Blog in a Box

Bathrooms can be surprisingly versatile. Besides the obvious functions – bathing, using the toilet, and maintaining our hygiene – there are hundreds of uses for the average public of private bathroom. Unfortunately, most people never get to see any of them, largely due to a lack of creative and unusual bathroom thinking.

Of course, there are examples out there of strange and creative uses for a bathroom. From McDonalds bathroom attendants to ultra-luxury public bathrooms, these seven examples highlight the incredibly cool stunts, services, and fun ideas that can happen with a simple bathroom. Take a look through, enjoy, and remember that the next time something needs fixing, the answer might not rest in the supply cupboard, but in your home’s bathroom.

1. Use it as an extra bedroom.

If you were a university student once, you’re no doubt familiar with the old sleep-in-the-bath trick. We’ve all had parties that ended up attracting way too many people, and we’ve all experienced the same common problem from them – what to do with the leftover drunkards and partygoers. Most find a couch, mattress, or spare bed to sleep on, but there always seem to be a couple left over without a place to sleep.

That’s where the bathroom can come in handy. Hand them a towel as a makeshift blanket, and walk them towards the bathtub. Sure, it’s not luxury, but it’s certainly a little better than sleeping on the apartment floor.

2. Invade a McDonalds bathroom and become an attendant.

Source: http://improveverywhere.com/images/bath14.jpg

Have you ever been to a luxury restaurant where they had full-suited bathroom attendants? Once you’re in the bathroom, they’ll hand you towels, massage your shoulders, and flick you a breath mint once you’re finished, all for a nominal tip. Most common at five-star restaurants and flashy nightclubs, a bathroom attendant certainly isn’t the type of job you’d expect to see on offer at McDonalds.

These two comedians thought otherwise, and chose a Sunday to invade one of the busiest McDonalds stores in the world – their Times Square, New York City branch. In just over an hour of helping people to the ultimate in McDonalds luxury, they managed to chat with the CFO of Hitachi, collect over $6 in tips, and convince the McDonalds manager that they were supposed to be there.

3. Set up a political media office.

Source: http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/03/03/gall.clintond.cnn.jpg

The 2008 American Presidential Election was a tough race, especially between the final two democratic candidates – Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. While we all know how things turned out now, for a while it was quite uncertain just which democratic candidate would go on to represent their party.

The desperation and high stakes of the race are best summed up in this photo. In an all-out struggle to put together a functional media office, Hillary Clinton’s campaign decided to use an office bathroom to house their desks, chairs, and phone system. Interns worked hard from the inside of the public bathroom, complete with confused patrons who just wanted to use the facilities. Strange indeed.

4. Hide from gunshots and grenades.

Source: http://www.techeblog.com/files/bulletprooftoilet.jpg

This incredible bulletproof toilet is beyond impressive. Housed in $100,000 worth of bulletproof, bombproof, and stab-proof materials, these toilets are designed to provide the ultimate in protection for political figures, corporate CEOs, and high-ranking military generals. Able to withstand a 15-ton bomb blast, it’s unlikely these bathrooms are particularly airy and comfortable.

While none are available in the USA or UK just yet, 8 units have been installed to protect political leaders in Beijing, China. Maybe once the rap world runs out of rhymes about bulletproof cars, we’ll start hearing about their all-star protective bathrooms?

5. Create a disposal room.

Source: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/35/102455497_35c650316e.jpg

We all know that some people throw things down the toilet. Sometimes it’s paper waste, sometimes it’s the occasional maxi pad – one of the most annoying toilet cloggers around – and sometimes it’s the New York Times. Whatever your newspaper affiliation may be, disposing of paper-based waste down the toilet isn’t that unusual. Ever since Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho showed the first on-screen toilet being used as a paper disposal tool, the public has had no problem throwing the occasional document or marketing flyer down the loo.

6. Use it as a storage room.

American gaming firm Gamestop ended up in hot water two years ago after a video of them storing video gaming consoles inside the store bathroom ended up online. While the gaming systems were boxed and stored far away from any unhygienic locations, some health conscious gamers were still a little annoyed about their expensive gaming machines being stored in the store bathroom.

