# Dude, if you're not sitting, don't use the stall **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 20, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367 "2012-10-20T22:48:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![C6541](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90db22/32.png) [@C6541](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C6541)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/141 "2012-10-30T22:47:11Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > False. Pure urine from a perfectly healthy person extracted directly from the bladder is sterile. Urine that has been expelled through urination can pick up all kinds of microbes that tend to live in the crotch area. How much do you want to bet that _no one_ who has used a particular men’s toilet in the course of a day was perfectly healthy? From what I understand, your face and hands have more microbes than your crotch so I’d worry more about people’s hands than the small amount of urine. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/142 "2012-10-30T22:57:59Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Sure. But it’s no worse that their dirty hands on the sink faucets. > [@C6541](#): > > From what I understand, your face and hands have more microbes than your crotch so I’d worry more about people’s hands than the small amount of urine. Regardless how worried I am or should be worried about people’s hands and faces, I’m not willing to be faced with a bowl full of someone else’s urine. Flush the damn toilet. > [@](#): > > Toilet, which has urine in it that is not yours, and all you’re going to do is pee, then there’s no reason to flush before using. One should usually flush a toilet after using. > > Urinal: no rational reason to flush before or after use. Yes, the rational reason is that no one should be forced to come face to face with a bowl of my urine and vice versa. > [@](#): > > Yes, there is some smell. But I like the way nature smells, and if it’s a choice between a toilet or the outdoors, I’d prefer we preserve the outdoors- by not wasting water. If it’s a choice between the children of the future having water and my having to negotiate public toilets full of unflushed urine, fuck the children of the future. Find some other way to preserve the environment. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/143 "2012-10-30T23:02:32Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > DrDeth, I appreciate your passion, but you still haven’t won me over. Besides most of the water from the urinal and the toilet gets treated in your local wastewater treatment plant and then put back into the water lines to be used again. I’m happy to pay that fee monthly so I don’t have to let my bathroom smell like _nature_. OK. Yes, but there’s a large energy requirement to do that. But, sure, if you flush afterwards you’re not a bad guy. And, if you don’t flush (urine), you’re not a bad guy either. It’s a choice. Smell vs nature. I understand and accept your choice. Just understand and accept mine. Now, I will admit thinking- to those dudes that flush a half-dozen times while peeing- see a damn therapist, willya?!? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/144 "2012-10-30T23:05:10Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Smell vs nature. I understand and accept your choice. Just understand and accept mine. I accept what you choose to do in the privacy of your own home. In a public toilet, I don’t accept your choice not to flush. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/145 "2012-10-30T23:49:52Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I don’t even know what you are addressing here. 😕 “Wait my turn”? Yep, I do; just like everyone else (usually a helluva lot more). I’m addressing your attitude that someone else can’t use the handicap stall as they’re insufficiently crippled for your taste. STFU is mild compared to what that attitude deserves. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/146 "2012-10-31T00:47:16Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > I’m addressing your attitude that someone else can’t use the handicap stall as they’re insufficiently crippled for your taste. STFU is mild compared to what that attitude deserves. No, I’m talking specifically about _hemorrhoids_ not being sufficient to label a person “disabled”. Period, point blank. Why not call someone with a bad hangnail “disabled”? Or with bad acid reflux? Or who gets psoriasis? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/147 "2012-10-31T01:00:29Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > No, I’m talking specifically about _hemorrhoids_ not being sufficient to label a person “disabled”. Period, point blank. > > Why not call someone with a bad hangnail “disabled”? Or with bad acid reflux? Or who gets psoriasis? :rolleyes: (actually psoriasis probably wasn’t a good example as it CAN be disabling) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/148 "2012-10-31T01:09:54Z")
Let me say, I DO understand that severe hemorrhoid can interfere with certain tasks and activities, such as physical jobs or heavy lifting, etc. In such cases, I could see a certain “disability” status being relevant. I do apologize for my hasty language in my previous post. I took issue with **Kimmy Gibbler** using this condition as an excuse to use the handicapped stall; which he first said he used because they are “so luxurious”, not out of necessity. I still would like to hear how using the handicapped stall somehow lessens the difficulty of your situation with hemorrhoids. Liken it to a deaf person saying they need the handicap stall; how is that condition (deafness) relevant to the supposed need to use the handicap stall? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/149 "2012-10-31T13:17:32Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > How do you know she didn’t need the handicapped stall in addition to making a phone call? Well, she was pacing back and forth in the stall, and looked fine when she walked out. Meanwhile, I’m wearing a full arm cast and practically peeing my pants. I’ll say it again: Public toilet stalls are NOT phone booths. