# Women and Public Restrooms: A Lack of Decency **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 19, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849 "2004-07-19T17:50:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/21 "2004-07-19T22:50:07Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > I’m a dripper. No matter how hard I try, I drip on the seat when I stand up. > > I ALWAYS clean it up, though. > > So, maybe it’s an inconsiderate person that does sit, but doesn’t check. Huh? I don’t get it. Don’t you wipe before you stand up? ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/22 "2004-07-19T23:45:57Z")
For some of us it’s easier to wipe standing up than sitting down (the front, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/23 "2004-07-19T23:58:23Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > What y’all need are spring-loaded seats, such that if there’s no weight keeping them down, they auto-pop up against the back wall (or tank if it’s a tank-style toilet). Or just a latch, or a hook and a bit of string. We men would also like toilet seats that can’t occasionally crash back down unexpectedly. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/24 "2004-07-20T00:45:07Z")
> [@Big\_Norse](#): > > We have a woman on our floor (we have yet to identify her), who does the same thing but then proceeds to throw the paper towel into the corner on her way out. Talk about having grown up in a barn! She can’t bring herself to touch the door handle, and yet she makes someone else clean up her mess on the floor! OMG! You must work in my office!!! Are you in building one, fourth floor? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/25 "2004-07-20T01:09:35Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > [slight hijack] This one woman in my office building is an example of one of these toiletseat-phobes. First she washes her hands, doctor-style. Then she gets **two** paper toilet seat covers. Then she does her business. Then she washes her hands, doctor-style, again. Then uses paper towels to open the door. > > Our office bathroom is very clean. It is cleaned every evening, floors, toilets, sinks and all. There are maybe only 8 women on the floor so it’s not like there’s hundreds of people in there every day. So what the fuck is wrong with this woman? I would assume the answer is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, better known as OCD. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/26 "2004-07-20T01:17:06Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > If the seat’s too filthy to sit on, it’s too filthy to lift up. A toilet seat can have far too much piss on it to want to wipe off and sit down on, and still have plenty of dry places to lift it by. > [@](#): > > And if you lift it up with your foot/TP-covered hand, there’s a chance it’ll fall while you’re using it, and hit your back. Using your foot, sure. So grab a wad of TP, and lift the seat. Public toilets almost always have plenty of room for the seat to lean back without any risk of falling forward. So unless you’re an incredible klutz and just don’t pay attention to what you’re doing, it’s not gonna fall on you. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/27 "2004-07-20T01:19:53Z")
I feel compelled to note that I was merely explaining their (illogical) reasoning. I check for wet spots, then plop my ass down on the seat like you’re supposed to. And heck, I figure it’s better my butt touches the seat than my hand. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/28 "2004-07-20T01:43:21Z")
The simple fact is that women are the most disgusting bathroom using folks in the world. They fire their feces and urine all over the place. They fling their tampons and "eminine products n the most grotesque ways, and they stare with disdain upon those who have to clean. Both my husband and I have had to clean up after women and they are the most vile and disgusting bathroom using creatures I have ever known. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/29 "2004-07-20T02:37:35Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > The simple fact is that women are the most disgusting bathroom using folks in the world. They fire their feces and urine all over the place. They fling their tampons and "eminine products n the most grotesque ways, and they stare with disdain upon those who have to clean. > > Both my husband and I have had to clean up after women and they are the most vile and disgusting bathroom using creatures I have ever known. Hallelujah! Been saying that for years! Do not mind cleaning a men’s room here, but you can not pay me enough to clean a ladies bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![ouisey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9fc29f/32.png) [@ouisey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouisey)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/30 "2004-07-20T02:44:40Z")
I’m not talented enough to maintain the muscle control necessary to hover over the toilet and piss at the same time. This is why I fashion myself a nest of toilet paper everytime I take a piss. Or use 2 or 3 of those toilet gaskets. ---
**Author:** ![Sutremaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@Sutremaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sutremaine)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/31 "2004-07-20T02:51:48Z")
> [@Gr8Kat](#): > > For some of us it’s easier to wipe standing up than sitting down (the front, anyway). Stiff shoulders or bad back, yeah? There’s probably more, but those are the first things which come to mind in this situation. I always wipe sitting down. I’ve never considered there might be alternatives. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/32 "2004-07-20T03:03:19Z")
