# How would such a person use a toilet?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-such-a-person-use-a-toilet/659197>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 24, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-such-a-person-use-a-toilet/659197 "2013-05-24T04:35:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![OleOneEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f14d63/32.png) [@OleOneEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OleOneEye)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-such-a-person-use-a-toilet/659197/1 "2013-05-24T04:35:58Z")

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So I’ve been idly wondering about something for the past 15 years or so.

I once saw a man with thalidomide arms go into a men’s room. They were just little floppy wings - not nearly long enough to reach his equipment. I can only think of a couple possibilities:

(a) He has to ask another man to handle his penis, or

(b) He somehow uses his feet to remove his pants, hold his penis, and put his pants back on.

I understand that people without usable arms can learn to do things with their feet, but that’s a pretty sharp angle to have to bend your leg - oh, the charley horses!

Option (a) puts him at the mercy of a stranger. I do wonder how most regular people would react to such a request - would their empathy override the squick factor, or would they ignore/refuse the request? I really don’t know how (or whether!) I would respond if a woman I didn’t know asked me to help her use the toilet.

Can someone solve this mystery for me?

They’re going to create an afterlife just so I can go to hell when I die.

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-such-a-person-use-a-toilet/659197/2 "2013-05-24T05:05:46Z")

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Reported as duplicate

> **[How would such a person use a toilet?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=691871)**
>
> So I’ve been idly wondering about something for the past 15 years or so. I once saw a man with thalidomide arms go into a men’s room. They were just little floppy wings - not nearly long enough to reach his equipment. I can only think of a couple...