<<回台湾走走2011>> - Clean Public Toilets @ 一中街 Night Market

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Sunday, 15th May 2011

This entry is specially dedicated to the owners of 三能 Optical Shop @ 一中街 (Yi Zhong Street) Night Market who were kind enough to allow the general public to use their toilet facilities within their premises. I guess most of the friendly shop owners at the night market would willingly offer the use of their washrooms during an emergency provided if you asked them nicely (I haven't really tried asking though).

What made 三能 stood out from the rest was that they had prominently displayed a toilet sign outside their shopfront. Any members of the public were welcomed to use their facilities to answer the call of nature even though they were not patronising their business.

This unusual fact was first related to me by SS. During her last trip to Taichung, she was frantically searching for a bathroom urgently in the neighbourhood before attending a rock concert. In so doing, she noticed a toilet sign displayed at the very shop. She decided to give it a try and asked if she could use their facilities. To her pleasant surprise, the answer was a definite "YES" with no strings attached.

In all my years of travelling, this was the first time I encountered such unusual stories. I decided to check it out myself in order to better document the gestures of these kind samaritans. I had purposely stepped into the optical shop one evening and requested to use the washroom. The polite lady pointed me to the back of the shop where the toilets were. There were 2 cubicles and both were very clean and well-maintained. I took some pictures of the place before I left and said a big "Thank You" to express my gratitude.

This was indeed god-send given that most toilets at night markets we visited in Taiwan were few and far in between. In fact, I had not bumped into one at 一中街 yet. Even if we were lucky to find one eventually, most of them would certainly be filthy.

I was certainly impressed by the shop owners at 三能 for offering their toilet services to convenience the community at large. So much so that I decided to dedicate this entry to document their kind gestures.

Deep in my heart, I sincerely wished that their business would prosper and they would continue to be around to serve the 一中街 community in the years ahead.

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