# "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:** 2
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/21 "2014-01-14T22:19:34Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > 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. I actually wash my hands, and I have found that in order to actually dry my wet hands I need 3 paper towels. It used to be only 2 paper towels, but the paper towel manufacturers are now selling a product that is very close to toilet paper in density. So, more towels are required. Now as for the gents that splash some water on their fingertips and then quickly grab 300,000 towels to wad up with their moistened digits - well! I just don’t know about that! ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/22 "2014-01-14T22:27:39Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > 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. This is achieved easily and less wastefully by aiming for the side/back of the urinal/bowl above the water line (for guys). Still, there are guys who aim for the little pool at the bottom of the urinal no matter what - really - no one wants to hear that splashing. Then there are the guys who stay on their bluetooth thru their defecating. “…sure, Bob, we can get those \ n-n-numbers heading in the right direction by the \ e-e-end of the next quarter…”. If you find yourself next to one of these, be sure to flush extra loud. ---
**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, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/23 "2014-01-14T22:34:17Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > This is achieved easily and less wastefully by aiming for the side/back of the urinal/bowl above the water line (for guys). Still, there are guys who aim for the little pool at the bottom of the urinal no matter what - really - no one wants to hear that splashing. > > Then there are the guys who stay on their bluetooth thru their defecating. “…sure, Bob, we can get those \ n-n-numbers heading in the right direction by the \ e-e-end of the next quarter…”. If you find yourself next to one of these, be sure to flush extra loud. I like to grunt and make loud fart noises, even if I have to use my armpit to make them. A pleased-sounding “OH YEAH thank god i thought that was NEVER comin’ outta there!” as well if I can fit it in before one of the pair hangs up. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/24 "2014-01-14T22:38:07Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > 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. Peeing directly against the back of the fixture causes splashes as well. The best way to avoid splash is to aim down, off to the side. If there is someone’s urine in there, you risk foreign urine splash which is worse than self urine splash. That’s bad too. ---
**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, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/25 "2014-01-14T22:44:02Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 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). > > 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. I don’t see how you think it’s much different in the rest of the country. Almost all newer construction or bathroom renovations have auto-flush. Older places don’t. I’ll be in Vegas in a couple of weeks. I’ve been there multiple times and I have never been surprised by the advanced toilet technology. There are even no-flush no water urinals here. I have no doubt there is extra incentive to convert to auto-flush and other water conservation measures there. But auto-flush is certainly common enough that I don’t need the concept explained to me. ---
**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, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/26 "2014-01-14T22:44:06Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Put a picture of Ted Cruz in and you’d get 100% accuracy. I’d be afraid the proximity of my little jester that close to a hyper-conservative Republican’s mouth, even just a picture, would result in disastrous turtling. ---
**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, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/27 "2014-01-14T22:51:12Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I don’t see how you think it’s much different in the rest of the country. Almost all newer construction or bathroom renovations have auto-flush. Older places don’t. I’ll be in Vegas in a couple of weeks. I’ve been there multiple times and I have never been surprised by the advanced toilet technology. There are even no-flush no water urinals here. I have no doubt there is extra incentive to convert to auto-flush and other water conservation measures there. But auto-flush is certainly common enough that I don’t need the concept explained to me. I can certainly glean from your posts that you don’t need the concept explained to you, but IME I encounter a lot of people who visit Las Vegas who comment on the autoflush as a decidedly different thing than they are used to seeing “back home” (in their non-desert environment). Please forgive me for not knowing that you were already quite familiar with IR autoflushing. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/28 "2014-01-14T23:51:30Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > \ Almost all newer construction or bathroom renovations have auto-flush. \ At Yellowstone’s Old Faithful bathrooms: “Whoa, Beavis, this is the most incredible thing I have ever seen!”. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/29 "2014-01-15T00:04:59Z")
Then there’s the old Wrigley troughs. