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I live in Karachi, Pakistan and I have got a job offer from Dallas, Texas, USA. I am likely to move their soon. While researching the cultural difference I realized that a bidet is not usually used in USA and people prefer just the toilet paper. How should I ask my co-workers to install a handshower inside the toilet?

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    Why not just use toilet paper? It's not a hard transition (speaking from experience), and you'll find a lot of American homes, public stalls, etc. don't have a bidet either. You won't be able to escape using it at some point.
    – Akshat Mahajan
    May 15, 2016 at 16:44
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    @M.Kinz I think such a request would be met the same way anywhere in the US; it's likely to be ignored, as it isn't customary here.
    – Andy
    May 15, 2016 at 22:46
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    I don't really understand why this is being downvoted - it seems on topic enough to me?
    – enderland
    May 15, 2016 at 22:48
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    actually in this way the west is less advanced. I am a westerner myself and I have switched to water, its much more better.
    – Rigolletto
    May 16, 2016 at 10:44
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    How on earth is this question opinion-based? Please remember that close votes are not super-downvotes. And while you're free to vote up and down for any reason you like, like @enderland I'm having trouble determining that reason for this post.
    – Lilienthal ♦
    May 18, 2016 at 21:50

2 Answers 2

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Use a portable bidet like one of these. I keep one on my boat for overnight trips.

Your coworkers never need to know.

I worked with a Pakistani in my last job, I'm reasonably certain this is what he did judging by the parcel he carried into the toilet occasionally (presumably when #2 was imminent). He carried a prayer rug in a similar parcel when he used an empty office for his prayers.

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If this is a medical condition which means that you need this facility, then you bring it up with your manager or HR, not with your co-workers.

If it's actually not a need but a personal preference, then I'd strongly suggest that you don't bring it up at all. You made the decision to move to a different culture, so a lot of the burden is on you to adapt to that new culture, not on that culture to adapt to you. Otherwise you're saying "I'm special. You all need to change your life because I won't change mine.", and that's not a way to fit in to a new culture, either at work or outside work.

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    I agree with most of this answer. The "you all need to change your life" seems somewhat overstated though. It's not as though everyone else will have to stop using toilet paper.
    – Martin Smith
    May 15, 2016 at 17:31
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    I agree with this answer as well. I am a French person living in the US. I am used to bidets in France. And even thought I think that all Americans are super unclean because they don't use bidets, I would never think to ask for that at my workplace. That being said, if you have a gym at work, or if some employees bike to work, it wouldn't be unusual to have a couple of showers in the bathrooms (especially in Texas where it is so hot outside). Or if you work at Google, it wouldn't be unusual of them to have a few Japanese-like bathrooms, which can fulfill the same function and more.
    – Stephan Branczyk
    May 16, 2016 at 4:05
  • Here are pictures of one of those at Google. sfist.com/2008/06/26/behold_google_offices_toilets.php#photo-2
    – Stephan Branczyk
    May 16, 2016 at 4:09

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