Important question

[OUDoc]

Why do public bathrooms use horseshoe-shaped toilet seats but homes have full-circle seats? Does anyone really need the full-circle kind? Discuss amongst yourselves.

[BigRedJed]

I think public toilets have the horshoe-shaped seats so that your junk can accidentally touch the filthy porcelain rim and really gross you out. That way, you're not as inclined to use public toilets, and PRESTO! They don't have to clean them as often. Or ever.

Edit: apostrophe abuse. Guh.

[Oldnslo]

I always thought it was because some folks wouldn't lift the lid and the next person would rather not sit on the dried urine drips which may be at the front of the rim.

You know, for those folks who are too shy for the urinal, too delicate to lift the lid, and too gd inconsiderate to clean their own drips.

[OUDoc]

I always thought it was because some folks wouldn't lift the lid and the next person would rather not sit on the dried urine drips which may be at the front of the rim.

You know, for those folks who are too shy for the urinal, too delicate to lift the lid, and too gd inconsiderate to clean their own drips.
But the dried urine is still present and uncovered, it's just not on the seat.

[sooner_born_1960]

The urine is usually still wet in ours.

[BigRedJed]

Man, this thread is running away with disgusting-thread-of-the-day status. Surely someone can do better.

[BigRedJed]

However, I'm not really suggesting anyone try. TIA.

[OUDoc]

Man, this thread is running away with disgusting-thread-of-the-day status. Surely someone can do better.
Maybe an "*** foam" thread?

[sanantoniosooner]

However, I'm not really suggesting anyone try. TIA.
Whatever.

I'll be back later.

[StoopTroup]

Maybe someone should call Barney Smith.

I bet he'd know.

Barney Smith (http://www.unusualmuseums.org/toilet/)

Here's my favorite....

http://www.unusualmuseums.org/toilet/seat25.jpg

[crawfish]

Maybe an "*** foam" thread?

I hate it when somebody leaves that on the front toilet seat rim. :mad:

[Jerk]

Yall haven't seen disgusting till you've visited a public restroom at a truck-stop.

[Boomer.....]

I think public toilets have the horshoe-shaped seats so that your junk can accidentally touch the filthy porcelain rim and really gross you out. That way, you're not as inclined to use public toilets, and PRESTO! They don't have to clean them as often. Or ever.

Edit: apostrophe abuse. Guh.
:D The worst!

[Oldnslo]

But the dried urine is still present and uncovered, it's just not on the seat.
Truly, if there has to be dried urine present, I'd just as soon it be in a location away from contact with my person. The farther away, the better, but in an emergency situation, a centimeter or two will do just fine.

[12]

Dried urine is better than waiting in line behind Hot Carl.

[OUDoc]

Dried urine is better than waiting in line behind Hot Carl.
Not according to Howzit.

[KC//CRIMSON]

Because they want people to feel lucky?

[SicEmBaylor]

I refuse to ever use public restrooms. I can count on one hand the number of times that I have.

I also won't eat from a buffet. You're just asking for a life threatening disease engaging in those activities.

[sooner_born_1960]

I refuse to ever use public restrooms. I can count on one hand the number of times that I have.

I also won't eat from a buffet. You're just asking for a life threatening disease engaging in those activities.
And secks. Don't forget about all the bad things you can get from that.

[OUDoc]

And secks. Don't forget about all the bad things you can get from that.
Just think, sex with a woman who used a public bathroom after eating a buffet. :eek:

:D

[sooner_born_1960]

Sicem will never want to have sex again, or ever.

[SicEmBaylor]

This and the foot thread are going to scar me for life.

[BigRedJed]

Phhht. You were scarred for life they day you dropped out of your momma's ***.

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

I refuse to ever use public restrooms. I can count on one hand the number of times that I have.

I also won't eat from a buffet. You're just asking for a life threatening disease engaging in those activities.Was that movie "As Good As It Gets" based on your life? Geez.

[MamaMia]

Why do public bathrooms use horseshoe-shaped toilet seats but homes have full-circle seats? Does anyone really need the full-circle kind? Discuss amongst yourselves. This question is easy. Its because the public toilet seat covers fit better on the horseshoe-shaped toilets. :)

[OUDoc]

This question is easy. Its because the public toilet seat covers fit better on the horseshoe-shaped toilets. :)
Seat covers? They still stock those in women's bathrooms? I thought that went out of style in the 80's.