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/150 "2012-10-31T13:20:14Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I’ll say it again: Public toilet stalls are NOT phone booths. It’s astonishing to me that anyone would argue with this. We’ve gone from “I can pee standing up in a toilet stall if I want” to “I can do anything at all in a toilet stall that I want and it’s none of your business whether I’m composing an opera or watching Honey Boo Boo on my mobile.” ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/151 "2012-10-31T13:36:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Let me make this clear again. Not a toilet, but a _mens urinal_. Obviously that is only after being used for urination, not a BM. > > But yes. There is no rational reason to flush a urinal after every use. A few times a day is all. Urine is sterile. > > It’s true that “four year olds that have mastered this concept “ but that’s because 4yo don’t use urinals all that often, and it is important to teach a child to flush. Later, after he becomes more reasoning we can show him when not to flush. > > Every reason to not flush is rooting in that childhood toilet training, where we were taught that “poo & pee are dirty and nasty”. But we are no longer children. How bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/152 "2012-10-31T13:43:54Z")
No kidding. This is one of the most incomprehensible positions I’ve ever seen someone take on the Dope. It’s proof that no matter how absurd something is there is someone out there who believes it. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/153 "2012-11-09T12:05:51Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > But it’s just so roomy! Plus you have that little bar in there to stabilize yourself, if you’ve had too much to drink. Those bars are for hanging the sports page. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/154 "2012-11-09T12:07:21Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I accept what you choose to do in the privacy of your own home. In a public toilet, I don’t accept your choice not to flush. Waste of water. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/155 "2012-11-10T00:57:44Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > I will continue to flush the toilet every time I walk by the bathroom for the rest of the day in protest over your sick and disturbing insistence on leaving your piss for others to flush. I’ve seen the reverse boycott used before. The first time was from Maddox regarding eating meat, the second from someone on 4chan regarding child porn. > [@Acsenray](#): > > I accept what you choose to do in the privacy of your own home. In a public toilet, I don’t accept your choice not to flush. [Wizardry](http://www.waterlessurinals.co.uk/about-waterless-urinals/)! By the way, I sometimes use the stall in order to avoid standing in the middle of two other guys pissing. I’ve found coughing or clearing the throat helps with “shy bladder”. As did the Redback club in Acton. I’m fairly sure conception was a larger issue than flushing in the single stall in the male toilets there. Shoulder to shoulder at the urinal and a dysfunctional sink. One blessing was that minutia were frequently obliterated in a hungover haze of regret. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/156 "2012-11-10T04:42:59Z")
re the OP, the toilets in stalls in mens’ rooms have seats that lift up. They’re intended for use this way. Damn silly rant. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/157 "2012-11-11T18:03:31Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > No kidding. This is one of the most incomprehensible positions I’ve ever seen someone take on the Dope. > > It’s proof that no matter how absurd something is there is someone out there who believes it. Seriously? The idea that someone is _not_ brutally traumatized by the horror of looking at a toilet bowl full of someone else’s piss is “one of the most incomprehensible positions” you’ve seen taken? What do you do when you walk in and some dude’s just cropdusted the place with a paint-peeler? Going to the men’s room must be a daily torture for you, sensitive flower that you are! A few years ago, my city suffered through an extreme drought. We all learned to let the yellow mellow. And it was fine. Piss doesn’t start to stink until there’s more piss than water in the bowl - that’s why there’s water in a toilet in the first place. If the john starts to get funky, you flush. Otherwise, chill. I’m more concerned with saving water than saving your poor precious nose. If a bowlful of yellow water is that offensive to you, learn to hold it 'til you get home, princess. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/158 "2012-11-12T02:19:37Z")
These people who are so effing traumatized by another person’s piss in the toilet bowl have clearly never raised either an infant or a toddler. There are worse things than piss _in a toilet bowl_. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/159 "2012-11-12T03:03:01Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > These people who are so effing traumatized by another person’s piss in the toilet bowl have clearly never raised either an infant or a toddler. There are worse things than piss _in a toilet bowl_. Hear, hear. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367/160 "2012-11-12T13:23:29Z")
People thinking that I’m somehow overly sensitive to piss are off the mark. I’ve changed a thousand diapers. Also I’m a deer hunter. I purchase piss at the store so I can bring it into the woods and spray it on myself to cover my scent and trick the deer. Two days ago I gutted a doe and that entailed removing the bladder with my bare hands from the body cavity of the deer. I didn’t mind the smell of that, and even found it a bit fun. I went back out the next day in the hopes of doing it again. However, back in civilization and assuming of course that there is no severe drought or zombie apocalypse I flush the fucking toilet because that’s what you are supposed to do so the next person doesn’t have to face a bowl of your piss. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dude-if-youre-not-sitting-dont-use-the-stall/638367.md?page=9)