taking care of business

I think we can all say that at one time or another we've been out and about and realize...I really have to go to the bathroom.

There's nothing worse than being in an unfamiliar city wandering the streets with a desperate look in your eye, only to be told "The restroom is for patrons only" or "It's out of order", and if you always rely on Starbucks, you've come to realize that so does everyone else, which is why Starbucks also serves as a homeless person washing up station.

While the primary point is to find a working, available restroom, it is certainly a bonus when the restroom is clean and you can breathe while you're in there. It also helps immensely if the essential items are available, such as toilet paper and hand soap.

Well, the days of pee pee misery may be closing to and end for some. If you live in the US of A, program this number into your mobile's address book: 415-350-2290 under the name "MizPee". The next time you're caught in this predicament, send a text message to the number with your city and state and according to the site, "MizPee finds the closest, cleanest toilet and gives you entertaining reading material once you get there."

You read that right kids! You even get reading material. Even better... it's entitled, "The Toilet Paper"

Alternatively, you can use your mobile browser and go to www.mizpee.com. You input your locale and MizPee gives you a list of options.

For each toilet you are given the following information:

• Business or building name
• Street address
• Distance from your location
• Average cleanliness rating from previous users
  (5 = very clean; 1 = yuck)
• Cost and/or purchase requirements, e.g. is this toilet for customers only?
• Handicap access: Yes or No
• Diaper-changing station: Yes or No
• User comments

I don't know if I would read half of those details. I'd want to know how far I had to go to get there, and depending on how dire the situation was, I'd try not to go to anyplace with a "yuck" status.

I don't have an internet browser on my mobile, so I haven't tried this... if you live in Europe, I'd be interested to see if it works so try it out and let me know.