Boston became infamous for the costly "Big Dig" to put I-93 underground. Now, the city is preparing for the latest addition to its pantheon of construction marvels, the opening of a waterfront coin-operated toilet that took more than two years and $300,000 to bring from drawing board to reality. A year ago the project was having problems:
By Matt Viser, Boston Globe | June 8, 2007
Marisa Shea had been on the field trip for hours, and now her high school classmates were boarding the bus for home in the suburbs. But first she needed to take care of a basic human need.
She made a beeline to the only restroom in sight, a futuristic contraption with double doors and a computer screen displaying the words, "Please Insert $0.25."
She slid a quarter in the slot. Instead of activating the restroom's doors and letting her in, however, the coin passed through the machine and clinked without effect into the coin return. She tried again. And again. Seeing her distress, some friends gathered around, offering their own quarters. None worked. The bus was leaving.
"I'll just have to wait," Shea said, "and hold it the hour back to Walpole."
Buck up Bostonians! Even the rocket scientists at NASA had problems:
Earthquake, tsunami,
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