Mr. Bernabe went to the work's toilet to relieve himself of some excess cargo, and as was his custom took in a bottle of water to sluice his pucker with. He used water instead of toilet paper because of his upbringing in the Philippines.
On this occasion his foreman followed him into the dunny and questioned his bathroom hygiene. He was subsequently reported to the manager who explained to him that he would be immediately sacked if he didn't follow the Australian method of wiping dirty bungs with toilet paper [1]. Mr. Bernabe replied, "Sir, then you better terminate me."
Rick Finch, of the Australian Manufacturing Worker's Union, said, "The thought that bosses think they have the control to get involved in toiletry is a gross invasion of an employee's privacy. If it wasn't so disgusting it would be almost laughable."
Even local Members of Parliament have got involved by praising Mr. Bernabe for standing up for his right to clean as he believed it should be done. After all, a huge amount of the world population uses hoses or jugs of water by the crapper to wash off unwanted dung; and in many places a choice is on offer.
What does it matter which method a person uses as long as he cleans his hands after the deed? Let's hope that this isn't the start of a slippery slope leading to Big Brother-style bottom inspectors being deployed in all our work and public toilets.