[Oldnslo]

@ss gaskets!

[12]

Just think, sex with a woman who used a public bathroom after eating at Hot Carl's Jr.. :eek:

:D

Fixed, Dr.

[MamaMia]

Seat covers? They still stock those in women's bathrooms? I thought that went out of style in the 80's.
They still have them. They are on the wall in dispenser form. I have no use for them. If I just have to use a public facility, I make sure the bottom of my shoes are the only things that touch anything in a public bathroom. I've also taught my granddaughters the art of touch free tinkling and hand washing. :P

[Harry Beanbag]

Here's some good reading on this subject, among others...

http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/the_nonexpert/take_your_seat_please.php


Question: Why do public toilet seats have a horseshoe or U shape to them, and most toilet seats in homes are a full circle or O shape?—Matt Z.

Answer: Let’s begin by dispelling a dangerous, reckless, and, unfortunately, commonly accepted myth about the history of plumbing.

Thanks to a vernacular that has appropriated certain terminology to describe the entire water closet, not to mention the disposal system itself and waste deposited therein, a lot of folks mistakenly believe Thomas Crapper is the inventor of the modern toilet. Matt Z., this is a falsehood that needs to be flushed from common parlance like so many clumps of sodden tissue.

Crapper was, indeed, a highly-skilled plumber who owned a successful business (Thomas Crapper & Co., still in operation) in London during the mid- to late-19th century. And while he did hold several patents, including one for manhole covers, Crapper was merely an inheritor of the flush-toilet and made his own modifications to an already established design. The name “Crapper” is in fact a Yorkshire moniker denoting one who harvests crops (pronounced “craps,” to York****es), and has very little to do with defecation of any sort. Excepting, of course, those who are regular harvesters/consumers of corn, who have their own feces-related problems (something a friend of mine calls “reinCORNation,” but we’ll save that discussion for another time).

You see, Z., the flush-toilet, like so many inventions (the combustion engine, insulin, garage rock, falafel) was the result of collaboration. In the mid-18th century, folks everywhere had grown tired of seeing their turds floating around in the cistern, turds lingering like overbearing houseguests, turds climbing up out of the bowl and raiding the larder—turds, Z-Dog! Everywhere, turds. As you can imagine, something simply had to be done.

For centuries, hapless defecators resorted to calling in bearded, robed sorcerers, who would wave a plunger over the bowl, holler, “Be gone!” and banish the offending poo-poo to the netherworld. This “brown magic” had mixed results until 1777, when the first fully effective flush toilets began to appear around London, credited to a variety of names that I won’t bore you with here—although rest assured many are hilarious. The sorcerers, with little else to do, went back to their day jobs—selling comic books to pre-adolescent boys and perfecting mystical techniques of masturbation.

But let’s get back to your question. How easily one finds oneself off on tangents when discussing human waste!

“U” (open-front model) versus “O” (closed-front model) is truly a battle of the ages, with “U” holding a monopoly on the public sphere, and “O” content to exist modestly in private abodes. This much we know. But, as has plagued toiletry since its inception in the days of Crapper, untruths, speculation, and myth confound popular understanding of why this discrepancy exists.

Among some of the blatantly ignorant and foolish lies you might have heard: The open front allows for stray pee to dribble more readily into the bowl. Ha! If only! While admittedly this is a problem more common to men’s bathrooms, the “U” only encourages a slap-dash approach to urination. “By Jove,” thinks the ****ing fellow, probably drunk, “with this handy ‘U,’ I can spray my business anywhere I like!” May Crapper’s ghost have mercy on you if you’re next in the stall after one of these philistines, Mr. Zizzle.

Perhaps you have been told that the “U” allows for greater facility when adopting the practice of “padding” (lining the seat with toilet paper for a more hygienic experience). Wrong again, Zorro! In fact, the open front actually proves problematic, as stray bits of tissue will often get caught in an initial “courtesy flush,” sucked out from underneath one’s buttocks and down into the pipes. Then what, Señor Zippy? There you are, with wiping still to be done, and herpes breeding beneath your naked cheeks—where’s your precious “U” seat now? It let you down, didn’t it? Yes.

