# Public Urination by a child. Cute or fecking inappropriate? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746 "2007-06-04T20:19:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/41 "2007-06-05T22:22:09Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’] I’ve always been of the opinion that any activity which could conceivably cause Typhoid Fever is not, by its very nature, cute. [/QUOTE] :dubious: Yeah, I remember the great North American toddler piss typhoid epidemic of '07 well. Ever touched a door in a public place? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/42 "2007-06-05T22:54:23Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] :dubious: Yeah, I remember the great North American toddler piss typhoid epidemic of '07 well. Ever touched a door in a public place? [/QUOTE] While \*\* Lightnin’s \*\* comment might have bordered on the hyperbolic, let us not confuse touching a public door with walking through a puddle of piss. The actual germ quotient isn’t the point. There’s no reason for anyone, save a medical professional, to have to involuntarily come into contact with bodily fluids. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/43 "2007-06-05T22:54:54Z")
BTW, do you live in a neighborhood with open or no sewers, awash in human excrement and urine? 'Cuz in that neighborhood, well, I’d have to cut the kid some slack. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/44 "2007-06-05T22:59:39Z")
[QUOTE=WOOKINPANUB] While \*\* Lightnin’s \*\* comment might have bordered on the hyperbolic, let us not confuse touching a public door with walking through a puddle of piss. The actual germ quotient isn’t the point. There’s no reason for anyone, save a medical professional, to have to involuntarily come into contact with bodily fluids. [/QUOTE] Not to mention, if fewer people were comfortable doing hugely disgusting things like pissing in public traffic areas, they wouldn’t be so filthy and germ-ridden to begin with, and doorknobs wouldn’t be so gross. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/45 "2007-06-05T23:01:16Z")
[QUOTE=WOOKINPANUB] While \*\* Lightnin’s \*\* comment might have bordered on the hyperbolic, let us not confuse touching a public door with walking through a puddle of piss. The actual germ quotient isn’t the point. There’s no reason for anyone, save a medical professional, to have to involuntarily come into contact with bodily fluids. [/QUOTE] See it’s the walking through a puddle of piss thing - what on earth do you do with your shoes when you get home? Unless you are storing them in your fridge or something? It’s not like the kid was pissing in your salad. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/46 "2007-06-05T23:26:26Z")
Last Summer my 4-year old stated he had to pee and we were on the beach (Jersey Shore: Margate). One of the grandparents told him “go in the ocean” so he did: he walked to the edge of the ocean, dropped drawers, and had a healthy piss while standing near a bunch of yentas chatting it up. People were mixed in their reaction: some were laughing and others were scoffing and horrified. It’s not like pissing in the ocean is taboo, but I’d never seen anyone do it openly, let alone my own son. For the rest of the Summer, even despite our lectures and explanations, when he had to piss on the beach, he either dropped drawers at the water’s edge, or went in up to his knees, dropped drawers, and went. I still laugh at the thought of it… As for kids urinating in public, as a father of 2 boys, I have no problem with it… I still find myself pulling over the mini-van in emergent situations, opening the side door and having them go out the side of the parked van. However, when we are talking about drunk frat boys or tailgaters… ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/47 "2007-06-05T23:29:17Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] See it’s the walking through a puddle of piss thing - what on earth do you do with your shoes when you get home? Unless you are storing them in your fridge or something? It’s not like the kid was pissing in your salad. [/QUOTE] Ah, more hyperbole. Since I had the good fortune(?) to witness the creation of said puddle, I also had the choice to walk around it. Why should anyone have to walk through a puddle of someone else’s waste (regardless of any medical ramifications)? ---
**Author:** ![sugar\_and\_spice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@sugar\_and\_spice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugar_and_spice)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/48 "2007-06-05T23:40:35Z")
[QUOTE=phungi] As for kids urinating in public, as a father of 2 boys, I have no problem with it… I still find myself pulling over the mini-van in emergent situations, opening the side door and having them go out the side of the parked van. However, when we are talking about drunk frat boys or tailgaters… [/QUOTE] So if you stepped into a puddle of kiddie pee as you were getting into your van in the Target parking lot, you wouldn’t be annoyed? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/49 "2007-06-05T23:46:29Z")
Now, if I came in to share that I am sketchy on dogs for the same reason, I’d get chased off by the dogowner lynch mob. . . Not that I would come in to share that. Because I don’t really care, but what is the functional difference between a dog peeing on a hubcap and a sprog doing the same? This is why we don’t wear shoes indoors (thread meme collision! Let chaos commence!). . . ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/50 "2007-06-05T23:52:20Z")
[QUOTE=phungi] Last Summer my 4-year old stated he had to pee and we were on the beach (Jersey Shore: Margate). One of the grandparents told him “go in the ocean” so he did: he walked to the edge of the ocean, dropped drawers, and had a healthy piss while standing near a bunch of yentas chatting it up. People were mixed in their reaction: some were laughing and others were scoffing and horrified. It’s not like pissing in the ocean is taboo, but I’d never seen anyone do it openly, let alone my own son. For the rest of the Summer, even despite our lectures and explanations, when he had to piss on the beach, he either dropped drawers at the water’s edge, or went in up to his knees, dropped drawers, and went. I still laugh at the thought of it… As for kids urinating in public, as a father of 2 boys, I have no problem with it… I still find myself pulling over the mini-van in emergent situations, opening the side door and having them go out the side of the parked van. However, when we are talking about drunk frat boys or tailgaters… [/QUOTE] Soooooo. . . you’re sayings it’s cool for your boys but not drunk frat boys ??? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/51 "2007-06-06T08:09:13Z")
