Why so? If it's night time and a person is discreet ... or a person is hiking on a remote trail, even in a national, state, or local park, it's not such a big deal, at least to me. The idea is that if someone were to sneak up on you, the person (a male) would turn away. It's amazing that they can't fill the nightly news with important stories that public urination sometimes gets air time. I would agree that an alleyway with the stench of urine is gross, though.
Because one is hopefully living in a civilized area where bathrooms aren't hard to find. Plus potential to be seen, and showing your genitals in public regardless of what you're doing with them counts as public indecency.
The police are well aware that people urinate in the public and nature. They aren't going to investigate a puddle of urine and track you down. Its literally a sense of you just can't get catch in the act. The problem is that if they can see you, their eyes could have just as easily been a child's.
There used to be a time when people threw their feces out the window and onto the street below, letting it land on whomever was unfortunate enough to be passing by. As time progressed people realized that it was causing a lot of health issues and the government put a clamp on it. Fast forward a while and (I think it was some early form of the bird flu) they banned public spitting because of how easy it is to spread disease that way. The main reason you aren't allowed to do things like that in public is for public safety.
Well you pretty much answered your own question. We've seen what public areas look and smell like when people inappropriately use them as a toilet, so I would like to think I could go about my daily schedule without having to smell the stench of somebody's urine baking in the sunshine. Putting it on the news is admittedly a sign of a slow news day.
Or else avoidance of covering real problems and real issues. Which is my cynical take on a lot of the stories that appear on US news.
I used to live in India, where it is not a big deal. Believe me, you can smell it as soon as the plane door opens.
I'd prefer that the streets not smell like piss, but I'd be alright with seeing a relaxation of that law. Relegate it to ordinances in dense population centers, which would be the only places it would pose a problem.
And therein lies the problem. I live in NYC, the filth capital of the world. Even here, I'd draw the line at public urination. It can get to smelling bad enough around here with all the garbage on the street, I needn't have someone's urine stenching up the place too. $0.02
Darn, I should have clarified. Not on an asphalt or concrete surface where smell is an issue, but more of a grassy or landscaped natural space where it would be absorbed and dissipated. Maybe that won't change the answer. The reason I brought this up is because in some remote states, you might see people pulled over on the interstate and peeing into the vegetation, mostly out of view, because it's an eternity until the next town or service area. I suppose if a trooper came by, it would be a crime. You'd think he or she would understand. I once did this in a desolate spot en route to a ski area for the reasons described above. A car or two driving by may have known what I was up to, but they couldn't see "anything."
There's definitely a lack of public restrooms in many dense urban areas. Living in one, I'm not crazy about people peeing in the streets, but at the same time, I think we could do better in providing facilities for when nature calls. In the wilderness, I never found it a problem. Growing up on 240 acres, if I peed while hiking and the dog did too, nobody ever noticed or cared. I can see the issue in cities, but I think people have grown overly ashamed of their basic bodily functions, above and beyond health issues so that they insist on living in these safe, boring, sanitized, Stepford Wives suburbias. Give me a whiff of a dirty Paris street to a dull shopping mall, where all the stores sell the same crap.
Taking a piss in the woods is perfectly normal and socially accepted where I live, as we're a really outdoorsy state. I've been in a park before by a fishing pier, and a guy who was fishing decided to use the tree behind him as a urinal. Hey, it happens.
Urinating on greenery often turns it bad. I've seen the state of gardens where the grass is pissed on and turns dead and dry after a while. And there is still smell. Public urination isn't hygienic at all, and should only be done when the only alternative is wetting your trousers.
I think it depends on where you're doing it. You have to be considerate. Like, if there's a big set of bushes, you can pee into the bushes. Don't pee on a tree in the park though, because people might want to sit against the tree. Common sense should apply.
cuz it's nasty...look if you are in the woods and nobody around...fire away in a subway? on a building? it's a horrid smell and can be dangerous Foxface
First off, when I read this I envision some nasty bitch with a dress on squatting on a sidewalk peeing But to answer the topic, naw I don't think it should be a prob as long as no one is around and you're not peeing on something in peoples paths. Who cares.
There are a lack of restrooms & if you have been out for a drink at night & decide to walk home to save on taxi fares, you could easily get half way home & become desperate for a pee, where holding it it does not become an option, so therefore nature kicks in & out it comes
Appearantly this ban isn't here in the US, or if it is, people don't give a rat's ass. I get nauseous every time I see someone spit, it's just fucking gross. Like, does whatever they spit out really need to come out at that moment? ---------- Post added 19th Jul 2013 at 11:56 AM ---------- Yes, this, definitely. However, I'd say just hold if you can, if not well, just do what Pret said.
I personally would not do it outside (only as a last resort) I would try find the nearest toilet available. If there not one around and I had a few drinks what else can I do? I don't get why it such a problem it only somebody urinating animals do it in public where and when they want no problem so why is it a problem if someone just doing it in a hidden area. It's making a big deal out of nothing as if there are not better things to worry about. Not as if your flashing it on purpose and plus usually most people try to do it in a discreet area so the likely hood of a child or minor being there is slim. Like I said anyway not like I would be intently wanting to pee in public just you need to go when you need to go. I don't agree with doing it in somewhere like a train station ect. you could at least find a tree or bush in a hidden area where people hardly go if you need to go.