Was the OP in Japan recently?
Women there flush the toilet constantly so that noone can hear their ‘movements’.
That is until the sound princess
Quote from link “‘Women in Japan have traditionally flushed several times to cover up their noises, so the Sound Princess is saving water and cutting down on public building operators’ utility bills.'”
I love the way wheresgeorge did a much better job of stating my point when I called shenanigans on the courtesy flush: no odor comes from underwater shit! Go ahead, try sticking your face under the water to smell it if you don’t believe me.
The toilet where I work is just inadequate. Sometimes, even if you’re just peeing, the flush doesn’t take care of all the toilet paper. And no one likes seeing a wad of used toilet paper in the bowl when they go to use the toilet, so you flush again.
I hate that. The boys get splashed.
Never having the kind of intestinal distress that results in voluminous clouds of putrid gas being emitted at the same time as the solid waste: priceless
For everyone else, there’s the courtesy flush.
You people who flush fewer than three times must be doing something disgusting. I flush once after defecating, then once to wash each foot.
I’m still not clear on how flushing a toilet has any effect on reducing or eliminating the gas floating around above a small body of water. Gas travels up and disperses out into the air, it doesn’t get sucked down into water. Unless turds are emitting little fizzy carbonated stink bubbles that slowly float up to the top of the water, I fail to see how any smell would be eliminated by flushing.
This may be the answer. Too many men have been made into shrinking violets and made to be ashamed of their backfiring.
how does flushing eliminate or mitigate putrid gas?
Oh, and my most frequent extra flushes comes after a particularly large load, when some gets left behind after the first flush.
Call me uptight, but I flush to cover up the noise. Not of #1, but of #2. Sometimes I can push out several loaves with one loud, long flush, but other times I have to flush more than once.
And as long as we’re sharing, I tend to get really grossed out by the people who brush their teeth in the restroom. I could never enjoy the practice of good oral hygiene with the sound of plopping mere feet away.
The problem with this is, now any time I hear the sound of running water I need to… uh, excuse me I’ll be right back.
I’on’now. Makes it all swirly or sump’in. Helps, tho.
This is a bunch of… well, you know. Maybe it’s not as noticeable with regular poo, but as an extreme example, take next-day-beer-remains poo. Granted, lots of the smell comes from the expellation, but you’re really going to tell me that leaving a brown soup in your bowl is exactly the same as if it were filled with pristine mountain spring water?
Remind me not to ask to use the bathroom at your place.
BTW, while browsing the dope I just entered a bill on wheresgeorge. Then I replied to your post before I noticed this coincidence. If my other webpage begins turning brown, I’m heading to find a priest and some holy water.
I’m not sure about smell not being able to travel through water.
I saw a TV show once where an apple was placed at the bottom of a container of water. (It was set up so the apple would not float and could not be seen)) A pig was released into the area and he was able to smell it. He stuck his head into the water and got it.
Man, what are you all on? Water is a carrier for odors!
Furthermore, the courtesy flush isn’t just to get rid of the smell that the rest of the people in the bathroom are gagging on, even if you think there’s some sort of water seal going on. The courtesy flush is also so that you don’t clog up the pipes with fecal impaction + toilet paper plugging.
Moreover even if you’re some mutant whose sense of smell isn’t better at detecting odors carried by moisture, most bathrooms today – particularly public and in businesses – have low-flow, low-water toilets. There’s not enough water in the bowl to cover the turd until you flush. Unless you’re dropping rabbit pellets, in which case they’re probably all floating and you need to eat some bran.
No, I just described the action in an awkward manner. I flush while standing.
Joe
It takes all kinds. No reason to be embarrassed. We all make awful noises. Human beings are horrifying creatures.
I used to know a guy who could take a sandwich into the stall and eat while shitting. Makes me wanna puke right now. I could NEVER brush my teeth while someone were shitting in the bathroom. I couldn’t help but imagine that I were brushing with poo.
Joe
To quote a graffito in my old dorm at NC State, “Flush twice - it’s a long way to Chapel Hill.”
When flushing pot down the drain, always flush at least twice. Like in regular sinks, there is a trap which holds water to prevent sewer gases from back up into the toilet. 
[izzard] This is a poo room! Everything here is made of poo! I’m not brushing my teeth here … I’m going to Azerbaijan! [/izzard]
Sorry, couldn’t help it.