That's the book that was similar to 1948, but written a few decades before? I've heard of it, I will see if I can find an audiobook. Thank you!

1948 is one of my favourites, by the way.

Haha dutch guy here... Who cares? Our bedrooms have curtains! Actually living rooms usually as well, but we are reluctant in closing them I guess. Also, you'll often find patches of intransparant glass to prevent directly looking in.

But then the horror to go to the US and find toilets in i.e. hospitals that don't have doors closing all the way. You can literally stare someone in the eye through the crack in the door, or over the door, while he's taking a dump. Holy cow. Imagine the sounds echoing through the collective toilet room. My god. I'm still recovering from my visit to the prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Having a s* together with someone in the next stall is a whole new level of intimacy I was not ready for.

When I lived in NL, it was explained to me that closing the curtains would imply, in some sort of weird Calvinistic belief, that the occupants were engaged in some nefarious activities; therefore the curtains are left open to show that the occupants have nothing to hide and are engaged only in wholesome activities.

The other side of the social contract obliges passers-by to not look inside.

The other strange thing that I found is that some apartments have little spy mirrors mounted on the exterior wall to allow the occupants to monitor what's going on in the street.

The Dutch simply shamelessly scratch their butt, and if someone's watching that's their problem ;)

I think that system requires that passers by don't look inside the houses.

AI can't generate this prose yet.

You oughtta pride yourself on being able to make that jobsite porta potty ring like a bell.

Just make an even louder jungle cat snarling noise.

Tell that to my asshole. I’ve tried training it to be silent on the shitter for near 40 years but it fails more often than not.

It would be virtuous to not judge others based on some small thing they do that annoys you, just as you do things that annoy others.

I had a friend growing up who ate with his mouth open. I fucking hated it. But he had problems breathing through his nose due to something with his soft tissue in his throat. So, you learn to ignore it.

I agree but only because that's the standard for our culture so somebody not doing it is probably being disrespectful which means it becomes offensive to others because it normally only comes from people with some sort of negative feeling or inconsiderateness for those around them. In some cultures, noisy eating is the proper way and shows you're enjoying the food. Same goes for clothes, toilet sounds, etc. It's a lot more repulsive seeing a human poo on the street than a dog even though it's not fundamentally very different.