The Toilet Paper Scholarship

Bathrooms in the Middle East are somewhat...strange. At least they are strange to my western mind. In my opinion, a bathroom should have several things: a toilet that flushes (and this is most important), toilet paper, soap, a sink with running water, and paper towels. I am not too picky and don't expect a mirror or other things in public restrooms.

Unfortunately, I have been in "bathrooms" here that have none of these things.

Before I arrived at the University of Jordan, I thought for sure that bathrooms at the University would be different. I thought at least they would have the essentials of a toilet, soap, toilet paper, etc.

Not so.

It is true that many of the bathrooms have toilets (but no toilet seats--go figure) and not just holes in the ground (although those are plentiful also), but I have seen absolutely no toilet paper, paper towels, or soap.

Anywhere.

I don't know why I think it is so weird that you have to carry around all of those things yourself at a university, but you do. But I think I have figured out why the university does not provide toilet paper for its students:

The first reason is that Jordan, and the Middle East in general, is severely lacking for water. Because of this, the water used to flush a toilet is used sparingly and there is not enough to flush waste and toilet paper. For this reason, they have "trash cans" in each stall into which you are supposed to throw your toilet paper after using it (contributing to a horrid smell in every bathroom). So the first reason is that if you are using your own toilet paper, perhaps you won't waste as much and not as much will get "accidentally" flushed down the toilet.

The second reason is that poor people here, and especially in Egypt, walk/sit around and sell little purse-size packages of kleenex (they are called "Nice"). So maybe the university does not provide toilet paper because they want to contribute to the economy by forcing their students to buy "Nice."

My favorite reason, however, was one provided by Andrew Grover, another student here. He related the story that at BYU Commencement they used to give brownies to all of the participants, but now they announce that they don't give out brownies anymore because they used the money to provide a scholarship for a student called the "Brownie Scholarship."

So now I just need to find out who is receiving the "Toilet Paper Scholarship" given by the university from the money they saved on toilet paper in public restrooms!