Dirty Places, Part 1: Public Toilets
If you're just now joining us, you'll want to read Airplanes (part 2) and hospitals and doctors' offices (part 3).
Someone posted on the WebMD General Health Board recently, horrified that her four-year old sat on a public restroom toilet seat without a protective cover or a lining of toilet paper. The mother was worried about all of the diseases her child may now be incubating.
Is this four-year old likely to get a Rotavirus infection (a common cause of diarrhea)? How about Herpes? I have seen some disgusting public restrooms in my life, so I can understand this mother's concern; however, exposure to an infectious organism does not necessarily mean a person will develop a disease.
The human body is well-adapted to fighting off these ongoing exposures. Germs do not typically enter intact buttocks skin from a toilet seat, but no one wants to sit on them anyway. Using seat covers and paper is fine, but it really doesn't protect you from microorganisms.
Children have a bad habit of holding on to the toilet seat, with their little fingers clutching underneath the rim. Granted, they don't want to fall in, but those little fingertips will pick up under-seat germs like Velcro.
Germs do enter the body through the nose, eyes, and mouth, usually transmitted from our own, contaminated hands and fingers. If you watch a child wash their hands, you will see that they tend to miss the fingertips -- perhaps the most contaminated part of the hands. And, those dirty fingertips will most likely be probing a nose or rubbing an eye within a few minutes.
I have to admit that I avoid public restrooms; however, the call of nature is not always convenient. Men do have a distinct advantage of being able to stand at a urinal -- a very hygienic method to urinate. Women "hover" (so I am told). Perhaps this is why women develop very strong thigh and leg muscles. I have never been in a women's restroom, but I suspect they are cleaner than a men's room.
Little boys have a difficult time reaching adult urinals so they use the stall, peeing on both the seat and floor. Children also have not developed the fine art of flushing the toilet with their feet. After thoroughly washing my hands at a public restroom, I patiently wait until someone else comes in so that I can shoot out without touching the door. If no one comes in, I must resort to using a paper towel, assuming that the door has a handle to grab.
Men will also pee just about anywhere there is a tree, and we freely teach this skill to our male children. Working outside with my three-year old grandson, he announced that he needed to go potty. Not wanting to walk to the house, I told him he could just pee behind a tree. He was absolutely thrilled about this new technique.
Several weeks later, he asked his Dad if he could potty outside, like at Grandpa's house. His Dad said okay, so Dylan promptly pulled down his pants and pooped in the front yard along a busy street.
I diagnose several urinary tract infections per week in my pediatric clinic. As part of the medical history, I always inquire about the restrooms at the schools. Many school toilets are worse than some backwoods gas stations. Some do not have locks that work or even doors for privacy. When restrooms are dirty, or not private, children won't use them.
When children (usually little girls) hold their urine, they are more likely to get urinary tract infections. Kids also do not want to waste their precious recess time peeing or standing in line at the bathroom, so they just hold it. Although I know it can be disruptive, but elementary teachers who dish out severe penalties for children who ask to go to the toilet during class time should be forced to use the kid's bathroom themselves.
Custodians usually clean restrooms at the end of the day, but it is rare that the toilets and other fixtures are disinfected.
Rotavirus infections can cause profound diarrhea and vomiting. This organism is easily spread in public restrooms and schools. As gross as this statement sounds, diarrhea tends to splash, spreading highly contaminated feces on surfaces and other fixtures. And, the dominant hand that wipes is the hand that contaminates door handles and faucets; and the hand that shakes your hand during greetings.
Perhaps this is why the Japanese bow, instead of shaking hands. While traveling in Japan many years ago, I experienced the Japanese style toilet -- a long, narrow trough at floor level requiring the user to squat. Odd, yes, but quite sanitary. Now, speaking of men peeing anywhere they want -- Japanese men in three-piece suits will pee into street in full view of the passing public. Many restrooms are unisex, so women have to file past the line of men peeing at urinals.
"We are trained not to look," our Japanese friend told us. Of course, my wife was not Japanese. She routinely looked.
In some places in Great Britain and Europe, there are high-tech pay toilets that are completely disinfected between each use. Personally, I would happily pay for cleaner toilets.
When Nature calls, we must answer. Public restrooms are a very necessary convenience, but they are not without inherent risks. Take aim and/or hover. Use your seat liners and stacks of toilet paper. And, for Goodness sake, wash your hands (and fingertips!); methodically and thoroughly; with lots of soap and running water.
Related Topics: Drug May Shorten Kids' Severe Diarrhea, What To Do About Diarrhea
Technorati Tags: rotavirus, diarrhea, hand-washing
Someone posted on the WebMD General Health Board recently, horrified that her four-year old sat on a public restroom toilet seat without a protective cover or a lining of toilet paper. The mother was worried about all of the diseases her child may now be incubating.
Is this four-year old likely to get a Rotavirus infection (a common cause of diarrhea)? How about Herpes? I have seen some disgusting public restrooms in my life, so I can understand this mother's concern; however, exposure to an infectious organism does not necessarily mean a person will develop a disease.
The human body is well-adapted to fighting off these ongoing exposures. Germs do not typically enter intact buttocks skin from a toilet seat, but no one wants to sit on them anyway. Using seat covers and paper is fine, but it really doesn't protect you from microorganisms.
Children have a bad habit of holding on to the toilet seat, with their little fingers clutching underneath the rim. Granted, they don't want to fall in, but those little fingertips will pick up under-seat germs like Velcro.
