# Please, don't laugh. This question may look odd, but it's a serious one... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2000, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736 "2000-11-04T21:30:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smartt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smartt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartt)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/1 "2000-11-04T21:30:55Z")
Please, don’t laugh. This question may look odd, but it’s a serious one… How does a blind man knows that his @$$ is properly wiped? ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/2 "2000-11-04T21:45:10Z")
Actually, quite a few seeing people never look at the toilet paper. Sometimes surveys are done on the issue and not everybody answers the same way. Blind folks probably do what squeamish sighted people do - wipe a couple of extra times. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/3 "2000-11-04T22:01:38Z")
A relative of mine asked another blind relative this once. She said that she just had a set number of times that she did - about 5 or 6 I think. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/4 "2000-11-04T23:16:13Z")
Lack of a sense of sight doesn’t imply lack of a sense of smell. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/5 "2000-11-04T23:23:44Z")
What would a person do who was both blind and who’s s\*\*\* didn’t stink? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![smartt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smartt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartt)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/6 "2000-11-04T23:26:42Z")
Panache45, the smell remains on the air even after the butto-wiping is done. And sometimes, even a seeing person can THINK it’s clean when it’s actually not. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/7 "2000-11-05T00:40:09Z")
Oh, boy another crip question. Sure, you can use your finger to check if it’s clean. Extra wiping & just a general feeling that its clean. along with using soap & water is sure to make it clean. PS: Few people can’t see anything at all. The majority of them CAN see something, even if its fuzzy & brown on white paper is quite easy to see even if you only see a fraction of what you should. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/8 "2000-11-05T03:00:00Z")
We, like Europe, should have bidets in our toilets. (I think that’s the right word.) ---
**Author:** ![smartt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smartt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartt)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/9 "2000-11-05T03:34:53Z")
Oh, THAT’s what bidets are for? How odd. I used to have one in my bathroom, but got it removed cause 1) It took valuable space and b)I’ve never figured how to use the dang thing. ---
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/10 "2000-11-05T06:36:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smartt \* > \*\*Oh, THAT’s what bidets are for? How odd. I used to have one in my bathroom, but got it removed cause 1) It took valuable space and b)I’ve never figured how to use the dang thing. \*\* Well, that explains the extra “t”. [_Ducks_] Seriously, I had no clue what a bidet was even after I’d seen one. My thoughts upon seeing one for the first time were:[ul] **“What the…? If it’s supposed to be a drinking fountain, then why does it look so much like a toilet?”** [/ul]Someone had to explain what it was for and how it worked before I had a clue. Good thing I wasn’t thirsty, huh? [/hijack] ~~Baloo ---
**Author:** ![Zor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/848f3c/32.png) [@Zor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zor)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/11 "2000-11-05T07:09:52Z")
I’ve never heard of bidets… are they supposed to be like those Japanese toilets with a washer and drier (i.e. water gun and hair drier all in one)? I’d probably get one of those if I were blind. I hear they are addictive, though I’ve never had the heart to try one out personally yet… ---
**Author:** ![smartt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smartt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartt)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/12 "2000-11-05T07:27:41Z")
Nyah, they’re not that sophisticated. They just look like a big giant fountain. But if you like jets of cold water in yer bums, they CAN be addictive. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/13 "2000-11-05T15:19:29Z")
Cold water? So the water shoots up, hits your ass, bounces down to the point where it shoots back up in the same shooting up stream? eh? Gross. Those wise enough may remember in the US that they made a toilet that shoots water up at yer bum & another button that shoots hot air at yer bum to dry it. Dunno what happened to those paperless toilets… ---
**Author:** ![Damhna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Damhna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damhna)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/14 "2000-11-05T16:28:25Z")
Dear oh dear. Being the cosmopolitan euro sophisticate that I am I simply have to reply to this. Once you begin using a bidet regularly the concept of using a bit of paper becomes revolting. Commonly bidets will have a raised point from which the water will cascade. The downward stream is then drained into a resevoir around the raised part. So there is no splashback. The ever innovative scandanavians (particularly the finns) have erradicated the need for an actual seperate bidet. Instead there will oft be a hose connected to the same water supply as the sink. the hose and hose head looks like a miniature shower head and will have pletnty of slack to allow cleaning without contortions (always a good thing). As a male of the species I find the bidet a most reassuring method of ensuring all is clean and healthy. Glean briefs are a nessecity in a culture where every house is built with a sauna and it has become a social meeting point. I understand that mensurating women also take solace and comfort from the use of a bidet in a way I can never fully appreciate. Dont knock it till youve tried it…and dont try it unless you are willing to never look back ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/15 "2000-11-05T16:32:44Z")
In some parts of the world they use water instead of paper. No bidets involved, just pouring water from a pot held in the right hand, and washing with the left hand. As Simon and Garfunkle expressed it in “A Simple Desultory Philippic”: _I’ve been Ayn Randed, Nearly branded Communist 'cause I’m left-handed, That’s the hand to use . . . Well, never mind._ ---
**Author:** ![smartt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smartt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartt)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/16 "2000-11-05T18:32:08Z")
> [@](#): > > In some parts of the world they use water instead of paper. No bidets involved, just pouring water from a pot held in the right hand, and washing with the left hand. Uh, you mean they touch their fecal feces with water and their BARE hands? Ew. Gross. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/17 "2000-11-05T20:27:12Z")
> [@](#): > > fecal feces as opposed to all those other kinds of feces… ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/18 "2000-11-05T21:02:46Z")
I heartily recommend baby wipes. I never take care of business without them. And as soon as I own my own home I’m installing a bidet. Question for bidet users: do you have a special towel to dry with? Or just use TP for that? stoid ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/19 "2000-11-06T12:23:25Z")
Little hijack, here – Stoidela? Do you flush the baby wipes? My 13 year old daughter is disabled with CP and has a problem with thorough wiping. We’ve been buying her those flushable wipes that are sold in the toilet paper aisle. Baby wipes are cheaper and would work the same, but are labeled (in the fine print) ‘dipose of properly – not to be flushed.’ ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736/20 "2002-11-04T23:26:06Z")
Jess - absolutely do not flush baby wipes. Once my wife and I made the mistake of doing this in our apartment - only for a few days - and were rewarded with a flood. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-laugh-this-question-may-look-odd-but-its-a-serious-one/39736.md?page=2)