A friend’s 4-year-old son did this against a tree at a show grounds, while I was talking to his mother, standing there with all my camera gear. So, yes , I did. I thought it was funny, especially his comment afterwards (“I did it all by myself!”) Last weekend, I presented him with an enlarged photo of that moment, at his high school graduation. He thought it was rather funny, too. But he put that picture away rather quickly, and only left my other gift out. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/52 "2007-06-06T11:27:04Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] Not to mention, if fewer people were comfortable doing hugely disgusting things like pissing in public traffic areas, they wouldn’t be so filthy and germ-ridden to begin with, and doorknobs wouldn’t be so gross. [/QUOTE] I’ll take “begging the question” for 10 points. And since when was piss “filthy and germ-ridden”? It might smell a bit, but it’s pretty much sterile. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/53 "2007-06-06T18:26:57Z")
It seems like a lot of people are missing the point. A story about a kid discretely peeing behind a tree in the woods or next to the car (shielded by the door) by the side of a highway, just isn’t relevant. The point is that I don’t want to go to a grocery store whose parking lot reeks of urine. It doesn’t matter whether it’s from dogs, kids, or drunks. I don’t want to smell it, and I don’t want to step in it. What the kid was doing was completely inappropriate (especially given that even stores without public bathrooms will usually let a desperate child into the employee bathroom). The secondary point is discretion. If you absolutely _MUST_ piss right now, then at least have the courtesy to turn turn your back. If there are people all around, then open your car door and stand in close (obviously not _too_ close ;)) [QUOTE=toadbriar] If it’s not cute for grandpa to do it under identical circumstances, it’s not cute. (snip) Scampering around the house nude and giggling between the bathtub and bed? [/QUOTE] Oh, come on. I’m going to be a grandpa this fall. Does that mean I have to stop scampering around the house nude and giggling between the bathtub and bed? What a drag! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/54 "2007-06-06T19:09:30Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] I’ll take “begging the question” for 10 points. And since when was piss “filthy and germ-ridden”? It might smell a bit, but it’s pretty much sterile. [/QUOTE] I didn’t specifically say that piss was filthy and germ-ridden. My point was that people’s nonchalance about doing gross things is a large part of why things like doorknobs are covered in germs. Someone who’s ok with pissing in the middle of a parking lot probably isn’t too concerned with washing their hands, either. And is more likely to do other unsanitary things. If more people were concerned with cleanliness, things would be cleaner. Kinda seems like a no-brainer. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/55 "2007-06-06T22:52:45Z")
[QUOTE=sugar and spice] So if you stepped into a puddle of kiddie pee as you were getting into your van in the Target parking lot, you wouldn’t be annoyed? [/QUOTE] Well, I din’t quite say that… I have never let my kids piss on asphalt, but rather from the car parked on the edge of a parking lot. I would be, for lack of a better term, “pissed” if I were to step in a puddle of piss anywhere. However, if it meant pissing in their pants in my car versus outside of the car, I selfishly choose the latter. [QUOTE=WOOKINPANUB] Soooooo. . . you’re saying it’s cool for your boys but not drunk frat boys ??? [/QUOTE] Yes, perhaps not my 7-year old, who no longer has the need, but definitely more appropriate for a 5-year old who has not yet mastered bladder control. I can’t see the comparison: drunk emancipated minor making poor decisions and unable to control one’s bodily functions versus a child who has to pee _really bad_. ---
**Author:** ![Tedd\_Rock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tedd\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedd_Rock)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/56 "2012-07-07T11:03:26Z")
Four years ago I walked with the nephew in park. Usually few people there walk. But that day there was a flower show. Therefore many people have come to park. In park have installed many special advertising flower beds. Near to each bed have installed trading stalls where advertised flowers were on sale. On each lamppost have hung up special tablets: the crossed out peeing boy and the crossed out peeing dog. Toilets were in the park end. Probably my nephew has decided that it is too far! I have got to talking with the owner of one of trading stalls. During this moment my nephew has lower his pants and has peeing on edge of an advertising bed directly in the face of all. The owner of a bed has been shocked. I had to apologise long! Interesting that my nephew was not confused at all! When I have prepared the camera to photograph the nephew he have looked at me a sight as if I behave not correctly, instead of he! After it of a case I have led educational discussion with the boy. Now my nephew 9 years old. And he is at ease when pees. At a time when the other boys turn their backs to the bushes or moving to a tree, my nephew just begins to pee where he is currently, without telling me. Of course, he will not pee in a place where he plays, but also to retreat far to hide behind a tree, too, will not. And it is the bad habit of pee down from the tree in front of everyone! It is not modest, and one day he might just fall off the tree! What I would not say him, nothing helps. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/57 "2012-07-07T19:33:23Z")
The revival of this zombie was worth it. If only for this: “And he is at ease when pees.” ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/58 "2012-07-07T19:35:50Z")
I think children who do such a vile act in public should be taken down by the SWAT team, sentenced to a long haul in prison, and registered as sex offenders for the rest of their natural lives. It is the American way 🙂 Back in reality my nephew when he was six years old urinated on the deck of the battleship USS Texas behind a turret or something. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/59 "2012-07-07T20:22:06Z")
zombie or no lawn sprinklers are a bad influence on young kids. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746/60 "2012-07-07T20:31:11Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > zombie or no > > lawn sprinklers are a bad influence on young kids. Nah, it’s those fountain statues that pee continuously that are the worst influence! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-urination-by-a-child-cute-or-fecking-inappropriate/406746.md?page=4)