Spending Habits

The recent study by a Dutch university linking wise decision-making to bladder control — as mastering the desire for immediate gratification stems from a single neurological area — should lead to drastic rethinking on the placement of toilet facilities around the world. If indeed it is conclusively proved that the habit of holding back, inculcated by the paucity of such facilities, spills over into other areas and promotes a broader tendency to suppress impulses to spend, then stores should speedily install more public conveniences. The lure of advertising and low prices are likely to have limited appeal where restraint becomes a well-entrenched habit. Conversely, places where abstemiousness is encouraged as a virtue, such as savings institutions, should curtail the availability of such conveniences forthwith so that the need to hold back becomes imperative .

Moreover, to rapidly induce further restraint among potential hasty spenders, they should also provide plenty of liquid replenishment opportunities. In that context, the Delhi government’s move this week to scrap the project for citywide public toilets that it had launched with eight prototypes during the Commonwealth Games should be hailed as pro-a a m a a d m i. If its original plan to sprinkle the city with 250 of these spiffy sanitation facilities around market areas had been implemented, the consequences could have been deleterious at a time when frugality has become a necessity. Of course, Indians are known to take recourse to alf r e s c o measures if the pressure really builds up, so the mere denial of toilets may not enforce thrift. To encourage more self-control and in the civic interest, the Delhi government could consider a fine and a monitoring force to prevent any unauthorised emissions.