Latrine Rules

I told you all that our living conditions were spartan at best. Well, even in spartan conditions they are rules for civilized living. The latrine (bathroom) is no exception. I'll warn you before you look, there's a little bit of rough language - it is the Army after all. But I think it only adds to the humor of the situation. I apologize for the bad focus. It's tight quarters in there and the lighting is poor.

The first thing I have to explain is the pump. We don't have a typical home setup where the pump comes on automatically to fill a bladder tank. Nope, our water comes directly from the pump. No pump, no water. So when we're done, we have to cut the pump off or it'll burn up. Hence the reminders throughtout the latrine:

Then there is the general summary of rules:

The other thing I have to explain is that the toilets here are not like at home. They're backwards. At home, they slope from front to back with the hole at the rear. Here, they slope from back to front with a hole at the front. And unlike home, there is no water in them. So we layer paper in them prior to conducting our "sit-down" business. Hence, the next admonishment:

Once you sit down and close the doors, there is the following reminder and encouragement for those who didn't layer the paper first:

Like I said, there are some rules, even out here in a bathroom. I get a chuckle everytime I go to the latrine and read these.