That is simply TMI dearest 
Ah, this is still going on. Yes, for me it’s a learned behavior. I grew up in NYC in the late 80s/early 90s, everything was so dirty, and my mother was not going to let me sit on a public toilet. Just wasn’t happening. I don’t really see what’s so “eww” inducing about it unless you’re peeing in some sort of projectile spray that gets everywhere, but to each their own hover or sit whatever gives you relief.
Wow, I am surprised to be in such a minority. I hover, even at home.
And I always check to make sure I didn’t leave overspray, either away or at home - I really never do, though.
I’m not sure why I do it, actually, because it’s such an ingrained habit. I’m certainly not a germaphobe. I did spend six years of my early childhood living in countries where “squat” toilets were the norm, though. So maybe that’s why.
I will say this: If sitting on a toilet seat is supposed to result in less overspray, and if (as this poll suggests) the vast majority of women sit and hovering is supposed to be gross, then why is it so common to see droplets all over the toilet seat in public restrooms?
Other. And after seeing the poll results, I must be a germ phobe, cause I put the seat cover on, then I hover. And that’s only to pee. I have never defecated in a public restroom and so help me God, I never will. I mostly put the seat cover on prior to peeing to prevent any unintentional urine splashing onto the seat (I hover kind of high up, so that’s happened). It’s just a courtesy to the next user.
I can cope with a considerate hoverer. Your thigh muscles are your problem. Just don’t leave a mess for me to deal with if I’m the next one in that stall, and I’m content.
I have questions about the mechanics of this maneuver. Do you put the seat down, then hover over it? Or do you hover with the seat up? Seems like that would be more considerate; it would eliminate the chance of spraying the seat, even if you are very careful.
I put the seat up before hovering in public restrooms.
Another reformed hoverer, here. My mom taught me to hover. I did it for years and never made a mess on the seat. Now I will sit unless there’s already a mess on the seat, in which case I will hover. I will also hover in an especially gross restroom, but I try not to use those. The vast majority of the time, I sit. I don’t cover the seat or wipe it first.
I’ve never understood hovering as a means to reduce germ exposure. Splashing toilet water and urine all over the place, including one’s own thighs, can’t be sanitary*. Plus, it seems to me that touching the handle to flush the toilet and the handle to exit the stall would eradicate any germ “savings” that might have been gained by hovering.
*Noted that the hoverers in this thread are a neat, sanitary bunch.
They flush with their foot.
Which I’m given to understand can break the flusher, besides spreading bunches more germs from floor to flusher for the next person.
I am always puzzled by statements like this. Seriously, if you felt a need to defecate while out and about what would you do? Hold it until you got home? What if you found yourself stranded while traveling? If you need to defecate and you’re not at home where, exactly, other than a public toilet are you supposed to relieve yourself?
Always sit, and since I carry individually packaged baby/personal wipes I use them on seats if someone has hovered. The skin on my ass is used by my body to keep microbes out of my blood system, and I bathe frequently enough that I am not overly worried about anything. I do however refuse to clean shit or blood off toilet seats and will go into a different stall, and tell whomever works there about the need to be cleaned when I am exiting.
Hoverers need to be punished and forced to not hover. It is a nasty process.
For a standard toilet, I sit unless there’s crap or blood on the seat, in which case it’s time to find a different toilet. I don’t like hovering unless the toilet is specifically designed not to accommodate seating (i.e., “hole in the ground” style toilet) or has had the seat taken off for some reason.
Male here, but this reminds me of an old girlfriend, a nurse who could probably have been certified insane, who insisted that I hover when taking a dump in public toilets. Just to shut her up, I lied and said okay I would.
FTR this is a running joke between my husband and me. He thinks it’s insane (and I agree!) and he would take a dump on the side of the road if the urge arose and that were legal and convenient. He’s practical and uninhibited like that.
As for me, I can’t explain my hang up with public crapping other than to say I think it is hard wired. I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember, for reasons unknown–no child abuse, no weird religious parents. In fact, I come from a whole family of easy going pragmatists who would crap anywhere/anytime as they feel it is perfectly natural (they find my quirk funny). Intellectually, I agree, but it’s something I was never, ever comfortable doing and have managed to avoid thru proper planning my entire adult life (with the exception of my first year in a college dorm, which was a challenge).
If I found myself stranded while traveling, I would hold it. I think my urge and my ability to hold it is much different than that of others. I could hold it for days if I had to. If I have to pee, that’s a whole other story–I HAVE to pee. I can’t hold back that urge at all.
So I know you were looking for answers, but I really have none, except to say that it’s an irrational hang up I’ve had my entire life. Oh how I envy those of you who can take a public shit without feeling self conscious.
I don’t wipe the seat unless I notice a sprinkle. If there is more than a sprinkle, I go to another stall.
I also sit, and I only wipe the seat if it’s wet. Even then, it’s not so much the thought of germs (although, ew) as it is that I hate sitting and feeling cold wetness on my ass.
If the seat is disgusting, I’ll find another stall. If there is no other stall, well, there’s hand soap and paper towels at the sink, and I’m not above using them on the toilet seat before I sit (in the relatively rare occasion that this has become necessary, I generally mutter imprecations about the previous user’s personality, level of civilization, and complete lack of decent upbringing as I clean. It helps).
Women… defecate?:eek: