This is topic The old toilet-seat debate in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
...has some bizarre new ammunition.
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
Or you could just avoid "heavy wooden and ornamental toilet seats"!
 
Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
 
...Ow.
 
Posted by Elmer's Glue (Member # 9313) on :
 
I just leave it down. [Dont Know]
 
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
 
Yeah, the second paragraph in that story made me flinch.
 
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Elmer's Glue:
I just leave it down. [Dont Know]

This strategy has worked excellently in the BB household.

But you have to give up the desire to stand while using the facilities.
 
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
 
Who gets an ornamental toilet seat??
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
quote:
The fourth had so-called glandular tenderness.

I wonder if a certain selection of Tchaikovsky pieces might have been playing that evening.
 
Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by katharina:
Who gets an ornamental toilet seat??

I'd guess Elton John and maybe the Pope.
 
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
 
Wow, this is a debate? Put the toilet seat down. And don't have solid tungsten ornamental toilet seats. You know, for the children's sake.
 
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
 
Don't most toilet seats have nubs that create a gap? Also, I think that there's really only a one- to two-inch height range where this would be a serious concern. 'Cause, you know, otherwise the penis would just get glanced on the way down. Also, also, when my son was that short, I had to keep an eye one him to make sure he wasn't peeing on the walls. And I don't think I ever saw the seat randomly jump away from the tank toward his penis.

But this quote made me laugh out loud.
quote:
Parents could educate their toddlers to hold the toilet seat up with one hand while urinating. During such a feat, parents should keep an eye on toddlers until the toddler can do this by himself.
I like that holding the seat up while peeing is described as a "feat". *chortle*
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by PSI Teleport:
Don't most toilet seats have nubs that create a gap?

They do around here. Maybe not in Ye Olde Englande?
 
Posted by theamazeeaz (Member # 6970) on :
 
How can it matter whether a seat was already up or a four year old just put it up in terms of whether the seat will fall?

How about checking to see whether the seat is properly balanced in the up position before whipping it out, eh? Using a falling toilet seat as an example of why the seat should be left up makes zero sense.

Wooden toilet seats have been around forever. In fact, I think of them as a mark of older homes and older toilets. Why is this a problem now? Why not 20 years ago? Maybe this is nature's way of removing dopes from the gene pool and getting them young.
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
quote:
How can it matter whether a seat was already up or a four year old just put it up in terms of whether the seat will fall?
Because they don't get it up all the way.

quote:
How about checking to see whether the seat is properly balanced in the up position before whipping it out, eh?
I'm not sure that that advice will do much good for all of the 4-year-olds reading Hatrack.
 
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
 
quote:
Maybe this is nature's way of removing dopes from the gene pool and getting them young.
I'm...just...not even gonna go anywhere near that one.
 
Posted by Achilles (Member # 7741) on :
 
Ladies, close the lid when you are done.
 
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
 
quote:
Ladies, close the lid when you are done.
This is what we do in my house. I've gotten to a point where seeing a toilet lid up feels like a sign of slovenliness and disease. There's a reason the toilet has a lid in the first place. It's mostly just aesthetic, but we kept our lid down and locked the entire time my kids were small.

But thanks for directing that to the ladies, as if the men aren't guilty as well. I know you were kidding, though, so I'm going to tell my inner feminazi to stay down.
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
quote:
Wow, this is a debate?
Absolutely. Well, more a disagreement with one side demanding that the other side obey, but yeah.

[ December 12, 2008, 11:20 AM: Message edited by: mr_porteiro_head ]
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
Here are some horrible decorative toilet seats.
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
I don't understand people who leave the top cover of the toilet open when they flush. It's just gross.
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
You must live in horror of public restrooms, then. I don't think I've ever seen one whose toilets had a top cover.
 
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
 
Um, yeah, public restrooms pretty much fit the definition of "gross".
 
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
 
quote:
Ladies, close the lid when you are done.
Note that the article says that leaving the toilet seat UP is the solution to the problem.
 
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
 
I doubt that he wrote that to agree with the article.
 
