I had a rather icky experience in a public restroom this morning (you can read about it in Homer’s thread in the Pit). When I came back out, I told the story to my two female co-workers. Turns out that one of them, when using a public toilet, won’t even let her ass hit the seat, and the other keeps antibacterial wet-naps in her purse to use on public toilet seats before she will sit down on them. I’m finding more and more that I am the only woman on earth who is not afraid of public toilet seats–as long as they’re dry, I’ll sit on them, and I’ve never gotten any sort of icky disease. But a LOT of other women do the hover squat or put TP on the seats before they’ll sit, or some other such garbage. Frankly, I’m more afraid of germs on the HANDLES than I am on the seats, but that still doesn’t stop me from using them without any cautionary measures.
Women, do you take any measures to keep your ass germ-free in public restrooms? How about the men? Do you guys have any strange public restroom rituals, other than the fact that you need to have taken a differential equations course to figure out which of the five urinals you need to use when there are three guys already using them?
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Nope, like you, as long as it’s dry, I don’t care. Our bathroom here at work is cleaned every day and only about 5 women use it, but some of them still insist on using those paper barrier thingies.
There oughta be a law against hovering. Or at least a requirement that hoverers work out their thigh muscles sufficiently to be able to avoid peeing all over the frickin’ seat.
Hey! This is way too visceral for me. Notice how that doesn’t stop me from replying?
If you ain’t got the stones/ovaries to take a seat, get out of the kitchen! (Or something like that.) Didn’t anyone mention that urine is sterile (that doesn’t mean repugnant)?
I view it as low cost immunological enhancement. Did I mention that I flush most public toilets with my foot? (Thanks be to science for the auto-flush toilet!)
Anyway, if the seat isn’t encrusted or soggy, quit prinking about and get down to business!
::warm seat, no extra cost::
PS: What about women racing into the men’s room at crowded public events?
(Frankly, I enjoy the chance to show off, but what do I know?)
Well, my mom always told me to put toilet paper on the seat, but I’ve long since filed this alongside such questionable maternal gems as “Reading in the dark? You’ll ruin your eyes!” and “If you don’t wear a bra, you’ll have old lady breasts by the time you’re twenty!”
Honestly, most people’s butts are probably cleaner than their hands. I’ve never for the life of me been able to figure out why people are so hung up about this.
I’ll sit if it’s dry. If it’s not, I wad up a big bunch of TP and clean up after those idiot wenches who piss on the seat. There’s probably more germs on the soap dispenser or the door handle than the toilet seat.
I think people tend to get sick from getting stuff on their hands and then touching their mouth. Since I don’t have open sores on my ass, and I don’t kiss my own ass, I really don’t see how the hell I could catch anything from a toilet seat. YMMV.
I don’t care as long as it is dry and there isn’t a bunch of floaters in the water or tp… if the seat is wet I dry it off… and I think you people have just cleared up for me why those seats are wet even when I know there aren’t little boys with their mothers using the washroom here… This explains a lot.
I usually sit (its easier!).
As for the problem of the handle, I flush it with my foot. If thats not workable, then I grab some toilet paper and then flush with the paper covering my hands.
Also I wash my hands so no problem.
Y’all haven’t lived until you’ve had to use a squat toilet in a Korean subway station. (For those who don’t know, a squat toilet is a porcelain-lined trough in the floor that you have to squat over to do your business.)
first, I had to take my trousers and drawers off to avoid crapping on my pants, then I had to balance on my thighs over a smelly, shit-stained(the Koreans had bad aim) hole. That’s foul!
If you really want to get grossed out, I’ll tell you about the time I was running at both ends on the Calcutta to Varanasi train and I couldn’t get to the toilet in time…
OK, that’s really three words. But these damn frogs can outshit the Koreans, I’m sure about that. Plus, they use the same insane toilet system you just described.
Like most I sit if dry, dry it if wet, then sit. [OK, slight hijack/rant.] I’d like to know what is so %$*ing hard about flipping the seat up. I would like to ask the people who piss on the seats if they piss on the one they use at home. [end slight lojack/rant]
Folks, PLEASE do not kick-flush the toilet! Seriously, it is one of the biggest headaches of maintenance people in restrooms. It’s a really good way to break the thing, thus rendering it unusable. You need to wash your hands after using the toilet anyway, why are you worried about touching the handle? I have yet to hear of water-resistant bacteria taking up residence on a toilet handle.
And the pee on the seat has got to be one of my biggest peeves. I generally put a seat cover or some TP on the seat. I recall reading some time back (unfortunately, I can’t remember where or I’d post a link) that when women hover, they usually don’t empty their bladders completely, contributing to UTIs. So sit, ferchrissakes.
