# Women, men, and public restrooms. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 5, 2000, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860 "2000-10-05T22:50:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/21 "2000-10-06T14:56:38Z")
I have no qualms about sitting. If the seat’s pissy, I wipe it clean. I’m going to have to wash my hands, anyhow. [mini-highjack] Ahh… those self-flushing toilets. We had been potty-training our toddler son, with promising results, when I first encountered one of those. Because of Justin’s small and squirmy butt, the thing detonated while he was in the act of relieving himself. Unfortunately, this particular restroom had exeptionally good water pressure, and the roar terrified him. He went back to his diapers for about a month, and when he was ready to try the big toilets again, he would always ask- with some trepidation-" Is it an AUTOMATIC potty, Mommy?", before attempting to use it. He’s recovered now, and I wish we had a self-flushing commode at home for Justin!_grumble_ [/highjack] ---
**Author:** ![fierra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@fierra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fierra)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/22 "2000-10-06T17:49:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\*goboy, I got two words for you: > > **FRENCH CAMPING SITE** > > 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. \*\* I was going to suggest french toilets - it isn’t just campsites, Coldy! I’ve been to cafes in Paris & the toilets are a hole in a sloping floor! & the stink! Urk, didn’t want to eat there after that… About the kicking thing - you’re going to get germs and dirt from whatever your feet have walked through on that handle for the next person. If you’ve trod in dog shit & not wiped it off properly it’s there for the next person. Have some sense & decency. The thing I least like touching in toilets is the exit door handle, especially when you’ve just watched someone not wash their hands and walk out. Why bother to clean yours when they’ll be contaminated straightaway? Yuck! ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/23 "2000-10-06T18:12:03Z")
**Drain:** > [@](#): > > 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? Personally, I utilize Laplace transforms to facilitate my urinal selection process. I’m an asshole. (He’s an asshole. What an asshole.) Great, now I can’t get that song out of my head. ---
**Author:** ![OESGal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecae2f/32.png) [@OESGal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OESGal)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/24 "2000-10-06T20:21:20Z")
Yes, I agree with most of the people here, if the seat is wet, I wipe it off. If it is dry I sit. Besides, what good will toilet paper do if there are germs on the seat? They are small enough to go through that barrier, hello! Even still, the only way urine gets on the seats is from those damn hovering women who cannot aim in a \>8 inch circle area, wtf?! Oh, and to the person who said they were afraid of getting AIDS, hello, you can’t get AIDS that way cause it dies if out of the body for more than a few seconds, sorry, can’t get it that way! Direct body fluid exchange into bloodstream is the only way. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/25 "2000-10-06T21:38:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Geobabe \* > **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.** If toilet handles were at hand level, I wouldn’t kick! I am very long legs (I’m 5’6" with a 34 inseam), and bending over to flush is very awkward. I just give it a good swift kick. I’m another Doper who sings the praises of the automatic flush! ---
**Author:** ![Welfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@Welfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Welfy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/26 "2000-10-07T04:38:31Z")
I admit. I squat. But I have professional aim and strong leg muscles. If the toilet seat is dry, I sit on it. If it’s wet, I wipe it off with toilet paper. But if the seat looks disgusting, then I squat. I guess I’m just used to the splintery wooden seats and the geckos in the outhouses I used in the bad parts of Mexico. As for toilet handles, I wouldn’t dream of kicking it. I just push down hard enough with the toe part of my foot until it flushes. ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/27 "2000-10-07T07:52:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Drain Bead \* > \*\*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? \*\* Ahem. You CANNOT select the proper urinal in this situation. The bathroom is legally full at this point. I would assume the supreme court has ruled on this at some point in the past. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/28 "2000-10-07T08:11:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Welfy \* > **…I have professional aim …** Wow…you can get _paid_ for this?? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/29 "2000-10-07T08:22:01Z")
Am I the only one who’s trained himself to hold it in? I’ve never been out in public so long that I could hold a whiz in for a few more hours. Then again, I’m not exactly out in public a whole helluva lot in the first place… ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/30 "2000-10-07T08:24:13Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve never been out in public so long that I could hold a whiz in for a few more hours. Oops, I meant “…that I COULDN’T hold a whiz…” Sheesh, just think of those implications… that would have explained why I couldn’t get a date if it were true 😃 “Stay away from HIM… that’s Piss-Boy.” ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/31 "2000-10-07T14:18:38Z")
I sit on the seats. I have no problems with them b/c I know if I can smell shit, there’s germs attatching themselves to me anyway. It kinda grosses me out though when people who piss on the seats don’t wipe it off before they leave, or they don’t flush in addition to peeing on the seats. Then again, I am in a similar position to SPOOFE. I don’t have to go to the bathroom if i don’t feel like it. I just hold it in. This came in handy back when I was weirded out by airplane toilets on a nine hour flight to Iceland. ---
**Author:** ![BigGiantHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b4bc9f/32.png) [@BigGiantHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigGiantHead)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/32 "2000-10-07T18:28:04Z")
Boy, am I the only one who remembers Unca Cecil’s [contribution](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/990416.html) to this topic? The part I like best about his column is that the sink turns out to be _way dirtier_ than the toilet, so it seems like you’d probably be best just skipping the post-event washup :eek: Oh, and by the way, **OESGal** , what **wrath** said was not that he feared getting AIDS, but that he broke up with someone who had that “fearful ignorance.” Check your facts before you rant. ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2000, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/33 "2000-10-08T11:21:45Z")
The answer to all your prayers: [http://www.plastuit.nl](http://www.plastuit.nl) This performance artist in the Netherlands had designed a little device for all you ladies to be able to STAND while peeing. She even demonstrated it on TV by pissing into a beer glass (she was wearing a mini-skirt and you couldn’t see anything exposed). Its a really neat little design, basically a funnel that you can aim; and it even comes in handy 5-pack disposable units. They are a bit pricey, but hey, if Concert/French/??? bathrooms give you the creeps, then they are probably worth every penny. Take care- -Thomas ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2000, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860/34 "2000-10-08T15:10:47Z")
I sit, and use my hands to flush (and let me tell you that the thought that a lot of women have been touching the handle with their feet is vaguely creepy). I haven’t obtained a butt disease from this practice yet. Also, since I wash my hands thoroughly right afterwards, the whole flushing thing doesn’t cause me undue concern. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-men-and-public-restrooms/35860.md?page=1)