When store manager Sara María Júlíusdóttir showed up for work at Kirsuberjatréð yesterday morning she stumbled upon an uncomfortable scene, namely an alleged tourist relieving himself on the sidewalk outside the storefront.
“When I arrived Arndís [Jóhannsdóttir, the shop owner] was just in shock,” Sara María told Vísir. “The man had just pooped and peed in front of the store. Arndís lives above the shop so the man had literally tended to his needs one metre away from her home.”
According to Sara María the man stood and walked away when he was done as though nothing had happened, stopping only to smell his fingers and walk into Reykjavík City Library. “I considered calling to give them a heads up but I just didn’t know what to say,” said Sara María.
Ultimately Sara María and her boss were forced to clean up the mess and although the man passed the shop again later in the day they were at a loss about how to confront the man.
In related news, Vísir reported a similar story yesterday about tour guide Kristín Ólöf Steinþórsdóttir who – while taking a group of tourists on a popular Laufskálavörður hike – came across toilet paper littering the countryside.
“I approached to clean the mess, the way you do to keep nature looking nice,” Kristín said. “But I quickly changed my mind when I saw it was just piles of shit everywhere.”
Kristín conceded that it was normal to relieve oneself in the great outdoors but that the rise of tourists in the area plus the lack of restroom facilities was likely the cause for the disturbing scene and that in many places the situation was “out of control.”
UPDATE: The streetpooper was definitely a tourist, says Sara María in our EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW.
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