At the Risk of Being a Potty Mouth...

I noticed the phenomenon when I first arrived here. I went to the airport restroom before waiting for my bag, and the toilet was noticeably lower than what I was used to. I figured I was either more tired than I thought, or it was an odd quirk.

At my new home, no issues. But the next time I went out, the same thing. And the time after that. I wondered if this was how it was for taller people all the time, sitting down and having your knees jut skyward at an awkward angle?

Then we went someplace--a restaurant, I think--and no issue. Was I just imagining the whole thing?

The plus side of my online searching is
I now know of toilet museums to add
to my bucket list. ;)

I did an Internet search and came up with nothing. Well, I came up with a lot of articles about "low-flow" toilets and standard- vs. ADA-height toilets, but nothing on whether the toilets in Maui's beach/public, restaurant and retail/mall restrooms were shorter than normal.

It's not a normal thing to obsesses over, I know. But let me explain a bit. When I was younger and started traveling on my own, I would document the "facilities" wherever I went.

African outhouse, antique water closet, castle commode, whatever it may be. The amateur sociologist in me was always fascinated by how different societies viewed our necessary if unglamorous bodily functions.

Eventually I stopped actively capturing these experiences. (It gets harder to explain a photo collection of privies if it's not related to research on an active project.) But the curiosity remains.

Earlier this week, I was walking home for a couple of miles along the beach and stopped to use a restroom. Again, I plunked down unexpectedly.

So I conducted the very unscientific test of measuring the height of the bowl against my leg and doing the same when I got home. There definitely seemed to be a difference!

Is this it? Are they using child-height toilets
in most of the public restrooms??

Even though I'm no closer to an answer, I'm not desperate enough to start carrying around a tape measure to confirm my suspicion, or to bring it up in conversation with Larry's co-workers or the people I meet.

Yet.

It's also not likely there's an island-wide conspiracy to gaslight me. But if you have some insight into what the @%!$ is going on here, please share!