A urinal is a disposal device of unpleasant liquids. I think many men who may not need to spit, see that they are being given the opportunity to, and do so. Bathrooms are places to get rid of unpleasant things in general, any spitting, farting, burping, nose picking or other such bodily actions are certainly best suited for a bathroom (with a closed door) rather than being done in public. If I’m outside smoking, I’ll frequently spit while doing so, if I’m inside, the thought never even crosses my mind. Same goes for those others.
do women spit before before they pee?
These threads always makes me want to ask this question…
YOU(some of you) PEOPLE(men) TALK IN PUBLIC RESTROOMS???
freaks
I do it. No idea why - just one of those habits…
This has been discussed twice before:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7891
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100921
I’ve often wondered about this, because I’ve observed it, too, and because I’ve never felt the need to do it. What really bugs me is that a lot of people apparently feel the need to hock up a very phlegmy gob and spit, not into the urinal, but onto the top of the urinal and leave it there. And a lot of people seem to pick their noses and leve the pickings wiped on the tiles or the plumbing above the urinal. So it does seem like “marking” behavior.
If I have bronchitis and have to hork up a phlegm ball, the urinal is a good place to spit it. The ball of snot also makes a good target as it slowly oozes down the drain.
Since this delightful subject has been breached, I’ll chime in.
I too spit before pissing; I’ve noticed that I tend to aim for my spittle, so maybe it is a jump-start thing.
While we’re at it, I also like to rip good fart while pissing if I have a little gas build-up.
Tends to wake up the sleepier ones in the rest room.
To follow this tangent, I believe the correct etiquette is that it’s OK to talk while standing at a urinal. It is even OK to make brief eye contact during such a conversation but NEVER look at the other guy’s equipment if the bathroom lacks a privacy wall between urinals. (Oddly such privacy walls never extend above shoulder level, possibly to enable such conversations.) However, it is generally frowned upon to strike up a chat with someone seated in a stall.
I’m normally a pretty phlegmy guy, so it’s a “While I’m Here…” kind of reaction. I don’t just spit. I try to get some nasal meat out.
I knew I was old when I started farting after pissing. That seems to be completely involuntary, and must have some physical explanation.
Another spitter here…
I think that as you relieve yourself the pressure reduces in your bladder, which results in movement in the general area of your bowels, accompanied by a relaxing of the muscles you were using to prevent yourself from pissing - which makes you fart.
“another spitter here…”
Oops, by which I meant that I also spit, not the person I quoted afterwards (although by his own admission, he does too).
Is that a regional thing? A lot of men talk while pissing. Some ever while shitting, but that’s pretty rare. We even make stupid jokes about what we’re doing.
“Man, that water’s cold”
Like that, and worse. So, why are you guys in the flyovers so timid?
I occasionally see pubic hair on top of the urinal. You don’t fool me, bonehead. Nobody’s that tall.
Who doesn’t talk in a public bathroom? Hell you can’t shut some people up where I live.
At work, a guy seated in the stall is likely to be greated by questions like: “Damn, what’d you eat? Don’t have it again!”, “Who’s in there?”, “You fall asleep?” and similar macho small talk.
As for spitting, I do it sometimes, usually if I’ve been sick and have a lot of phlegm buildup or feel the need to clear my throat. A lot of the guys at work do it, but many are tobacco chewers so they are in the habit of spitting all the time anyway. Never heard of “easing the flow” or marking turf" just figured the john was the place to do the bodily stuff you don’t do in front of everybody like has already been posted.
No spittin for me. I don’t like the idea of any sort of connection between my mouth and that piss depository.
In fact , unless I’m a bit tipsy at the urinal, I keep my mouth shut while pissing. If someone talks to me, I just answer with mm-hmms and mm-mms.
So I’m a neurotic freak.
Happy
I’ll bet if this was studied further, we would find that the spitting doesn’t happen when the urinal is one of those with a few inches of water in it.
When the urinal is “dry” until you flush, the drain itself presents a target. The drain, or the Big Blue Mint, or the screen, etc. They’re all targets. So men being hunters, we’re genetically compelled to take a shot at it. Spitting on it serves the same purpose as testing the wind before shooting an arrow, or a baseball player taking practice swings before the pitch is delivered. Spitting helps us gauge the distance and the angle. Even though the spit is originating nowhere near the barrel of the gun (we hope) it helps to make a mental connection with our target. After all, don’t we all try to aim at the little holes in the drain or the screen, or at the Big Blue Mint? Triangulation gentlemen, triangulation.
When the urinal is designed to always have a few inches of water in it, the target is unhittable, and so we probably don’t spit at it or aim our stream at it.
This morning, I noticed I spit in the shower too.
I’m embarrassed for our entire gender.