And what of women? They void their bowels and bladders, too (shocking, I know, but apparently true). While I am unsure how many forays you, Zoltar, have made into the public ladies’ rooms of the world, you must know, at least, that their toilets share the propensity for “U” over “O.” What say you of this? Tampons? Something to do with the string? Seems like speculation, at best—and, to be honest, I can’t really help you here. But, in the interest of veracity and tenacious, hard-hitting investigative journalism, I went to an expert: a woman. Specifically: my friend Kate. Guess what, Zappa? Kate said, “Huh. Maybe for wiping?” She had no idea! To my suggestion of abetting hygiene-product application/removal, Kate responded, nonplussed, “Yeah, maybe.”

After all we’ve been through together, Dr. Zarathrusta, my inquisitive brother, I’m afraid that the answer to your question might be a bit disappointing. As is so often the case in this capitalistic, greed-fueled society in which we find ourselves—a society that chews up humankind in its maw of material-necessity, swallows us into a gullet of consumption, then dumps us into the sewer like so much half-digested corn—the “U” seat is preferred in public toilets because it is cheaper to produce, install, and clean. I **** you not, Zak-from-Saved-by-the-Bell. That’s all there is to it: Less surface area makes for less material; less material makes for less Lysol; less Lysol makes for greater savings; greater savings wins the war on terror, etc.

But, please, let me at least conclude by telling you a little story, maybe something that will help you in your future excretory performances, regardless of seat-shape. My father is Indian, from India. Indian houses, in my experience, do not have toilet seats at all; instead, in each bathroom you will find a pair of foot-pads on either side of a drain where you are meant to squat and expel your waste directly into the plumbing. Also, there is no toilet paper, but a jug of water. You pour it down your backside and scrub away until all traces of feces have been eradicated. Sounds gross, Zsa-Zsa? Sounds barbaric, this lack of tissue and Western wiping? Let me ask you this: If you got some poop on your arm, would you merely swab it away with a sheaf of Kleenex?

No, I thought not.

Good night.

[soonerboomer93]

Yall haven't seen disgusting till you've visited a public restroom at a truck-stop.


you ever seen an inground ****ter you have to squat over and that doesn't really flush

yeah, well....

[SicEmBaylor]

I had to use the bathroom at a litlte hole in the wall join in a small French town. Nothing in the US can compare to that. They didn't have paper towels to wash your hands...they had an old dirty rag.

[sanantoniosooner]

May Crapper’s ghost have mercy on you if you’re next in the stall after one of these philistines, Mr. Zizzle.

good stuff.

Can we trade 1TC for this guy?

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

They still have them. They are on the wall in dispenser form. I have no use for them. If I just have to use a public facility, I make sure the bottom of my shoes are the only things that touch anything in a public bathroom. I've also taught my granddaughters the art of touch free tinkling and hand washing. :P

And while you're at it, please teach them the art of not peeing all over the seat when they're hovering.

Gah.

[sooner_born_1960]

And while you're at it, please teach them the art of not peeing all over the seat when they're hovering.

Gah.
Just learn to hover yourself.

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

What?

[85Sooner]

Just think, sex with a woman who used a public bathroom after eating a buffet. :eek:

:D


First laugh I've had this week.

[MamaMia]

And while you're at it, please teach them the art of not peeing all over the seat when they're hovering.

Gah. Thats not necessary with my bunch as I cant imagine that being a problem with anyone other than the sloppy drunk or extremely uncoordinated. :)

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

Thank goodness.

Maybe we should hire you to train new hires here as it seems some of them have yet to learn this basic peeing skill.

:mack:

[MamaMia]

Thank goodness.

Maybe we should hire you to train new hires here as it seems some of them have yet to learn this basic peeing skill.

:mack: Sure, why not; after all that would definitely perk up my resume'. :P

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

And while you're at it, please teach them the art of not peeing all over the seat when they're hovering.

Gah.Exactly.