Posted by theamazeeaz (Member # 6970) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:
How can it matter whether a seat was already up or a four year old just put it up in terms of whether the seat will fall?
Because they don't get it up all the way.

quote:
How about checking to see whether the seat is properly balanced in the up position before whipping it out, eh?
I'm not sure that that advice will do much good for all of the 4-year-olds reading Hatrack.

Four-year-olds don't come up with the idea of lifting up toilet seats on their own. Someone shows them. Nowdays these someones may read Hatrack.

If they walk around the side of the toilet bowl, they will be able to reach all the way instead of trying to push up and away. Gravity should not be foreign concept to someone, who, if properly raised, currently spends lots of leisure time stacking blocks until they all fall down.
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
Or it wasn't.
 
Posted by theamazeeaz (Member # 6970) on :
 
Correct. An improperly raised toilet seat will fall down.
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
[Razz] @ people who delete posts two people have already responded to.
 
Posted by Achilles (Member # 7741) on :
 
Was it me?

Oh, not this time. [Wink]
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by PSI Teleport:
Um, yeah, public restrooms pretty much fit the definition of "gross".

Really? You must frequent much more disgusting public bathrooms than I do. Most of the ones I use are frequently cleaned, and smell little, if at all. Occasionally I'll use one in a gas station or bar that's a bit gross, but they're still nowhere near as gross as, say, a well used outhouse.
 
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
 
quote:
Most of the ones I use are frequently cleaned, and smell little, if at all.
Well, just note that you're talking to a person who already mentioned that an open toilet lid grosses her out. I think that the human disgust response is not always completely logical. To me, just knowing what goes on in there is nasty enough. Also note that I'm required to get much closer to the...receptacle than you men normally are.

Also, as I've stated several times on threads like this (not that I would expect you to have memorized my position) women's bathrooms are usually more disgusting than men's, the details of which I will not go into further on this forum. [Big Grin]
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
quote:
To me, just knowing what goes on in there is nasty enough.
I'm disgusted just knowing that each person I'm talking to here probably masticates multiple times a day. Even through the internet I'm grossed out. [Razz]
 
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by PSI Teleport:
Um, yeah, public restrooms pretty much fit the definition of "gross".

Word.

They may be necessary on occasion, even used frequently perhaps, but also pretty universally gross.
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by PSI Teleport:
quote:
Most of the ones I use are frequently cleaned, and smell little, if at all.
Well, just note that you're talking to a person who already mentioned that an open toilet lid grosses her out.


Good point--if open toilet lids are gross, public restrooms necessarily would be.

quote:
I think that the human disgust response is not always completely logical.
Definitely not. It's entirely possible for people to feel real revulsion for things that are ritually unclean but physically completely fine, hygenically.

quote:
Also, as I've stated several times on threads like this (not that I would expect you to have memorized my position) women's bathrooms are usually more disgusting than men's, the details of which I will not go into further on this forum. [Big Grin]
Oh, right, I remember those discussions.
 
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
 
I worked with Kindergarten twins last year that climbed in the urinals and tried to write their names on the walls.
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
I'm guessing they have a different definition of "gross" than PSI does.
 
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:

But you have to give up the desire to stand while using the facilities.

Do you have to give up your desire to be male?
 
Posted by Seatarsprayan (Member # 7634) on :
 
In my house, we keep the seat and lid closed all the time, so there's never any argument.
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:
quote:
Originally posted by Elmer's Glue:
I just leave it down. [Dont Know]

This strategy has worked excellently in the BB household.

But you have to give up the desire to stand while using the facilities.

I don't see why. KPC stands most of the time (I won't elucidate when he does not [Wink] ) and yet always manages to get the seat down and lid closed (our house rules-- we have both small children and cats) after use.
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:
quote:
Originally posted by Elmer's Glue:
I just leave it down. [Dont Know]

This strategy has worked excellently in the BB household.

But you have to give up the desire to stand while using the facilities.

I don't see why. KPC stands most of the time (I won't elucidate when he does not [Wink] ) and yet always manages to get the seat down and lid closed (our house rules-- we have both small children and cats) after use.
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Seatarsprayan:
In my house, we keep the seat and lid closed all the time, so there's never any argument.

In my house we keep the seat and lid closed all the time, and build a cairn over the toilet after every time we use it.

