When Nature Calls...

Surveillance cases can mean long and arduous hours sitting in place with eyes on an address waiting for the subject to make an appearance.

Sometimes really looooooong hours.

And while you are sitting, baking in the heat, you need to keep your fluid intake up otherwise risk dehydration.

All that fluid has to go somewhere, right? And eventually it does, most likely in an inopportune moment. Life's funny that way.

So there you are, sitting in your car in a suburban street with a bladder that's letting you know something's gotta give. Soon.

What do you do?

Well, most likely you are 1-up (ie there is only the one of you on the job). You can't leave the vehicle, you have to maintain obs on the target.

The old tried-and-true method is the empty bottle. However, this is not always really an option. I mean, do you know how difficult it is to empty a straining bladder into a bottle, while seated? Have you even tried it?

Seriously, I don't recommend it.

Especially when seated in a vehicle parked in a suburban street, in the daytime, around the time schools are closing.

Not a good look.

Then there are the more hi-tech pee-bags that turn liquid waste into a biodegradable jelly. Of course you still have to whip out your appendage and complete the task while seated. Unobtrusively.

For the serious, on-mission, types there's always the urine bag strapped to leg trick. A bit extreme, maybe?

If you are lucky enough to have a surveillance van, you might have the luxury of a chemical toilet. Now wouldn't that be something?

So, how do you manage those calls of nature while on a job?