HOLLYWOOD HARV: The freedom to pee freely?

HOLLYWOOD HARV
VANCOUVER DESI

I could not make this one up if I tried.  Unfortunately I am not that creative.  I have always told my friends who vacation in Mexico or backpack through Europe and speak of the bizarre things they saw that they have not seen bizarre until they take a trip to India.  But that is what makes it the greatest trip you will ever take.  Make no mistake, India is an emerging superpower and will be a force to be reckoned with very soon.  But it’s that fun stuff like stopping at a red light and watching random livestock cross the highway that makes it so interesting.

I just read this story about how women in Mumbai have joined forces with at least 35 non-governmental agencies to fight for the right to pee for free.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Apparently in Mumbai, the public washrooms are free for men while women have to pay a fee to use the facilities.

I can picture the ladies throwing their arms in the air and rolling their eyes right now.  And I agree that it sounds ridiculous.  How can this happen?  It is 2012 and this is the world’s largest democracy.

Now, we all want gender equality and we all love a good protest campaign.  But I thought about it for a minute and here is my conclusion.  These public washrooms must cost money to maintain.  That money needs to come from a source such as a user fee.  However if you put that user fee on the men’s washrooms, there is a very strong possibility that that man will simply walk around the side of the building and urinate there.   Hey, I am just pointing out the truth.  And anyone who has been to India has at some point seen a man urinating in public.

So ladies before you pick up that picket sign in protest you have to ask yourself if you would like to just pay the user fee or see thousands more men urinating in public.  Sometimes you have to take the lighter away from that bra and just pay the fee to pee.

Because I doubt the men will.  Just sayin.

Hollywood Harv Puni is a comedian from Richmond.  You can follow him on Twitter at @hollywood_harv or go to his website and purchase his DVD. He can be reached at hollywoodharvcomedy@gmail.com

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