I’ve never been more glad to be a male than after reading this thread. 🙂 Although I would probably have been better off to _not_ have read it. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jttm80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@jttm80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jttm80)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/33 "2004-07-20T03:16:14Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I’ve never been more glad to be a male than after reading this thread. 🙂 > > Although I would probably have been better off to _not_ have read it. :eek: Agreed. I was happily ignorant until I came across this thread. Now I have information about women’s potty habits that I could ever want. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/34 "2004-07-20T04:04:24Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > (When I was in the Des Moines airport recently, they had these cool cybertoilets in their restrooms that would automagically put a brand new plastic seat liner on the seat for every new customer. You would have loved it.) Sadly, that is the _only_ cool thing about Des Moines International Airport. At my company, the toilets unfortunately have this problem that if you put the toilet paper towards the front of the bowl, it won’t flush down, so these mounds of toilet paper either build up or people treat it like the leper stall and all wait in line for the other ones. Ew. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/35 "2004-07-20T06:21:56Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > Hear hear! I share your anger and outrage! It is simply disgusting and I can never seem to understand how this happens. Women squat and hover over the seat to avoid touching a dirty seat, and they therefore make the seat even dirtier?!? Where is the logic?? If they are experienced hoverers, shouldn’t they have learned to avoided peeing on the seat by now? What a bunch of disgusting pigs. If it weren’t for people like themselves, they wouldn’t have to hover on the seat in the first place. Most public restrooms are cleaned every day, more than most home bathrooms. So what is the big phobia over sitting on the seat? All that touches the seat is the back of your upper thighs…so what is the big deal? Sit the fuck down and take your pee! Damn people. > > [slight hijack] This one woman in my office building is an example of one of these toiletseat-phobes. First she washes her hands, doctor-style. Then she gets **two** paper toilet seat covers. Then she does her business. Then she washes her hands, doctor-style, again. Then uses paper towels to open the door. > > Our office bathroom is very clean. It is cleaned every evening, floors, toilets, sinks and all. There are maybe only 8 women on the floor so it’s not like there’s hundreds of people in there every day. So what the fuck is wrong with this woman? At first I thought I might have been your “toilet seatphobe” til I saw that you were in Va. The reason I wash my hands before I go to the bathroom is because oftentimes, I’ve been out in the field taking soil samples (usually soil samples contaminated with hazardous materials). I’m certainly not letting potentially toxic material anywhere NEAR my female parts. And thought I no longer work in the same office building, the reason I took dampened soaped towels in there, was that even with only a small handfull of women on our floor, SOMEONE was a seat peer. UGH!! So, I’d wash my hands, arm myself with paper towels to wash the seat with, go to the bathroom, and then come and wash my hands again. I was SO glad when we moved to our own small office, where the receptionist was the only other girl in the office and we had our own bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/36 "2004-07-20T10:03:03Z")
Actually, this is similar to a pet peeve of mine. I don’t mind people who use toilet seat liners or who line the toilet seat with paper towels if there aren’t any. What I object to is the ones who do this and then leave the seat draped in toilet paper or toilet seat liner. Look, lady, if you’re too delicate to clean up after yourself, why should I have to do it? I’ve also got a question for the Teeming Millions which has bothered me for about 18 years. Back when I used to have to clean the toilets at the end of the day at McDonalds, every so often a stall in the ladies room would be covered in shredded toilet paper, kind of like a giant hamster nest. It wasn’t wet, at least not the top layer, and I never understood why women did it. Any explanations? CJ ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/37 "2004-07-20T10:26:37Z")
> [@Sutremaine](#): > > Stiff shoulders or bad back, yeah? There’s probably more, but those are the first things which come to mind in this situation. I always wipe sitting down. I’ve never considered there might be alternatives. I learned standing up. Never considered another alternative. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/38 "2004-07-20T12:05:15Z")
Hmmmm… as a hotel maid, I’ve cleaned a lot of toilets, and I have never encountered this phenomenon. I can’t believe people just hover… that’s really strange. But different strokes… ---
**Author:** ![Andros\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Andros\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andros_X)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/39 "2004-07-20T13:45:15Z")
My mom’s a dripper, and it annoys me to no end. I mean, having to be careful at public toilets is bad enough – but in my own house? In colleges, the men’s rooms are so bad that I’m astounded that the women’s rooms could be worse. Ugh. _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849/40 "2004-07-20T13:59:49Z")
> [@Siege](#): > > I’ve also got a question for the Teeming Millions which has bothered me for about 18 years. Back when I used to have to clean the toilets at the end of the day at McDonalds, every so often a stall in the ladies room would be covered in shredded toilet paper, kind of like a giant hamster nest. It wasn’t wet, at least not the top layer, and I never understood why women did it. Any explanations? > > CJ I might have the answer. I just get pissed off when there is no paper towel. Hand dryers take too damn long and how the hell do you dry off your face if you just washed it prior to eating? McDonalds do not have paper towels. So you go over to a stall with your wet hands and pull reams of cheap toilet paper that dissolves and breaks up on your hands and face into little pieces immediately, and if you are not careful or don’t give a shit, you can have lits bits of toilet paper strewn all over the place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-and-public-restrooms-a-lack-of-decency/255849.md?page=3)