I don’t often consider myself and Cecil wrong, but I was inspired in a public toilet the other day. The reason the seats are U shaped is because many public toilets don’t have a tank; they just have a pipe that comes horizontally out of the wall. It then drops down to the back of the toilet. the ends of the U straddle the verticle pipe when the seat is up (if you dare to touch it). That is the real reason
are you sure that that is not just an added bonus?
another bonus is the end of your thingy isn’t touching the front of the seat when you’re sitting.
I’ve seen many an O-shaped toilet seat (more common in Europe, I suppose). When there’s a pipe behind the bowl, the seat will simply lean against it. No reason to make them U-shaped for that.
"another bonus is the end of your thingy isn’t touching the front of the seat when you’re sitting."
Well . . . good for you, Metro.
For other men, however, the real problem is not the shape of the seat but the temperature of the water.
And its depth.
touche (or however you spell it)
Nobody has mentioned that these toilet seats are also shaped like horseshoes? Maybe it harkens back to the day of a pay toilet. If you paid to sit down, you might get lucky (with such a lucky charm around your posterior) and get your money’s worth.
Perhaps it’s so that when (some) men who don’t put the seat up to tinkle aim poorly or don’t acheive the needed distance there is a gap at the point of the seat most likely to get peed on.
Next time you’re in the bathroom at home, flip the lid down. You know, the solid part that you can stand on when you need to dust the ceiling fan. Notice how it is fully supported by the seat underneath?
Now go to your favorite public washroom (you DO have a favorite, don’t you?) and try the same experiment. Er… no lid.
The public washroom’s toilet seat only needs to contain enough material to support your backside. Adding material to the front of the seat is wasteful, more expensive, and (as we’ve discussed) unsanitary.
The real question should be, “Why do home toilets have round seats instead of horseshoe-shaped ones?”
There’s also an important safety consideration… If the U-shaped seat accidentally falls, it’s less likely to slam on something important.
Yeah, i hate it when you’re trying to pee and the seat (assuming you put it up) starts to fall. You’re then faced with a choice. pee on the seat, or risk peeing all over the bathroom trying to catch the seat.
Mmm hehe um yah jack am coke, yah yah, vodka- Keith Richards