[Edited for spellling]

[ December 12, 2008, 03:33 PM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
We build the cairn entirely out of terriers, by the way.

[Edited for speeling]

[ December 12, 2008, 03:33 PM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
Carin who?
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Feeding.
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
*snort*

(I especially like the extra L. Nice touch.)
 
Posted by String (Member # 6435) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by PSI Teleport:
[QUOTE]
Also, as I've stated several times on threads like this (not that I would expect you to have memorized my position) women's bathrooms are usually more disgusting than men's, the details of which I will not go into further on this forum. [Big Grin]

This is very true. I used to work part time as a janitor at a movie theater, and without a doubt there is at least one aspect of cleaning a womens bathroom that is grosser than cleaning a mens room. we used to call it a "lunch box." All kinds strange things end up in there.
As for the toilette seat debate, I say leave it up. If someone can't look before they sit, that's there own problem.
 
Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :
 
I'm fond of the very light, soft toilet seats. Safe for toddlers.
 
Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
I'm disgusted just knowing that each person I'm talking to here probably masticates multiple times a day. Even through the internet I'm grossed out.

Just thinking about that makes me cringe. God, the noises..
 
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
 
I'm thinking that this thread could be made even more high-quality with the replacement of "The old" with "Ye olde".
 
Posted by Yozhik (Member # 89) on :
 
You should close the toilet lid before flushing. And here's why:

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1839


One of my friends from high school has made a habit of putting toilet seat lids down before she flushes. She started doing this about four years ago when she heard that when toilets are flushed, water droplets are expelled from the toilet bowl into the air, and when they land, other areas of the bathroom get "contaminated" by toilet water. That always amused me, but when I went over to her house, I humored her and followed this personal rule of hers. However, I didn't know—and chances are, she didn't know—just how justified she was in worrying about in what is known as the "aerosol effect" in toilets. My discovery that there is actually a technical term for this phenomenon was the first indication that there might be something scientifically legitimate to it. It seems to have first been brought to light by University of Arizona environmental microbiologist Charles Gerba when he published a scientific article in 1975 describing bacterial and viral aerosols due to toilet flushing (2). He conducted tests by placing pieces of gauze in different locations around the bathroom and measuring the bacterial and viral levels on them after a toilet flush, and his results are more than just a little disturbing.

First is the confirmation of the existence of the aerosol effect, even though it is largely unrecognized. "Droplets are going all over the place—it's like the Fourth of July," said Gerba. "One way to see this is to put a dye in the toilet, flush it, and then hold a piece of paper over it" (8). Indeed, Gerba's studies have shown that the water droplets in an invisible cloud travel six to eight feet out and up, so the areas of the bathroom not directly adjacent the toilet are still contaminated. Walls are obviously affected, and in public or communal bathrooms, the partitions between stalls are definitely coated in the spray mist from the toilet (1). Also, toilet paper will be cleanest when it is enclosed in a plastic or metal casing; after all, it's subject to the same droplets splattering on it, and its proximity to the toilet bowl makes contamination potential obvious. The ceiling is also still contaminated and is in fact a potential problem site because it is often overlooked in the cleaning process. Bacteria cling to ceilings and thrive in the humid environment there; if the situation is left untreated for months or years (as is often the case), odors remain in restrooms that seem to have been to be otherwise thoroughly cleaned (1). The bacterial mist has also been shown to stay in the air for at least two hours after each flush, thus maximizing its chance to float around and spread (2).
 
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
 
It's amazing how the human race survived these last hundreds of thousand years, really, given the horrors it survived.
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by PSI Teleport:
I'm thinking that this thread could be made even more high-quality with the replacement of "The old" with "Ye olde".

[ROFL]
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Teshi:
It's amazing how the human race survived these last hundreds of thousand years, really, given the horrors it survived.

Indeed.

Do the people who are horrified by this plan to install some kind of hermetically sealing lid onto their toilets? I'd imagine that a decent amount of microscopic poo-particulate manages to escape from under and between the seats you're currently using.
 
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
 
I think we should all wear masks to keep us from ever inhaling odors. Because, you know, if you can smell poo, it's because there's poo in your nose.
 


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