Rick Sanchez and the Tragedy of Shy Poopers
Tucked away in the latest season of Rick and Morty is a profound question: To what lengths will you go to poop in peace?
If you’re Rick Sanchez, the answer is setting up your own porcelain throne on the hill of an idyllic alien planet and subsequently hunting down anyone who dares to defile your sanctuary. Yeah, it’s a totally absurd premise which involves a mob shake-down and a robot uprising as Rick searches for the interloper, who turns out to be an alien office worker named Tony. But despite all its twists and turns, the episode reaches a strangely familiar place. After our toilet trespasser risks his life for one final thrill, he waxes poetic about our crippling psychological need to poop in private. In a desperate bid to impose order on our chaotic universe, we withdraw into lavatorial isolation. It’s a tendency that, the show suggests, we’d be better off without.
While most of us can’t retreat to an alternate planet for some solo bathroom time, we still probably empathize with Rick’s toilet anxiety. But why are we all so anal (sorry) about when and where we poop? And, more importantly, after several thousand years of human civilization, how come we’re not getting any better at it?
The Dirty Details
To my knowledge, there isn’t any concrete data to quantify exactly how many “shy poopers”…
