12 Small Details You Only Notice Rewatching Parks & Recreation

10. City Hall's Water Fountain Problem

Parks and Rec
NBC

It's no secret that Pawnee residents are total idiots. Even the smartest of the bunch have their own unique quirks and lapses in logic. Regardless of their differences though, one shared trait seems to be that the majority have no idea about how to properly use a water fountain. Instead of taking a splash from a few inches away like a normal person, the residents - including Andy - put their whole mouths over the faucet. It's no wonder flu season is always a killer in this town.

A Season 4 episode titled Campaign Shake Up focuses on addressing this very important hygiene problem, as Ann attempts to come up with a number of solutions to stop people open-mouth kissing the water fountains. Of course, nothing works, and the people of Pawnee continue the same way they always have.

It's never mentioned by the characters again, however in Episode 18 of Season 6, there is actually a visual callback to the gag. Behind Ron you can spot a water fountain, with an instructional sign above it telling people exactly how to use it: stand a few inches away and DO NOT put your entire face around the spout.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.