Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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The Canals of Bath

Sudsy canals provide clean, and pleasurable transportation throughout the fair halbakearcology
 
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In times of trouble, swelling ranks of the unwashed homeless will show us that privatizing the bathing experience was not a perfect solution. Sure, public baths have sanitation risks, but at least nobody stank up the forum for want of a roof over their head, or running water, or gas to heat the water. Yet, without the reintroduction of patrons, gymnasiums, forums, coloseums, amphitheaters, anal sex, women-as-property, and the demon-theory of disease, the public bath of the ancient world would be unable to compete, for times have changed.

Presuming the required application of soapy chemicals to ensure odor-removal, and the required application of antibiotic chemicals to ensure the removal of disease vectors and human waste, modern society has yet one more concern: Those reprobate scoundrels who claim to be too busy to wash the stench of their humanity off of themselves.

The bath house itself will never be a suitable solution for modern times. To catch the inveterate non-bather, public baths will have to go in a new direction: everywhere.

Thus, the arcology of Bath shall be equipped with sudsy canals, lazy rivers, water slides, mobile pools, and other means of public conveyance that necessitate bathing. These would be erected in such a way that the average citizen would likely make use of a wet transport for at least half an hour each day, thereby insuring good hygiene. Since swimming also facilitates good health, it is probable that the citizen of bath would be less prone to certain health-related illnesses. Since arcologies are largely indoors affairs, concerns about unsutable weather need not be an issue.

Issues concerning peeing in the pool, and modesty may need to be addressed, but technically, I suspect it is not much more difficult than an elaborate water park.

ye_river_xiv, Oct 17 2009

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       And what of people who have nasty allergic reactions to different types of soap? What of the mass diarrhea that would result from all the unavoidable accidental soap ingestion? This is not a good idea. [-]
21 Quest, Oct 17 2009
  

       neh, the motivation is genuine but execution is totally impractical. Usually this is grounds for bunnage on the HB, but the gross out factor earns a -
dentworth, Oct 17 2009
  

       Huh? Anal sex stopped with the Romans? Who knew?   

       BTW, go and take a look at the Roman baths at Lewes, if you're in the area. I'd rather not bathe in them, I'm afraid. They're nowhere near as sexy as the ones at Bath.   

       I'd like to bun your idea, but you make it sound like a Turkish sewer, by your description.
UnaBubba, Oct 17 2009
  

       //The bath house itself will never be a suitable solution for modern times// I'm afraid in many parts of the world, public bath houses on the Classical model are regularly used by large numbers of people.
pocmloc, Oct 17 2009
  

       But not in the Old River 14, it would seem.
UnaBubba, Oct 17 2009
  

       We hoped that this was a way to make the city of Bath (renowned as a place where everywhere is uphill) more interesting by adding canals in the manner of Amsterdam or Venice.   

       Also, you forgot to mention "panem et circenses"; free bread, and blood-shedding gladiatorial bouts would do much to liven up weekday evenings, although on Friday and Saturday the unscripted street theatre of drunken chavs is adequately entertaining.
8th of 7, Oct 17 2009
  

       Don't forget to bring a towel.
jaksplat, Oct 17 2009
  

       Perhaps we could give chivs to the chavs. That ought to produce suitable circenses... until we ran out of chavs, but I suspect that the spectacle of blood sport might draw in enough to keep things going for quite some time.   

       Virtucom is currently in development stages for a waterproof bag to carry one's towel, and whatever clothing might be necessary.
ye_river_xiv, Oct 20 2009
  

       jetskis
pocmloc, Oct 20 2009
  

       I say expand it out throughout the rest of the society. All public places would be waterproof - whether indoors or out, and clothing would always be optional. There would be people who would go weeks on end never dry but always squeaky clean. Business meetings could be held in hot tubs. Since it would all be contained within an arcology, there wouldn't be much risk of weirding out the rest of the world.
Joolin, Oct 22 2009
  
      
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