A Plea for Women to Sit Down on Public Toilets

Come on, ladies. Just use toilet paper and make the world a better place. If it’s not a porta-potty, all you have to do to protect yourself is use a paper towel and sit down to pee. If you don’t want to sit at all, you can consider one of those urination device thingies (make sure you learn how to aim right).

It’s upsetting to walk into a bathroom stall and find urine all over the seat, on the toilet bowl, and even the floors. It’s downright irritating. Certain infections could even be transmitted through this contact as well. The cytomegalovirus (CMV) for example is a common herpes virus that is transmitted through bodily fluids such as saliva, blood, sweat, and urine. It usually has no noticeable manifestations, but symptoms may include fever, night sweating, sore throat, muscle pain, and swollen glands. While I know, the chances of contracting this virus or anything life threatening is pretty low, and proper hygiene such as handwashing should do that trick, making contact with someone else’s urine just doesn’t sit well with me.

I’ll admit it. It’s okay to worry about having contact with other people’s dead skin cells, sweat, grime and possibly infection by sitting smack on the toilet seat. This is why a lot of women choose to squat over to do the number one. Let’s face it, when we squat, we can’t always aim our pee with precision. Some of it is bound to find its way, well, everywhere.

Also, a lot of ladies prefer to squat because there’s a possibility that someone else has splashed pee on the toilet seat in the first place. It’s a typical case of “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” A vicious cycle.

Let’s face it, squatters – they’re a problem

If a toilet seat is sparkling spotlessly, ladies, all you have to do is fold up a little toilet paper, spread, make a little barrier for your bottom, and pee away. Flush the toilet paper and move on with your day.

If this is not going to work for you, try a urination device. They are affordable and relatively easy to use. If all there is to do is clean up is your pee, please, do us all a favor and wipe it up before you leave. ‘Hear no evil pee no evil’; or something like that.   

This way, you don’t have to worry about any negativity surrounding contact with someone else’s urine. If every woman could do this, restroom trips would be easier [1]. Sometimes, when I think about the ickiness I’m going to experience upon touring different stalls to find a manageable one, I’ll just hold my pee in until I get home. A very unhealthy thing to do. Regularly holding in urine for a long time is a super-bad for our health. Holding back the tide can contribute to everything from UTI’s to kidney stones [2].

Look, when it comes to squatters, we get it, pee and toilet seats can be icky, but please, we all need to use the stalls too. Think about the rest of us, nobody wants to be surrounded by pee. We all need to learn to take a seat. Maybe not in a porta potty though, those are gross, but that’s my own hang up. 😉