Babcia klozetowa alive & well?

Has the once iconic babcia klozetowa completely disappeared from the Polish landscape? Whatever the case, Pol-Ams returning from Poland these days are impressed by the great improvement in public lavatories. Some remember the old scoot-downs at provincial railway stations and elserwhere not to mention the odiferous fumes surrounding most public loos with the exception of Orbis hotels. Now Polonian travellers come back saying: 'It's almost like America!'

Oh, she is there all right, and she ain't breaking her back spicking and spanning.

In Krakow, public toilets near Wawel and others are a pleasure to use. Clean, well-kept, supplied with paper, soap and hot water - for 1 pln you can't get better.

The best ones were the ones in Sukiennice which I used for years and at that time they were 30groszy. Now places charge up to 2pln

I well remember the times, when babcie klozetowe allowed you three strips of toilet paper which you got on your way in...oh, the good old days....

lol.. this may be one of the best topics ever. i am glad you brought such important issue to the forefront here rofl..

What about the guy who does the dubbing for foreign-language films?

Frankly, he sounds absolutely f***ing knackered.

He reminds me of the guy who used to do nearly all the adverts for UK Garage events on pirate radio - talk about having a virtual monopoly! lol

I'm happy to report that in Zakopane near Gubałówka lift babcia klozetowa is alive & well and charging 1,50 zł for the pleasure. Toilets are not so great. At least toilet paper is not limited :) That's colossal improvement.

True, but it still like sand paper

I have to visit Zakopane.

Babcia klozetowa is fine, and even in some ways she modernized. She has mobile phone now and in some places she can even give you a receipt :-)

As for dubbing guy he is still there, and I personally would fight for him to stay :-) I hate all those multivoiced dubbed movies except maybe Shrek and a few others... They are usually completely cleaned from emotions. With dubbed guy you can usually hear original voices in the background and somehow "feel the moment"... I suppose it is kind of ability that Poles where forced to gain to mix automatically this background with sober dubbing guy voice. You foreigners just don't get it ;-) It is kind of a movie with subtitles except subtitles are given by voice... The ultimate goal, as Yoda would put it is:

understand the dubbing guy you should, not hear ;-)

I suppose some of you are still in the moment when Luke Skywalker is trying to lift his spaceship from the swamp. I tell you, it can be done ;-)

I can stand watching movies with lektors if they're not in English. But the lektor destroys the movie for those who speak the original language as their native tongue (no matter how well they know Polish).

And .... when two different languages are being spoken at the same time it just sounds ... ugly, it's a very unaesthetic experience.

Sometimes I wish someone could get a native speaker of English to do an English lektor track over a Polish movie so Polish people could understand how terrible it sounds to other people.

As for babcia klozetowa I can't say I've met any recently. My two favorite memories:

Wrocław train station (early 90's) all the stalls are filled and i'm in a .... hurry. The helpful babcia walks up to one stall pounds on the door and yells at the guy to vacate ASAP.

Near Warsaw old town during 2002 WC, the sociable babcia starts talking to me and handicapping the WC from her post just as I'm getting down to business. I try to keep up my end of the conversation but it wasn't easy.

I can understand that, but that dubbing is made for Poles. What I'm trying to explain is that it is not like some foreigners try to explain to themselfs that it is just dire communists legacy and Poles just don't know better. Well, they know, but better rarely is better :-)

You say it sounds ugly for you because you hear two different languages at the same time. Thing is, that to some extent if "lektor" is native for you, you actually don't hear him, you just understand him :-)

I suppose it would be a nightmare for me to watch ie french movie dubbed with one voice in english because I would have to engage most of my brains limited powers to first hear the guy then cut his message then attribute it to a proper actor and finally translate it, indeed it is a nightmare. In case when dubbing voice is in polish all this is automatic and I can focus just on emotions hidden in foreign language and of course on the pictures...

At least that is the way it works for me.

please keep to the original topic. thank you.

Sorry, Moderator, but what the hell is all that about? A good referee would 'play advantage' in this situation - it's not every thread on PF that is as good-humoured as this one (putting it mildly) and it's fair to say that lektory are themselves a Polish cultural icon in much the same way that babcie klozetowe are.

There are times when it is better to keep to the spirit, rather than the letter of your mandate.

Respect, alexw68 (a moderator elsewhere)

Polish lektors have been discussed in other threads.
Among other things... keeping a thread on topic is out
of respect to the OP. I hope this helps.

Ok, moderator, you are right, I'm sorry. But what if I find a movie with babcia klozetowa with dubbing ? Anyway, to expiate my sin:

Where is my water pipe

And last but not least, quite old though:

Big Cyc - Wielka miłość do babci klozetowej (Great Love for Babcia Klozetowa)! ;-)
...

I have such an impression that all "babcia klozetowa" moved to Germany. They are in every shopping center here and in Poland in none.

If I walked around her and did what I had to without paying, would I be arrested? What is Plan B if I have no money?

You pay voluntarily. Only on highway service you must pay.

I didn't see any sign that says it's voluntary.
Are they on commission or salary?

Im schopping center you can ignore her. Avoid eye contact.

Would she call the cops? Or would she sue me?

Nothing of both. Even no swear. But I must tell you, since corona I pay regulary. I am just happy it's open.

Just pay for your g9dammed bowel movements already! What an effin' cheapskate....

What if I left my wallet at home? I don't carry my wallet when I go for a walk.

She will go after you, hollering at the top of her voice.Do you really want to experience such humiliation in front of other people, being called a thief and lousy drunkard?

Think twice before you commit such a disgraceful act.

One word...... Depends!

I noticed that kids have to pay too. Do your stores carry diapers for teens?

Why do you post such stupidities??? Have you just lost all control?? :):)

Just trying to keep up with maf. His solution is depends - clearly with cashless seniors in mind - hence my question about cashless teens who need to go. I know that you teach English, not logic, and that is why you need me here to guide you through the complexities of single-sentence posts.

It is not a Polish problem. I haven`t seen babcia in a public toilet since communist times. Stop narcissizing about your own posts and try to be more attentive to what is written to you, e.g, by Alien.

There used to be one at the bogs by Łódż Fabryczna right until they rebuilt it about a decade ago.