Apparently, this type of storage is quite common amongst gaming retail stores, which are often expected to stock several hundred boxed gaming consoles in some very small retail spaces. While it’s unlikely that anything nasty has every touched the consoles, you’ve got to wonder whether the employees followed the “wash before you leave” rule for the consoles themselves.

7. Create an artistic canvas.

Source: http://media.divinecaroline.com/ext/article_images2/marcjohns/marcjohns1.jpg

Public bathrooms are well-known for their “artworks”, if you want to call them that. Bathroom stall art has been going on for decades, possibly even centuries, and there don’t seem to be any signs that it will stop soon. From downright sleazy sayings to cool three-line poems, the intriguing content written on the back of a bathroom door is often enough to make the daily visit slightly more interesting.

Minimalist artist Marc Johns decided to take bathroom art one step further by creating a series of creepy, interesting, and really cool bathroom drawings. If you’re sick and tired of uncreative trash being drawn on public bathroom walls, take a look at his artwork here and gain some inspiration for your next sink-side masterpiece.

As much as Hollywood would like to have us think that every casino heist is intricately planned, perfectly executed, and full of high-tech criminal mastery, the reality is a little different. Most casino robberies are relatively straight forward – brute force, threats, and stolen property. But every now and then one casino heist goes off that’s so bizarre, so incredibly complex, and so ridiculous that it’s difficult not to step back and wonder how they could have pulled it off.

We’ve searched far and wide to find the four weirdest casino heists. From computer speed sensors to ‘how’d he do that?’ simplicity, every bizarre heist you can think of is here.

1.    The Shoe-puter

In the late 1970s, two University of California Santa Cruz students took some of California’s largest casinos for a complete spin. Using an in-built shoe computer, the students developed a system that disrupted the spin of a roulette wheel. Through some bizarre inter-shoe connection, the two managed to generate a huge profit through endless roulette gaming.

These students deserve some credit — 1970s computers weren’t exactly compact!

Of course, there were a few issues that bought the plan down. While computers weren’t exactly advanced in the 1970s, they did pack a bit of a punch. Although the students’ system mostly went off without a hitch, the occasional electrical shock and burning shoe proved to be an issue.  I’m sure it won’t be long before someone develops some kind of technology to tap into online casino games. But let’s face it…they won’t get away with it!

2.    Brute Force Truck Robbery

While ultra-complex casino heists seem to get most of our attention, it’s nice to see something direct and simple actually have a (semi-)successful result once in a while. After a 1993 truck robbery, Heather Tallchief and Robert Solis fled the United States with over $2.5 million in cash. After fleeing through the Cayman Islands and other exotic locales, Solis deserted Tallchief, leaving her with just $1000 to evade the law.

Miraculously, Tallchief managed to survive until 2005, when she surrendered to law enforcement. 12 years on the run with only $1000 to your name is a commendable effort, although casino crime never really is.

3.    Repeat Offender

Donnell Johnson is no stranger to the old casino robbery. He robbed the same casino – Treasure Island – twice, once in 1997 and once in 2000. Problems? Oh yes. Donnell and his partner in crime, brother Reginald, remembered just who they’d held up in 1997. When they returned in 2000, they found themselves staring right at the same teller.

Of course, most would just go on with the robbery as planned, but this semi-competent robber duo certainly don’t think like normal men. Instead of simply holding up the cashier, Donnell and Reginald beat the cashier with their guns in some bizarre recognition ritual. Both were caught, and both were charged with the 1997 and 2000 crimes.

4.    Simplify and Focus

In 1992, cashier Bill Brennan walked out of the now-demolished Stardust casino in Las Vegas. Well, that’s what the security system observed. Bill wasn’t really just walking out, he was walking out with over $500,000 of cash and casino tokens in his backpack…and he didnt win that by playing the in house casino games.

This goes to show that as smart as casino security can be, it tends to fall for the most simple robbery schemes. You certainly wouldnt find these kind of issues with a quality online casino. As much as Oceans 11 looked good, casino shoplifting seems more profitable.