# Fuck you, public toilet lid down-putter! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 17, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062 "2011-08-17T18:47:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snow\_Pea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Snow\_Pea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snow_Pea)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/21 "2011-08-17T19:47:43Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > Where are you people finding public toilets with lids? Um, everywhere. Including porta-potties. And hoverers are the exact reason why lid-dropping is so nasty: you never know until **after you touch the lid to put the fucking thing back up** that the fucktard hoverer before you dropped the lid right into one of her piss puddles. And now it’s all over your fingers. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/22 "2011-08-17T19:49:55Z")
Uh… so wash your hands? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/23 "2011-08-17T19:50:32Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > What if an emergency happens, like I have to pick my nose or scratch my ear, between the the time I touched the lid and washing my hands? Now I have shit nose and shit ear. Use the left hand for the toilet lid, the right hand to pick (or vice versa). ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/24 "2011-08-17T20:05:14Z")
I don’t know how to break this to you Snow Pea. But you come across to me as a germaphobe and unnecessarily squeamish. Seriously, just wash your hands regularly and you’ll be fine. The person who put the lid down does not need pitting as they have not put you at any additional risk. ---
**Author:** ![Snow\_Pea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Snow\_Pea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snow_Pea)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/25 "2011-08-17T20:10:33Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > you come across to me as a germaphobe and unnecessarily squeamish. And you’d be wrong. Tell me one single logical reason for putting the lid down in a porta-john after using it. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/26 "2011-08-17T20:17:25Z")
> [@Snow\_Pea](#): > > And you’d be wrong. > > Tell me one single logical reason for putting the lid down in a porta-john after using it. Stench…insects that lay eggs in shit…yup those two come to mind fairly quickly. You do realize even if the lid was left open, the toilet seat could still come in contact with the lid when somebody lifts the seat up as well, so they don’t pee on the seat…(but just the whole underside of it instead!)…:smack: ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/27 "2011-08-17T20:37:10Z")
I can think of several reasons for putting the lid down in a porta: 1- cuts down a titch on the smell 2- don’t have to look at the contents while you get your clothes back together 3- habit from homes with small pets/children or fastidious mothers 4- a place to put your foot while you retie a shoe or adjust a sock 5- a place to stand the little kid you’ve just helped while you get HER clothes adjusted Besides, fresh urine is more or less sterile. I’m not saying you should use it like lotion, but getting a microdot or two on your fingers isn’t going to be the end of the world, and you sure aren’t going to get cooties or HIV or plague from it. Keep a travel bottle of hand sanitizer in your pocket at all times if you’re really that squeamish. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/28 "2011-08-17T21:01:39Z")
> [@Snow\_Pea](#): > > And you’d be wrong. > > Tell me one single logical reason for putting the lid down in a porta-john after using it. wrong about you coming across as a germaphobe?..no, you do. wrong about the unnecessary squeamishness?..nope. Reasons for putting the lid down have been given, all of them logical. Look, it is a piece of plastic that will contain germs (as will the doorknob, escalator rail, lift buttons, bus seats, hanging straps…etc. etc.etc.). I don’t suggest you lick it, but merely using your hand to lift it up cannot hurt you providing it is not smeared in excrement and you follow very basic personal hygiene precautions. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/29 "2011-08-17T21:07:46Z")
I have the solution. 1. Open stall door. 2. If lid is in the open (up) position, Squat and deposit. 3. If lid is not in the open position, Proceed to next stall and start over at #1. 4. If no stalls are acceptable, find a bush. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/30 "2011-08-17T21:09:03Z")
But not Kate Bush. That would be rude. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/31 "2011-08-17T21:10:41Z")
> [@Snow\_Pea](#): > > Um, everywhere. Including porta-potties. Where are you finding all these porta-potties? Has there been a Woodstock revival that I missed? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/32 "2011-08-17T21:11:49Z")
Hmm, I can’t recall ever seeing a public toilet that had a lid. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/33 "2011-08-17T21:13:03Z")
