I noticed something in the airport bathroom.
I’ve seen the little rubber anti-splashback discs in the bottom of urinals thousands of times, but for some reason it struck me this time: somewhere, there are designers modeling and testing theses, and factories producing them.
There must be quite a few, because I have seen endless variety of shapes, colors, and brand logos. There is apparently a robust industry dedicated to creating small objects whose sole purpose is to reduce a bit of messiness at the urinal.
Bathrooms don’t need these to function. They are not necessities. A very poor or barbarous society wouldn’t give them a thought. But they make the experience a little bit better. And they are ubiquitous.
A smiled at the thought that somewhere, someone was thinking about how to better manufacture these little things. Without any conscious effort on my part, I get to experience a slightly more civilized society.