I use urinals as much as the next guy—although what is he trying to shake off over there, herpes?—but I’m a bit baffled at why they might be the next big thing in home bathroom design (according to the Times, that is.)

The new urinals bear little resemblance to the grungy fixtures you might see littered with cigarette butts and hanging from the wall of a truck-stop men’s room. Consider, for example, Duravit’s McDry, an elegant, teardrop-shaped model that sells for $895 and doesn’t require water to flush (instead it uses a biodegradable blue oil, penetrable by a stream of urine, which acts as a barrier to odors).

Is it so difficult to lift up the lid of your toilet? Urinals exist primarily to keep toilets free for those in real need, not as a more appealing option for pissing.

Whatever—it’s a “trends” piece. And one worth it, if for no other reason, than this actual quote:

“My wife didn’t like it, but I put it in,” said Mr. Dinkins, who is not alone in encountering resistance from the woman in his life.

For the High-End Bathroom, Something Unexpected> [NYTimes.com]