Even more fashionable than buying pre-ripped jeans--and more practical too--The "Split Pants" Phenomenon

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Attention! All you infants out there!!! Are you tired of daiper rash and having to periodically submit to a cleaning? Do you want to take control over your life? This applies especially to those pre-potty trained tots. Try our alternative to pampers........the SplitPants!!!! More comfortable than a sweaty diaper and it doesn't make your butt look big. Now you can walk without waddling like a duck. An environmentally friendly alternative that even your parents will like. (Warning: do not use in countries where such a practice is not culturally acceptable, limit actions to places such as China, may cause cold butt syndrome so beware of chilly drafts of air, only for infants)

The first time I saw a young toddler squat where she was standing on the sidewalk to pee, I was shocked. Though I am not as traveled as some, I have done enough traveling abroad that I did not think there would be anything left to surprise let alone shock me. But there I was witnessing a little kid peeing on the sidewalk, in broad daylight as cars whizzed past on the street and people nonchalantly walked by. After walking around the streets of China I can more fully understand why some cultures so strongly emphasize the practice of taking off shoes before entering a home and why touching anything other than the ground with your foot can be the highest of insults in other cultures. Not that the streets look dirty--there ware people who are hired to clean the streets everyday and at any time of day you are likely to see someone with a broom and bag or dustpan sweeping the streets. They also regularly drive a large machine on the road that washes the streets by spurting out water as it goes. Still, I am aware that every time I walk outside, I likely step where someone spit or a little kid squat to pee.

After my first encounter I began to notice such things more and more. I had been confused the first time saw a little kids butt peeking out from the shadows of these split pants. Only after I witnessed the public unrination did I realize that the pants where not ripped but intentionally unsewn at the crotch seam. Though I rarely see kids squatting in public I still see them tottering around in those pants; proof that such a practice is socially acceptable here. Honnestly, I have nothing against this practice, though it might not be as clean, neat and efficient as I tried to make it sound in the beginning. In fact, the split pants are one those things I dearly would love to capture of photo of but will never be able to make the subject of any photo simply because it is not something really culturally appropriate or sensative. It would just seem rude to me. But still, I always hope to accidentally get one on the edges of some other photo simply because it is one of those cultural "this-is-different" things.

One thing I have always wondered about though, especially as the weather changes: Don't they get cold with all chilly drafts of air. Good thing it is not the kind of cold that gives you frostbite.

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Comments

[loeliger]

Great one!
Loved this observation on the infant life and how to avoid diaper rash in China. In Japan we used to see mothers holding their tots out over the railroad tracks at a very busy station with their butts exposed so they can pee there. In addition men cuddle up to a telephone post or light pole almost anywhere and take a leak. Different strokes for different folks. Hope all is well. Love, Nana