with no regard for people who actually need to use one.

    That feels like part of the reason this exists.

      • lengau@midwest.social
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        5 months ago

        I had a coworker at a previous job who used to take naps in the bathroom stall because it was the only place in the office with a bit of privacy.

        I kinda get it. I used to sit in a stall to decompress my brain because open plan offices are incredibly stressful to me. Every couple of hours I needed ~10 minutes of privacy.

      • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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        5 months ago

        For some elderly, they may find that they need to nap again to function. If you don’t drive, you don’t have a private location to sleep beyond home or a hotel. Rather than go home, they sleep on a bathroom stall.