[GottaHavePride]

Don't tell SicEm, but it's funny - most people's asses are probably cleaner tha their hands. Think about it - you take a shower and, I'm assuming here, you probably wash your ***, right? And then what do you do? You cover it up with nice clean clothes, and nothing touches your *** after that. And unless you're really inept in the bathroom, most people don't get **** all over the part of their *** that touches a toilet seat.

So if people stopped and thought about it a bit they'd realize that unless someone with a phobia has hovered and either peed or shat all over the seat, the seat of a public restroom toilet is likely WAY CLEANER than the handle of the faucet you have to use to wash your hands. Because your hands DID have to wipe your ***, and then you have to use those hands to turn on the faucet - and even though you wash your hands really well, you still have to touch that faucet handle again to turn off the water. HA!

[Oldnslo]

You can let the water run until you've gotten a paper towel. And then you can use the paper towel to open the door of the rest room before throwing same said paper towel out.

YWIA.

[GottaHavePride]

The paper towel dispenser that they never, ever clean the handle of? That people come in with filthy hands just to get a paper towel to blow their nose? That one? ;)

EDIT: heh, I'm just messing with you. There's a reason people have immune systems. I'm not particularly obsessive about this stuff - I just like messing with people that don't think about it. You'd be surprised that, despite the obsessive attention hand-washing gets at food-service places, they rarely stop to say "hey, when was the last time we disinfected the handle of the paper towel dispenser at the employee wash sink?"

[Harry Beanbag]

Don't tell SicEm, but it's funny - most people's asses are probably cleaner tha their hands. Think about it - you take a shower and, I'm assuming here, you probably wash your ***, right? And then what do you do? You cover it up with nice clean clothes, and nothing touches your *** after that. And unless you're really inept in the bathroom, most people don't get **** all over the part of their *** that touches a toilet seat.

So if people stopped and thought about it a bit they'd realize that unless someone with a phobia has hovered and either peed or shat all over the seat, the seat of a public restroom toilet is likely WAY CLEANER than the handle of the faucet you have to use to wash your hands. Because your hands DID have to wipe your ***, and then you have to use those hands to turn on the faucet - and even though you wash your hands really well, you still have to touch that faucet handle again to turn off the water. HA!


Theoretically, you're right. But theoretically, the handle on the paper towel dispenser should be the cleanest surface in the bathroom since people use paper towels to dry their hands after washing them. The other day I saw a dude take a dump then go up to wash his hands. Apparently, his phobia is the towel dispenser handle because he rolls out about 3 feet of paper towel then washes his hands, effectively ruining it for everyone.

It only takes one jackass not following the unwritten rules to screw everything up. Somebody will invariably **** splatter all over the toilet, or not raise the seat and spray pee everywhere, or will manually pleasure themself and Peter North across the seat. People are just nasty and inconsiderate.

[Harry Beanbag]

God gave you elbows to flush the urinal and turn off the water faucet.

[Okla-homey]

I have researched this issue and have discovered that the "U" shaped seats last longer. See, "O" shaped seats, like at home, are more subject to cracking when behemoth buttocks sit on them. remember, these seats have to support even 400+ pounders. Also significant, when toilet seats crack and split, they tend to pinch the assine tissue caught therein and that spawns litigation.

There you have it.

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

Mmm, peenchy.

[BigRedJed]

Theoretically, you're right. But theoretically, the handle on the paper towel dispenser should be the cleanest surface in the bathroom since people use paper towels to dry their hands after washing them. The other day I saw a dude take a dump then go up to wash his hands. Apparently, his phobia is the towel dispenser handle because he rolls out about 3 feet of paper towel then washes his hands, effectively ruining it for everyone.

It only takes one jackass not following the unwritten rules to screw everything up. Somebody will invariably **** splatter all over the toilet, or not raise the seat and spray pee everywhere, or will manually pleasure themself and Peter North across the seat. People are just nasty and inconsiderate.
sorry.

[sanantoniosooner]

Mmm, peenchy.
The oak ones are the worst when they split.

Next would be the cushion type that get a crack in them.

[Okla-homey]

The oak ones are the worst when they split.



Yep, and you can get splinters too. Which can get infected at the splinter injection site. Maybe that's what killed Anna Nicole?