Is there a commode in your cellar, right out in the open, next to the washer and dryer? LOL!! YES...my poor DH really hates that when we visit my folks and we're sleeping in the basement (the nice part, in front of the Frankin Stove) and the nearest bathroom is, well, the commode next to the washer and dryer in the laundry room! kb2614 and I never gave it a thought when we were kids. If someone was in the bathroom, you went to the laundry room...
I grew up in the 'Burgh believing that EVERYBODY had a commode in the cellar.
(Sometimes it didn't work for one reason or another, but at least it was there.)
It wasn't until I was much older that I realized that this was a somewhat "unique" luxury that was popular in the region. Many other areas of the nation don't do it (as much) unless they've actually remodeled and "finished" their basement with perhaps a game room and a "powder room" (with an actual bathroom sink/mirror and maybe even a shower).
But a standalone commode next to the washing machine?
LOL! People look at me like I'm nutz when I mention that!