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This should be a piece of cake for anybody who has a not-too-awful command of the italian language: -

You probably know the paper towels next to bathroom washbasins that are folded like this

and you can get them out through a hole at the bottom of the dispenser by grabbing the fold and pulling.

This of course doesn't work when the cleaning lady inserts them upside down. So my question is, if you had an italian cleaning lady who obviously doesn't understand German (or can't be bothered to), what is the italian equivalent of "please insert towels with the fold down" that you'd write on the dispenser?

Many thanks in advance... it's a minor thing, but everybody at the office is annoyed with the current situation. :-P

"God is dead." - Nietzsche, 1882 "Nietzsche is dead." - God, 1900

This post was edited by null on Oct 03, 2005.

please insert towels with the fold down" that you'd write on the dispenser?

First of all, let me state that this lady must be pretty dumb... definitely she comes from the southern part of Italy, because here up north we are all smart ;)

Secondly, I really can't understand how she would put it upside down, but that's not my business to know afterall. Anyway, what you would write is something along the lines of "Per favore, riponga i tovaglioli di carta con la piega verso il basso".

Good luck.

Un bacio è un'apostrofo rosa scritto tra le parole "ti amo".

because here up north we are all smart

Yeah, I know first-hand what a smart bunch you are. :-) And I figure there's a reason why she's the cleaning lady and not a university professor... :-P but then again, I don't really know her so I couldn't tell.

In any case, the sign is up and I'm looking forward to using the bathroom next Monday to check if it's helped any. Thank you for the translation!

"God is dead." - Nietzsche, 1882 "Nietzsche is dead." - God, 1900

This post was edited by null on Oct 03, 2005.

In any case, the sign is up and I'm looking forward to using the bathroom next Monday to check if it's helped any. Thank you for the translation!

No problem, and good luck! But wait... she only cleans your bathrooms on Mondays?? Yuck!! :D I don't want to imagine what they must look like on Friday afternoon then.

Un bacio è un'apostrofo rosa scritto tra le parole "ti amo".

she only cleans your bathrooms on Mondays?? Yuck!

Actually she only cleans it on Saturdays, but it's not that bad. Really. We're a very clean bunch of people at the office.

"God is dead." - Nietzsche, 1882 "Nietzsche is dead." - God, 1900

You probably know the paper towels next to bathroom washbasins that are folded like this

I must of been visiting all the wrong places :-)

My only experiance of Italy was a three day trip i went on to see a band i like who were touring, i started day one in Milan, then the day after went on a mission of a train journey to a place called Massa i believe.

The toilets in both buildings i saw the band in i thought were showers at first, just square basins on the floor which i presume were china, i had to squat and do my business, haha.

The best toilets i see were within the train station i slept in on day three i had to pay for.

themoreyouknowthemoreyouknowyoudontknowwhatyouknow

My only experiance of Italy was a three day trip i went on to see a band i like who were touring, i started day one in Milan, then the day after went on a mission of a train journey to a place called Massa i believe.

The toilets in both buildings i saw the band in i thought were showers at first, just square basins on the floor which i presume were china, i had to squat and do my business, haha.

The best toilets i see were within the train station i slept in on day three i had to pay for.

There are two Massa in Italy... either it was Marina di Massa, or, more likely, Massa Carrara. That city is very famous for its wonderful white marbles, also called Marmo di Carrara. Yes, it is more known for its second name.

Normally all our bathrooms are made in purcelain, and it seems very strange to me that you found a bidet in the bathroom of a random place. Bidets are normally in houses and hotels, but the bathrooms of public buildings are generally without them, also because you can imagine that people wouldn't want to use something that has been used for that purpose by a stranger.

If the best toilets you've ever seen are those of a station... well then I assume that either you were in the cleanest Italian station, which seems very unlikely, or you have slept in filthy one stars hotels or something. Generally speaking, our stations are filthy, no matter where you are in Italy. This is mainly because of the many illegal immigrants we have: they don't have a place to stay, so they normally gather in big stations for the night, and considering how their igienic habits are different from ours... well you can derive the conclusion on your own.

Also, about the bidets... I know that everybody who is reading this post will be grossed out, but I do find them very practical also considering that toilet paper is generally speaking not always enough. The funny part is that normally Europeans tell us that we are filthy because we don't take a shower everyday (as if that were the trend everywhere, and probably they never met my dad: he showers at least twice a day rofl), and because we use a bidet. Oh well... By the way, in case you were wondering... I think that this item is so unpopular in the other parts of Europe because it started being considered badly in France: there it was an item used by prostitutes, and so obviously no one wanted to use it. I guess that this idea conditioned also the rest of Europe aside from Italy and Spain.

Un bacio è un'apostrofo rosa scritto tra le parole "ti amo".

There are two Massa in Italy... either it was Marina di Massa, or, more likely, Massa Carrara. That city is very famous for its wonderful white marbles

It must of been Massa Carrara, i was well impressed with the train station, it was all marble and must of took some serious time and craftsmanship.

Also, i didnt find a bidet, the first gig was at CS Leonkavallo, Milan, proberly the best venue and night out i ever went to, the place was like a massive concrete warehouse or disused factory, graffiti art all along the walls, people squatted there when the 2000 people capacity hut wasnt being rented out.

The toilets were odd, i opened the door and thought, this cant be it, but it was, similar a shower base with two designated spots for either foot, you had to squat and in the centre of this square purcelain base was a hole.

I assumed this was unique to that building, but after a nice long sleep on the train, i remeber i had to arrived at massa station, the location was Baraonda, Poveromo di Cinquale, and the toilets were the same there.

I simply had to see the band, got a cheap flight and went for it with no place booked to stay, i was one of the people residing in the train station on day one which seemed the safest place to be. But i couldnt believe the kindness of a man who could hardly speak english after day two, a guy i was having a chat with after the gig when we all spilled out to the street ended up telling me his cousin owned a hotel,all the ones i discovered earlier that day were booked, he drove me to his cousins hotel, gave me the key and said when you leave put it under the flower pot near the door outside and then he sodded off.

I was left on my own, or maybe there were people in the other rooms i couldnt hear, with access to anything in the office, kitchen, i couldnt believe the generousity man, i left the next day and left the key, money was never mentioned. I met some amazing people on that trip :-)

themoreyouknowthemoreyouknowyoudontknowwhatyouknow

Well the sign's been up for two weeks now, and... I think it worked! Thanks a bunch, and hooray :-)

"God is dead." - Nietzsche, 1882 "Nietzsche is dead." - God, 1900

Well, I am glad that the sign worked, Bernie. It must have been an intelligent Italian, considering that she understood that the sign was addressed to her afterall :P Of course you could argue that she wasn't very smart to begin with, since she needed a sign to understand how paper towels were to be placed... Heh the world is cool because it has several different types of inhabitants, whose mental capabilities are definitely different one from the other ;)

[ps. Don't take the last statement as a provocation, please :D]

Un bacio è un'apostrofo rosa scritto tra le parole "ti amo".