# Enough with the toilet seat... sheesh ! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 9, 2001, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350 "2001-11-09T03:49:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lestrange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aca169/32.png) [@lestrange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lestrange)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/21 "2001-11-09T13:20:08Z")
Let me second the “fecal aerosol” mention. Really, do you want that all over your toothbrush? In our house, the lid stays down unless you’re actually using the equipment. Of course, we also have the lid locked. You don’t know horror until you walk near the bathroom and hear splashing noises when you know the bathtub is empty, the 4 year old is in another room, and the baby hasn’t figured out how to turn on the sink tap yet. Then you discover that the reason the bathroom door was open to admit the tot in the first place is that the eldest used the potty and forgot to close the door. And forgot to flush. After I got everything cleaned up (at the same time trying to prevent the outraged toddler from getting back into the toilet bowl) I went straight out and bought a toilet lock. ---
**Author:** ![abuse\_angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d07c76/32.png) [@abuse\_angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abuse_angel)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/22 "2001-11-09T13:59:43Z")
do you leave cabinets open in case you need a cough drop in the middle of the night? do you leave the refridgerator open in case you need a drink? when you’re done with the toilet, you close it. put down the seat, put down the lid. simple. that way no cats drinking out of the toilet (or, in our case, knocking stuff into it), no toddlers playing in it, no “fecal aerosol,” and you look like you have a basic grasp of the concept of cleaning up after yourself. i bet you don’t make your beds, either. ---
**Author:** ![Venoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@Venoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venoma)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/23 "2001-11-09T14:40:15Z")
mid-night grogginess + why bother to put my contacts in getting up in the middle of the night + bladder infection and extreme need + since I can’t see ANYWAYS why bother turning the light on = _splish_grumble_smack seat down_tinkle\* Doesn’t usually happen. Annoying when it does. Lid’s usually down at our house. male:female ratio is 1:1. ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/24 "2001-11-09T14:42:55Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by alice\_in\_wonderland_ > **leaving the toilet seat up when not in use is incredibly bad feng shui. Very negative chi.** It may be more accurate to say that only some practitioners of Feng Shui believe that. It’s generally considered a myth among serious practitioners of Feng Shui that covering or plugging up holes in the house will help prevent the loss of luck or wealth, mainly since there are so many other holes in the house such as the kitchen sink, vents, etc. that are not always covered up. If one is worried that one’s money will be flushed away if one leaves the toilet lid open, then one is entering a mental state that actually stops the flow of energy, which is not a good thing if one practices Feng Shui. If one ever read a book that stated such a thing as you posted, then one should find a better book. ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/25 "2001-11-09T14:45:09Z")
Oh, and just for the record, I’m a guy and I always lower the toilet lid. Mainly because I was brought up that way, but also because I don’t want my cat to fall in or drink from the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Fledermaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@Fledermaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fledermaus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/26 "2001-11-09T17:07:55Z")
I second the notion of shutting the lid so the critters don’t drink from it. Because, of course, as soon as they’ve finished their drink of toilet water, they immediately want to share the experience by licking my face. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/27 "2001-11-09T17:31:58Z")
Not only do I leave the seat up, I store my toothbrush on the back of the toilet as to get EXTRA fecal aerosol on it. It’s good for the gums, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/28 "2001-11-09T18:54:00Z")
All I can think of after that last one was _The Misadventures of **Spoofe** and his Trusty Toothbrush_, coming to theaters near you very soon. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/29 "2001-11-09T19:32:11Z")
Just try not to breathe on _us_ with that mouth, then, **mouthbreather**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/30 "2001-11-09T20:41:53Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by OneChance \* \*\* > [@](#): > > that covering or plugging up holes in the house will help prevent the loss of luck or wealth, mainly since there are so many other holes in the house such as the kitchen sink, vents, etc. that are not always covered up. \*\* The point isn’t that chi _EXITS_ through the toilet, or any other hole for that matter. The point is that negative chi _ENTERS_ the house from the toilet if the seat is up. The bathroom is a hot-bed of negative chi, according to every feng shui book and every feng shui practitioner I’ve ever consulted. Bathroom placement within a home can be considered a deal-breaker if its located in the wrong spot (SW corner, if I recall correctly). This doesn’t have anything to do with chi escaping through the toilet, or being flushed away. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/31 "2001-11-09T23:02:37Z")
Another argument for leaving the seat down: We have a bathroom cabinet on the wall above the toilet. If the toilet seat is left up, sure as shootin’ someone will be rummaging for something in the cabinet and knock something down into the toilet. Remember the Seinfeld episode where he knocked his girlfriend’s toothbrush into the toilet? Well, mine went the same way once. No! I didn’t brush my teeth with it, but it was my brand-new toothbrush from the dentist :😭:, and it taught me to always keep. the. lid. down. ---
