Yes, this is a post about peeing.
A long time ago, perhaps seventeen (?) years ago, a dear friend from Australia came to visit. She is a great camper and trekker, and while shopping with us, she discovered a contraption in a camping store that filled her with such glee and excitement, I believe she did a little dance. It was a plastic widget that.. um.. lets a woman pee like a man. (Think little funnel that um.. well.. ya... you get the idea.) Oh the joy and pride to stand and pee with pants pulled up, instead of squatting in the dirt and muck! "I've only heard of these in stories!" she said. (Really, she was stoked. Think finding the Golden Ticket in Charlie and the Chocolate factory, or finding a wad of cash in an old purse, or of finding a totally out of print Heather Ross fabric on sale for cheap.)
Well, about six years ago, I was chatting with a friend who camps and hikes, and I mentioned this gadget, and her eyes lit up. It was like I could hear the trumpets playing as she imaged being out in the cold, wet, Northwest and not having to drop trow to pee. But then? I couldn't find it. It was as if they had never existed. Camping store people looked at me like I was making an odd joke. And oh, those google searches? Let's just leave that to the imagination.
This brings me to the present. In a happy accident of blog searching, I found mention of the Device. It has a Name, and it is called the Shewee.
My friend who wanted one of these, I haven't talked to her in ages. Do I call her up and start the conversation with "It is called a Shewee, and you want one!", or do I just buy one for her and invite her over for dinner? How long does the desire for a urination device hold? What if it was just a passing fad for her? What if she, long ago, found this on her own? Should I call her up and say, "Do you still want to pee like a man?"
It is a tangled web we weave when we desire to pee free.