On Tue, 8 Jun 2004 at 11:39:49, Richard M Willis
wrote:

Also, a drinking fountain would inevitably get gobbed in, ****ed
in, or be treated as an ashtray or garbage receptacle. Presumably
the Americans don't suffer from this sort of thing.

But surely the whole point of water fountains is that they produce a
stream which arches up, so your mouth doesn't have to go anywhere near
the actual outlet. And, from what I remember of the US, the fountains
were too high up to be peed into, unless you were a contortionist!

I remember as a child being able to use the drinking-fountains in Hyde
Park; you can't now....
--
Annabel Smyth
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/index.html
Website updated 6 June 2004