These were for sale in the tourist market in Granada, Nicaragua.

I don’t want to make fun of these too much because obviously a lot of time and care was put into them.  I mean, just look at the detail in the man’s Tom Selleck moustache.  And the artist even thought to add a touch of realism by adding the a trash can next to each toilet (in Nicaragua, toilet paper isn’t flushed, it’s thrown in the trash).

I imagine the artist’s conversation with the souvenir vendor went something like this:

Vendor:  None of the tourists are buying your volcano paintings.  Come up with something more interesting.

Artist:  How about a painting of a toucan?  Or a man sleeping in a hammock on the beach?

Vendor:  NO!  No…that’s been done too many times before.

Artist:  Okay, I know.  How about a painting of a man sleeping in a hammock, on a beach with a toucan flying over his head? And a volcano in the background?

Vendor:  No!  I said that we need something interesting!  Something funny!  The tourists like to laugh.  They will buy it if it’s funny.

Artist:  (thinking a moment) Okay…how about a man sitting on a toilet?  Everybody likes a good ‘man sitting on the toilet’ joke.  It’ll be your best selling souvenir, I promise.

Vendor:  (hesitating) Alright…We’ll try it.  But this better not be another one of your crappy ideas!

Reannon Muth

Reannon Muth is a full-time writer, social media consultant and owner and manager of the Taken by the Wind travel blog. Born in Hawaii, Reannon has lived in five countries, at Disney World and on a cruise ship. She currently lives in fabulous Las Vegas.