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/30 "2014-01-15T00:07:13Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I like to grunt and make loud fart noises, even if I have to use my armpit to make them. A pleased-sounding “OH YEAH thank god i thought that was NEVER comin’ outta there!” as well if I can fit it in before one of the pair hangs up. lol ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/31 "2014-01-15T00:08:00Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I actually wash my hands, and I have found that in order to actually dry my wet hands I need 3 paper towels. It used to be only 2 paper towels, but the paper towel manufacturers are now selling a product that is very close to toilet paper in density. So, more towels are required. Maybe you’re already doing this, but paper towels work best when used sequentially, not in parallel. I almost always use two towels; the first becomes quite saturated, and the second eliminates any residual dampness. It works better than 3 towels used all at once. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/32 "2014-01-15T00:08:19Z")
I can _start_ by peeing against the back of the urinal. By the end, the stream slows and it’s going into the bottom. If there’s a pool of liquid, there’ll still be splashing. So if there’s a pool of yellow (or worse, orange) I’m flushing first. If there’s no pool, I can rinse down the back and sides of the urinal at the beginning, and then only my own urine left by the end. I do use two paper towels, using first one to get most of the water off, then using a second to get dry. Just one leaves my hands damp. I have seen people doing what the OP described. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/33 "2014-01-15T00:11:33Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Maybe you’re already doing this, but paper towels work best when used sequentially, not in parallel. I almost always use two towels; the first becomes quite saturated, and the second eliminates any residual dampness. It works better than 3 towels used all at once. At work we recently switched to automatic rollers - it dispenses about the right amount to dry-off, and use it on the door handle when exiting. You gotta have something for the door handle. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/34 "2014-01-15T00:13:37Z")
**Oh GOD! The BURN! Why does peeing burn?! Arrrggghh!!!** I like to do that in crowded public waste rooms. It is inspired by an old SNL skit with Belushi (the real one). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/35 "2014-01-15T00:15:45Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > At work we recently switched to automatic rollers - it dispenses about the right mount to dry-off, and use it on the door handle when exiting. You gotta have something for the door handle. Is there a waste bin near the door? Seems like most places don’t have the bin within range of the door. Good idea if it is, though. ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/36 "2014-01-15T00:20:51Z")
Waste bins near the door are good. Its no doubt been mentioned before here somewhere but I as an owner of a vajayjay hate the other owners who have to HOVER and consequently splatter the toilet seat where we Non-hoverers have to sit. Stop that please. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/37 "2014-01-15T00:35:08Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Is there a waste bin near the door? Seems like most places don’t have the bin within range of the door. Good idea if it is, though. Yeah, I forgot to mention that - someone put one right next to the door. And if not, then there is one outside somewhere, so I never let lack of trash bin stop me from using paper towel for this purpose. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/38 "2014-01-15T01:27:29Z")
> [@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. Casinos love automatic faucets, too. Some suck and you have to wave around like a fool to hit that sweet spot. But I’ll pay like, $100 for the head of the guy who decided to implement auto-flush toilets. Guys, a toilet flushing while you’re sitting on it is not good. > [@SerafinaPekala](#): > > Waste bins near the door are good. This. And you can also make the door swing outward, preferably both. No door and a twist hallway is fine too. … I’ve never worked up the nerve to touch one of those recycling cloth towel thingies. If you don’t think you splash back in the urinals, pee in shorts. Or better yet pee with no pants on, but that might not be feasible. Most of the splash is probably your own pee, but I can _understand_ the pre-flushing. I only do it sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/39 "2014-01-15T01:32:22Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > 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. As others have mentioned: the splashing issue, and the smell issue. > [@](#): > > Sometimes flushing it AGAIN partway. I wouldn’t do this, but if somebody else did, I’d assume they did so because the flowing water helped them to urinate for psychological reasons. ---
**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 15, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808/40 "2014-01-15T01:39:46Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I can certainly glean from your posts that you don’t need the concept explained to you, but IME I encounter a lot of people who visit Las Vegas who comment on the autoflush as a decidedly different thing than they are used to seeing “back home” (in their non-desert environment). Please forgive me for not knowing that you were already quite familiar with IR autoflushing. This is New Jersey, we even have casinos. With auto flush toilets! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-restroom-behavior-wtf/678808.md?page=3)