Possible Porta Potty Problems at Inauguration - For The 3rd Time

WASHINGTON - Jan. 17, 2025 - PRLog -- It happened at the presidential inauguration of 2009, and again in 2013 - not enough portable toilets for all the attendees and the cold weather - notes public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

In 2009 the inauguration was planning to provide only about 5,000 porta potties for spectators, but a potential disaster was averted when the threat of sex discrimination complaints forced the organizers to bring in several thousand additional units.  SEE:

Law Prof Warns Inauguration Committee of Possible Potty Parity Suit (https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/law_prof_warns_inauguration_committee_of_possible_potty_parity_suit)

Professor John Banzhaf Fears Inauguration Toilet Crisis * One man's crusade against restroom underprovision (https://www.theguardian.com/world/oliverburkemanblog/2009/jan/19/obama-inauguration-barackobama7)

As a result of Banzhaf's threatened 2009 legal complaint - as well as a strange interview on MSNBC-TV by Willie Geist shot entirely within a large porta potty on the Mall -  the number of portable toilets was substantially increased, and a potential crisis was averted.

Ironically his complaint was based on reports that toilets would be marked "Men and "Women" as they are in most federal office buildings, and that the number for each gender would be the same.  The law professor argued that this would lead to much longer lines for females, since studies had just shown that women take, on the average, about twice as much time to urinate as men, and that this constituted illegal discrimination on the basis of sex.

In 2013, the issue was different. Although the 2009 inauguration was planning to provide about 5,000 porta potties, for 2013 there reportedly were going to be only about 1,500 portable restrooms

Not Enough Porta-Potties For Inauguration Crowds, Warns Litigious Law Professor (https://dcist.com/story/13/01/17/not-enough-porta-potties...)

Having many layers of clothing on can double or even triple the time necessary to use the facilities, even for men when flies don't work as well when long johns or other undergarments are used.

Potty Crisis Could Gum Up Inauguration (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secret...)

This year's inauguration is expected to be the coldest in 40 years (since President Ronald Reagan's in 1985) - far colder than 2009 or 2013 - with the temperature expected to get no higher than the mid 20s.

So, says Banzhaf, we can expect spectators to wear even more layers of clothing, and to take much longer than usual to take it off and then put it back on after using the portable restrooms.  So it's very important to plan on having enough facilities to accommodate this addition time, he suggests.

In this regard he reminds us of the British Army's 7P adage: "Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance."

http://banzhaf.net/ jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com @profbanzhaf