**Author:** ![meyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@meyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meyer)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/32 "2001-11-09T23:17:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cheesesteak \* > > **meyer** Do you have one of those furry lid covers on your bowl? They always mess with us guys. Just as well though, we’ll pee with the seat down, and if our aim is off, **we** don’t have to sit in it. 😃 No, no fuzzy bowl cover things here. It just doesn’t stay up. We have no idea why. But now we’re performing a survey with our male houseguests: Sit down, or hold the seat up and stand? Since we started asking, every single one of them has held the seat up. Why don’t you guys think to sit down? [sub]I just noticed that the last post was my 100th, and I don’t know if its very sad or strangely appropriate that it was in this thread[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/33 "2001-11-10T01:48:19Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by alice\_in\_wonderland_ > **The point is that negative chi _ENTERS_ the house from the toilet if the seat is up.** It _is_ believed among Feng Shui practitioners that the Chi from the toilet (the toilet itself, not the toilet’s drain pipe) is powerful Yin, which weakens your Yang energy. The location of the toilet and bathroom can help deflect or suppress the negative Chi, but many true practitioners of Feng Shui do not believe that the toilet seat does anything, or does very little, to prevent negative Chi from entering the home. Closing the bathroom door is more widely supported. Placing the bathroom in a non-conspicuous location is the best recommendation. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/34 "2001-11-10T02:05:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zenzelli78 \* > \*\*I have had my ass dunked in the icy water of which **Myrnalene** speaks, but it only happened once. After that I always check, and it’s just something I do without thinking (or I did). I do believe that if you really expect a man to touch the nasty toilet seat to put it up and down, then you can touch the nasty thing to put it back up. That whole goose/gander thing. In my house we always put the seat and lid back down…the words “fecal aerosol” echoing in our heads. \*\* Once. I was three years old, and got up in the middle of the night, in the dark, and fell in-hey, I was a scrawny little child. No more did my dad leave the seat up after that. But we have to close the lid-the cats would fall in-they like to jump up on the back of the toilet to get to the window sill. Once, when my aunt was about four years old, she was dreaming about going swimming-well, apparently, she was sleeping walking, and my grandfather saved her from diving head first into the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![phartizan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba8739/32.png) [@phartizan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phartizan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/35 "2001-11-10T03:30:43Z")
Phartizette always leaves the toilet seat up. I try to remember to put it down as a courtesy, but what’s the big deal? At least once the _ **lid** _ was down and I peed on that. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![DaToad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/36 "2001-11-10T03:53:02Z")
Put me in the “seat and lid down, when not in use” group. DaToad confesses: Although, when I was hugging the thunder mug, spewing out everything on the north side of my sphincter, and realized the lid was down, I was pretty sad. ---
**Author:** ![babydrln](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@babydrln](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/babydrln)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/37 "2001-11-10T04:05:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mikahw \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Myrnalene \* > > \*\*Have you never gotten groggily up to pee in the middle of the night only to be shocked awake when you plunge ass-first into the toilet water? \*\* > > Have you ever gotten up to pee in the middle of the night to see the toilet seat down, think for a milisecond, say “screw that”, and pee all over the toilet seat? > > Well, I havn’t. But it’d be fun if I did, right? If you don’t check, neither should I. \*\* I have to put my two cents in here. My argument against leaving the seat up doesn’t have anything to do with any ass bath received in the middle of the night. (Although my husband left the seat up once and had that happen to him in the night. BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA! 😃 Served him right.) No, my problem was when I was pregnant with my first daughter and often had a sudden an _ **immediate** _ urge to pee compounded by a significant reduction of bladder control. On most occasions, I made it to the potty in the nick of time. Hubby leaving the seat up almost caused me to pee all over myself before I could sit down. And anyone that says I should have just sat on the rim doesn’t know whereof they speak. I couldn’t risk getting stuck! LOL Hubby still leaves the seat up sometimes, and it’s a source of mild irritation; but it only REALLLY bothers me when I’m 40 months pregnant and don’t have _ **any time to negotiate** _ with the scream of nature. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/38 "2001-11-10T04:28:12Z")
I’ve never understood the problem with the toilet seat question. Regardless of your sex or elimination habits, there are three possible positions a typical residential toilet apparatus can be in: [list=1] [li]Lid down[/li][li]Lid up, seat down[/li][li]Lid up, seat up[/li][/list=1] Logic dictates that you check the position before using it. Females aren’t the only ones that can fall in. Hey, _it could be worse._ Lemme tell you a story – all the participants are dead now, so they can’t get TOO embarrassed. My mother had very liberal modesty habits around family. At our summer cottage we had a very dark bathroom in the middle of the house, with a hard-to-reach light switch. My grandmother once walked into the bathroom, closed the door, pulled down her skirt, and sat on the toilet. And screamed, because my mother was already sitting there! :eek: “Goddammit, Emmeline, don’t you ever close the goddamn door?” “Well, no one was here but family…” The moral of the story is: **TURN THE LIGHT ON FIRST.** ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/39 "2001-11-10T04:46:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by phartizan \* > \*\*At least once the _ **lid** _ was down and I peed on that. :eek: \*\* Been there, done that. If your a little groggy, it takes a moment to figure out what that sensation on your legs is. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350/40 "2001-11-10T05:14:06Z")
I can’t see if the toilet seat is up or down unless I am wearing my glasses and the light is on. Putting on my glasses in the middle of the night takes a while, and wakes me up too much. Turning on the light will likely wake those I am sleeping with. It is a very big deal to me. Rule number one in my house: Toilet seat down! Pretty much anything else is negotiable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-toilet-seat-sheesh/92350.md?page=3)