# "Gentlemen" - Restroom behavior...WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 14, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808 "2014-01-14T20:07:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/1 "2014-01-14T20:07:54Z")
Okay; Behavior I have seen lately in the men’s room that makes no damn sense. Walking up the urinal. Flushing it. And then doing your business. Sometimes flushing it AGAIN partway. There’s nothing wrong with the urinal (I mean, if it were blocked up, wouldn’t flushing it just make it overflow onto your feet?). Aside from a perverse desire to waste water, why would you do this? Anyone? Also, special bonus item. [The Ted Talk on How to Use A Paper Towel.](http://www.ted.com/talks/joe_smith_how_to_use_a_paper_towel.html). FFS, stop taking 17 of them, gathering them into a big wodge, halfheartedly wiping your hands, and then throwing the whole barely damp mass into the trash. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/2 "2014-01-14T20:09:50Z")
Minor sins. Now if we could all work on actually hitting the giant porcelain thing merely inches away from you… ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/3 "2014-01-14T20:15:28Z")
I think some men have trouble getting their flow going, and the running water helps somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/4 "2014-01-14T20:15:43Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Minor sins. Now if we could all work on actually hitting the giant porcelain thing merely inches away from you… That’s easy. Just put a target in. Any target. I saw one where the name of the company that sold urinal supplies (and their website) was on the bottom. Aiming for that was fun. Put a picture of Ted Cruz in and you’d get 100% accuracy. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/5 "2014-01-14T20:17:08Z")
Mustn’t cross the streams! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jyaLZHiJJnE/hqdefault.jpg "Cross the streams") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyaLZHiJJnE) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/6 "2014-01-14T20:22:40Z")
Ok guilty. If I see urine in the urinal from someone else I flush before I start. Sometimes I flush before I finish in an attempt to time the end of the flush with the end of the stream. No idea why. Sorry if I’m breaking bathroom law. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/7 "2014-01-14T20:23:38Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > That’s easy. Just put a target in. Any target. I saw one where the name of the company that sold urinal supplies (and their website) was on the bottom. Aiming for that was fun. This is the biggest downside of smoking no longer being common. Used to be, there was always a filter in the urinal you could target. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/8 "2014-01-14T20:24:43Z")
I suppose going down the line, flushing each as I pass, is right out? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/9 "2014-01-14T20:25:07Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Ok guilty. > > If I see urine in the urinal from someone else I flush before I start. > > Sometimes I flush before I finish in an attempt to time the end of the flush with the end of the stream. No idea why. > > Sorry if I’m breaking bathroom law. Yer in Jersey, aye? Here in Nevada we don’t flush our public toilets; they have IR sensors anthem and flush automatically (although there is usually also a button that lets you flush manually). IMO every public toilet should be so. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/10 "2014-01-14T20:54:23Z")
You flush before you start so the huge puddle of piss that the last guy failed to flush won’t splash on you. You flush when you leave so the the next guy won’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/11 "2014-01-14T21:01:35Z")
The very best target for urinals: a little picture of a fly. For those who flush first because you’re worried about splashing: urinals are designed for you to pee against the back of the fixture, not down into the bottom of it. That way, no splashes. In fact, that’s why urinal filters and urinal cakes are actually counter-productive. And to comment on the paper towel issue: when I was in pre-school, it was ingrained into us that we got one and only one paper towel from the dispenser. Nowadays, my hands are much larger and I might need two… but I still feel guilty about that second one. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/12 "2014-01-14T21:14:28Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > … I might need two… but I still feel guilty about that second one. No guilt here. Every trip to the store yields pounds of cardboard packages; some four to five times bigger that the products they hold. Paper containers that serve no use to me and fill up my waste-can. So a few extra towels are nothing compared to the waste I have to contribute to if I want to buy a simple product. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/13 "2014-01-14T21:17:40Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > The very best target for urinals: a little picture of a fly. Traditionally, it should be a bee. (Bee is APIS in Latin) ---
**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:** [January 14, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/14 "2014-01-14T21:26:41Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > …Walking up the urinal. Flushing it. And then doing your business. Sometimes flushing it AGAIN partway. > > There’s nothing wrong with the urinal (I mean, if it were blocked up, wouldn’t flushing it just make it overflow onto your feet?). > > Aside from a perverse desire to waste water, why would you do this? … No idea, but I can confirm that women do this ALL THE TIME. And I’m not talking about places with auto-flush, where the sensor might get messed up. I mean they walk up to the toilet, flush, then sit down and pee into the newly-clean water. I suppose their precious bodily waste can only go into previously-potable water, since nobody on this planet is dying of thirst or anything like that. (_Side rant_: these tend to be the same women who spray the Lysol everywhere AND use the ass-gasket.) > [@BubbaDog](#): > > No guilt here. Every trip to the store yields pounds of cardboard packages… “_ **Pounds** _” ?!? 😕 WTF are you buying at the grocery store or wherever you’re going? ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/15 "2014-01-14T21:28:32Z")
In my work place, the urinals hold a small pool of water, and in the matter of straddling a fetid pool of urine versus flushing said pool, flushing wins every time. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/16 "2014-01-14T21:35:38Z")
The smell of urine mixing is nasty. I flush beforehand to avoid the warm urine-y aroma wafting north to my nostrils. I flush sometimes mid-way through in case the first flush didn’t fully take. I flush afterward because it’s common courtesy. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/17 "2014-01-14T21:43:12Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Traditionally, it should be a bee. > > (Bee is APIS in Latin) The advantage to a fly is that you definitely want to hit it. With a picture of a bee, if you think it’s real, you might just move on… pissing off a bee is not a good idea when you’re unzipped. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/18 "2014-01-14T22:02:02Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Yer in Jersey, aye? Here in Nevada we don’t flush our public toilets; they have IR sensors anthem and flush automatically (although there is usually also a button that lets you flush manually). IMO every public toilet should be so. Wow. You got flying cars too? We have them here too. But they are not universal and certainly not required. There are still plenty that need to be flushed by hand. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/19 "2014-01-14T22:05:34Z")
There’s a significant number of people, women and men, who want to hide the sound of their own urination. I’m not one of them. In Japan, flushing to muffle one’s own sounds is so popular that toilets with a musical soundtrack sell pretty well. Speaking of Nevada, a high school zoology teacher told us of a bar in Nevada where the front surface of the stainless steel bar had a continuous cascade of water down it. The whole bar was a urinal. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/20 "2014-01-14T22:13:07Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Wow. You got flying cars too? No need for snark, friend. I was just confirming that you don’t live here and that things may not be the same where you live, and for good reason (see below). > [@Loach](#): > > We have them here too. But they are not universal and certainly not required. There are still plenty that need to be flushed by hand. Right, they aren’t universal and not required, because you live in a semi-deciduous forest/bog/swamp environment. But where I live, in the desert, they are nearly universal and in the case of casinos I think they are required because water conservation is a real thing here. Anyway, a side benefit is that it doesn’t matter if the person who used the toilet (or urinal) before you was a jerk who didn’t flush; the toilet flushes itself. Autoflush is win-win. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808.md?page=2)