> [@Snow\_Pea](#): > > Why the living FUCK do you do this? > > I’m no germaphobe, but certainly do not want my hands unnecessarily touching surfaces which just had contact with some stranger’s bare buttocks and were just inches from their spewing orifices. > > Normally, I enter the stall, do a quick glance to make sure there is no urine or whatever on the toilet seat, sit down, do my business, wipe, flush and leave. \*\* The only thing I had to touch was my own clothes and the clean toilet paper.\*\* > > But no. (bolding mine) if you’re sitting down, you’re touching your own clothes, the clean toilet paper, and YOUR ASS is touching the grossest part of the bathroom, a (god help us, maybe even still warm) disgusting toilet seat just after some random stranger sat their ass upon it. To me, that toilet seat trumps the lid, fecal-matter-spray-laden outermost sheets of toilet paper and the petri dish of disease-bearing flush handle–all of which you’re also touching while you’re in there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/34 "2011-08-17T21:14:59Z")
> [@KinkiNipponTourist](#): > > . . . > To me, that toilet seat trumps the lid, fecal-matter-spray-laden outermost sheets of toilet paper and the petri dish of disease-bearing flush handle–all of which you’re also touching while you’re in there. > > 😃 Well that’s it. I’m using the sink from now on. ---
**Author:** ![OneMissedPost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@OneMissedPost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneMissedPost)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/35 "2011-08-17T21:16:32Z")
And why is it such a big deal to touch a toilet seat? This is a failed pit. > [@JohnT](#): > > Uh… so wash your hands? 😕 Yes. > [@Snow\_Pea](#): > > Nice, but I"m not talking about the _seat_, I’m referring to the stupid, useless LID. Which serves no purpose whatsoever in a public toilet. Are you serious? Angry over a lid? > [@Morgenstern](#): > > I have the solution. > > 1. Open stall door. > 2. If lid is in the open (up) position, Squat and deposit. > 3. If lid is not in the open position, Proceed to next stall and start over at #1. > 4. If no stalls are acceptable, find a bush. There’s your solution. Next. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I don’t know how to break this to you Snow Pea. > > But you come across to me as a germaphobe and unnecessarily squeamish. Seriously, just wash your hands regularly and you’ll be fine. > > The person who put the lid down does not need pitting as they have not put you at any additional risk. This, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/36 "2011-08-17T21:17:06Z")
Fuck the sink, **Morgenstern** … people have put their _hands_ in there, and God only knows where they’ve been. To be perfectly safe, I’m using the floor. But I’ll be considerate and piss in the far corner. For the other, trash cans work well - no asses on those! ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/37 "2011-08-17T21:17:58Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Well that’s it. I’m using the sink from now on. You don’t \*even \*want to go there. From the cite earlier upthread: > [@](#): > > Toilet seats have actually been determined to be the least infected place in the bathroom because the environment is too dry to support a large bacterial population. In accordance with that theory, the underside of the seat has a higher than average microbial population. The place in a restroom with the highest concentration of microbial colonies in restrooms is, surprisingly, the sink, due in part to accumulations of water where these organisms breed freely after landing their aerial journey. While toilets are obviously not sterile environments, they tend to not be as bad as people think because they receive more attention and are cleaned more often. “If an alien came from space and studied the bacterial counts, he probably would conclude he should wash his hands in your toilet and crap in your sink,” Gerba said ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/38 "2011-08-17T21:26:19Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > You don’t \*even \*want to go there. From the cite earlier upthread: This leaves one last [choice](http://blog.pennlive.com/bizarrebazaar/2007/11/astronaut.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/39 "2011-08-17T21:31:34Z")
I don’t know if I’m making your problem worse, or helping you out, but…based on my exhaustive and completely scientific research, about 50% of the guys I work with don’t wash their hands after they urinate, and about 20% of them don’t wash their hands after the take a shit. And many of the ones who do wash don’t use soap or hot water. No toilet lids here (seriously, where do you find public toilets with lids?), but those guys then go out and touch things. With their hands. That just touched their dicks. Or their asses. Things that you also touch, like the doorknob, the copy machine, the handle on the coffee pot, or the mouse in the conference room. These are educated, wealthy men, God only knows what the hand washing rate is for the hobos and proles out in the general population. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062/40 "2011-08-17T21:38:54Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > … I’m all for having hoverer-only stalls in all public facilities so the rest of us don’t have to deal with their filth. If you ran for public office/ruler of the universe, I’d vote for you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-public-toilet-lid-down-putter/593062.md?page=3)