Is there something about California culture that precludes people from flushing public toilets?

OK, so I’m in San Diego right now, I’ve been here about a day and a half, and almost every single public toilet I’ve used has still had urine in it. It occurred to me that where I live (St. Paul, MN) and the many other cities I’ve visited in the US, this is at best an occassional occurrence, certainly not something which happens more often than not. In fact, most places I’ve been, even when on vacation in very touristy areas (where let’s face it, people aren’t known for being as conscientious as they would be at home), it’s not even a daily occurrence to come across an unflushed toilet.

It also occurred to me that 3 years ago, I went to San Francisco, and noticed the same thing, in fact on a couple occassions it wasn’t just urine I encountered left behind. I also happened to be in the rest room at La Jolla beach today for an extended period of time blow drying my son’s pants after he waded a bit too far into the ocean without a suit, and I saw a guy enter a stall, come out several minutes later, and not even rinse his hands much less wash them.

So, I’m just wondering, is there some cultural thing…California is so laid back that people just don’t sweat the small stuff, and to them, a lot more falls under the category of “small stuff”? Is it some failing of the public health and/or education systems to imbue a sense of good hygeine to its residents? Is it a function of the relative wealth of the area, wherein so many I’ve encountered seem to be able to afford a team of servants to flush their toilets for them? Is it a conservation issue…an “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” mindset, perhaps? Maybe there’s just a lot of assholes around, residents, tourists or otherwise?

Thoughts?