Originally Posted by alice_in_wonderland
Exactly. Who wants to see gunk in their bathroom sink? I don’t think my gunk festers or oozes though. I’ll check tomorrow.
This whole meal was prepared in the shower! And
Kramer: Hey, how do you make those radish roses?
Jerry (in a mechanical voice like he’s memorized it): Insert a knife into the center and twist. Then, to make it bloom, soak it in water for thirty to forty minutes.
Kramer: No problem there.
I don’t think anybody’s suggesting that you just leave the spit and toothpaste in the sink after brushing. Of course it’s only reasonable to run the water briefly to clean out the sink when you’re through.
Me, I leave the tap off while doing the brushing itself, which takes between 1 and 2 minutes, but let it run while rinsing, which takes maybe 10-15 seconds. No gunk, no fester, no ooze, less wasted water.
Having the water just pour down the drain for the whole time I was brushing would really get on my nerves. I understand that it’s perhaps not the world’s worst water conservation problem, but I just can’t imagine how anyone can see that unused water running away down the sink without automatically stretching out a hand to turn the tap off.
Then again, I’m one of those people who just can’t imagine how anyone can leave an empty room without automatically stretching out a hand to turn off the light switch, either. I was a kid during the energy crisis of the mid-1970’s, and I guess I got conservation-trained but goooooood.
Here’s my problem with that. I will have only by the skin of my teeth (heh) managed to not spit or splatter toothpaste onto my clean black shirt during the brushing. If I also have to reach in and wipe away toothpaste spittle from in the sink, there’s no way I’ll escape getting some on me. And I can’t get it out.
I guess I’m still unclear about what “standby mode” is on a TV (or telly). I thought “standby mode” was when something (like a stereo or a VCR) was turned on but not actually playing anything, but how can that be true of a TV? When it’s on, it’s showing whatever it’s tuned to.
But I think what confused Kimstu, and still confuses me, is why it matters whether the water’s on during or after the spitting.
As a Scot living in Scotland I’ve got to say I agree entirely with the OP. In fact I’ll go further; the UK should derogate from the European Convention of Human Rights, revoke the Human Rights act, hold a sitting of parliament, re-introduce the death penalty and declare marital law to stop her running water for 10 minutes. Why they should have her executed live on prime time TV as a warning to others.
In a drought stricken country like Scotland in November, a country with no rain in the last five years, no natural water sources and suffering from severe desertification I weep at the folly of that girl. Can’t she see the harm she is doing to society. How much longer will it be before the government has to issue still suits to the population.
She has turned Scotland into Arakis.
And if it’s on standby, the tuner is still operating. Just the screen is switched off.
Water that goes down the drain is still water. How is it wasted? Even septic tanks are pumped out eventually. When is water ever ‘gone’ simply because it goes down the drain? You might be making things easier on your current water situation in your local area, but dont think you’re making any kind of difference on “the future” or the “environment”. Water down the drain is not a wasted resource. Mother Nature couldn’t care less about how much water you use in the bathroom.
You are the winner of the thread.
OK, if all water you can still see is unwasted, go and scoop a glassfull out of your toilet.
Thought not.
The supply of drinking water is a big problem in the UK. Partly because of inadequate investment, partly because of a number of years with below-average rainfall, but also contributing to this is the immense amount of water which goes through the whole treatment process, and then gets poured down the drain, literally.
I’m with Firebringer. Much of Australia is in severe drought, people I know are running out of drinking water, let alone “ten minutes running into the sink” water while they’re excavating their teeth.
My household relies on tank water, and I’m very conscious of conserving water. I use a mug, fill it with water and use that to to rinse after I’ve brushed. I don’t even wash my hands under running water … I dampen my hands, turn off the tap, lather up and then rinse off.
I’m not quite sure what marital law has anything to do with this, do you want to propose to her?
Scotland != drought-stricken, I agree.
But water that goes down the drain doesn’t go straight back into the drinking supply, it takes energy to reprocess it at a purification plan. No matter how much there is filling the reserves, it’ll always be costly in energy to use up more. I dont see how this isn’t an issue. It’s just like leaving your engine on your car running when you’re waiting for someone (another pet peeve).
During the spitting: toothpaste, saliva, and mucus flow directly down the drain with the running water
After the spitting: toothpaste, saliva and mucus have had a chance to stick to the sink, and turning the water on doesn’t rinse it all, necessitating human intervention
Funny, it doesn’t do this for me. It just washes away with a short rinse. Perhaps you have extra-sticky saliva.
Nice!
Sounds like she’s just being polite, she was probably trying to submerge a floater with your toothbrush and didn’t want to be overheard.
I also have one of those tongues that shoot out and grab insects.
I feel silly continuing to inquire about the minutiae of toothbrushing practice, but I’m still genuinely confused here. Why can’t one run the water during the spitting without letting it run during the brushing?
To clarify, here’s the way the minutiae of toothbrushing practice work for me:
-
Turn on tap, dampen clean toothbrush, turn off tap. No spit or gunk in sink.
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Apply toothpaste to toothbrush. Apply toothbrush to all tooth surfaces for one or two minutes while mentally humming old hymn tunes or thinking about recalcitrant crossword puzzle clue. Teeth and mouth get foamy, but no spitting is required during the process. No spit or gunk in sink.
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When toothbrushing is completed, turn on tap, bend over sink, spit and rinse mouth with handful of water, repeat till mouth is toothpaste-free, rinse toothbrush, turn off tap.
Voila, all the spit and gunk was instantly rinsed away by the running water, and the sink is clean. No intervention required to remove saliva from sink. Running water during the spitting/rinsing process takes 10-15 seconds maximum.
Am I missing something here? Why wouldn’t this work just as well for everybody else?
When I was teeny-tiny, there was this thing on Sesame Street where this kid left the water running while he brushed his teeth… and the water to the sink came from a little pond outside his house. There was a fish in the pond and the water kept getting lower and lower and lower on the fish… I think the fish ended up yelling at the kid to turn the water off.
Anyway… since that, I’ve never left the water on*. I turn it on to wet the toothbrush, turn it on and THEN spit into the running water (which eliminates any potential sticky spit problems and also wastes less water) and leave it on to rinse the toothbrush and my mouth
*Then again… I also “just say no” to drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes, know that “you don’t have to have sex to be sexy,” and can’t even think about meth without thinking about bugs in people’s hair. Maybe PSAs do have some effect…
I spit multiple times during the process. The toothpaste foams up and fills my mouth to overflowing well before I am done.
Maybe you could try:
[ul]
[li]Spit[/li][li]Spit[/li][li]Spit[/li][li]Spit[/li][li]Rinse[/li][/ul]
instead of:
[ul]
[li]Spit[/li][li]Weee! The runnning water takes away the foam like a wizard![/li][li]Spit[/li][li]Weee! The runnning water takes away the foam like a wizard![/li][li]Spit[/li][li]Weee! The runnning water takes away the foam like a wizard![/li][/ul]
If you are unable to perform the first scenario due to ‘sticky saliva gumming up the sink’, I suggest you stop eating paste like a five year old special kid, buy a sink that’s not made from flypaper and/or finish brushing in under eight hours.