Germs do enter the body through the nose, eyes, and mouth, usually transmitted from our own, contaminated hands and fingers. If you watch a child wash their hands, you will see that they tend to miss the fingertips -- perhaps the most contaminated part of the hands. And, those dirty fingertips will most likely be probing a nose or rubbing an eye within a few minutes.
I have to admit that I avoid public restrooms; however, the call of nature is not always convenient. Men do have a distinct advantage of being able to stand at a urinal -- a very hygienic method to urinate. Women "hover" (so I am told). Perhaps this is why women develop very strong thigh and leg muscles. I have never been in a women's restroom, but I suspect they are cleaner than a men's room.
Little boys have a difficult time reaching adult urinals so they use the stall, peeing on both the seat and floor. Children also have not developed the fine art of flushing the toilet with their feet. After thoroughly washing my hands at a public restroom, I patiently wait until someone else comes in so that I can shoot out without touching the door. If no one comes in, I must resort to using a paper towel, assuming that the door has a handle to grab.
Men will also pee just about anywhere there is a tree, and we freely teach this skill to our male children. Working outside with my three-year old grandson, he announced that he needed to go potty. Not wanting to walk to the house, I told him he could just pee behind a tree. He was absolutely thrilled about this new technique.
Several weeks later, he asked his Dad if he could potty outside, like at Grandpa's house. His Dad said okay, so Dylan promptly pulled down his pants and pooped in the front yard along a busy street.
I diagnose several urinary tract infections per week in my pediatric clinic. As part of the medical history, I always inquire about the restrooms at the schools. Many school toilets are worse than some backwoods gas stations. Some do not have locks that work or even doors for privacy. When restrooms are dirty, or not private, children won't use them.
When children (usually little girls) hold their urine, they are more likely to get urinary tract infections. Kids also do not want to waste their precious recess time peeing or standing in line at the bathroom, so they just hold it. Although I know it can be disruptive, but elementary teachers who dish out severe penalties for children who ask to go to the toilet during class time should be forced to use the kid's bathroom themselves.
Custodians usually clean restrooms at the end of the day, but it is rare that the toilets and other fixtures are disinfected.
Rotavirus infections can cause profound diarrhea and vomiting. This organism is easily spread in public restrooms and schools. As gross as this statement sounds, diarrhea tends to splash, spreading highly contaminated feces on surfaces and other fixtures. And, the dominant hand that wipes is the hand that contaminates door handles and faucets; and the hand that shakes your hand during greetings.
Perhaps this is why the Japanese bow, instead of shaking hands. While traveling in Japan many years ago, I experienced the Japanese style toilet -- a long, narrow trough at floor level requiring the user to squat. Odd, yes, but quite sanitary. Now, speaking of men peeing anywhere they want -- Japanese men in three-piece suits will pee into street in full view of the passing public. Many restrooms are unisex, so women have to file past the line of men peeing at urinals.
"We are trained not to look," our Japanese friend told us. Of course, my wife was not Japanese. She routinely looked.
In some places in Great Britain and Europe, there are high-tech pay toilets that are completely disinfected between each use. Personally, I would happily pay for cleaner toilets.
When Nature calls, we must answer. Public restrooms are a very necessary convenience, but they are not without inherent risks. Take aim and/or hover. Use your seat liners and stacks of toilet paper. And, for Goodness sake, wash your hands (and fingertips!); methodically and thoroughly; with lots of soap and running water.
Related Topics: Drug May Shorten Kids' Severe Diarrhea, What To Do About Diarrhea
Technorati Tags: rotavirus, diarrhea, hand-washing
63 Comments:
Japan is starting to head towards normal (As in, what we'd call normal) toilets now, though. They also share bathwater. They used a little sprayer and everything to clean themselves, then get in the tub...the whole family uses the same water.
Anywho, I remember back in middle school - the bathrooms were horrid. I heard the guy bathrooms were even worse. But, I know that in our (female) bathrooms, the doors no longer had locks. It was common to ask your friend to hold the door closed from the outside, or a mini-line for the one stall that still had a working lock on it. Not to mention that some of them were absolutely nasty. It would be common to see someone walk into a stall, realize someone had gone potty, not flushed, and strewn toilet paper around...then, as soon as seeing what was in there, they'd turn around and try to find a different, clearner stall...sometimes they'd even have to go to the bathroom on the second floor, even if it was out of their way. It was pretty gross.
And it was even worse in high school!
PS. love your blog, it always gives me a laugh...unless of course, it's something serious...then it's interesting.
I recommend to disinfect water with Virkon. This product is biodegradable and environmentally friendly. Although this virus is cause for concern many products are harmful to you and animals. Please use caution when you chose a product.
Virkon can be used to disinfect standing water and surfaces without harming anyone. This is a clean we can all live with and better for. Check it out www.therapeuticresource.ca or
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Restrooms are really gross. For my psych class I had to conduct many experiments and one was on how many people actually wash their hands. (though my study was only girls because I can only go in the girls bathroom.
I stood in a stall so they wouldn't see me. (some people only wash their hands when someone else is in there. If the water came on and stayed on for at least 30 sec. I consired it a honest try at washing their hands.
I did high schoolers, middle schoolers, and elementary.
Who do you think did the best??
....
the little kids! because they as constinatly reminded to do so.
The numbers though were quite appaling! It really grossed me out!!
Then I put up signs that said to make sure you wash your hands. The number did go up (except elementary cause they coulden't read the sign) but the number of people not washing their hands is so gross!!!
and this was only the girls...I would put money down on boy washing less.
The story about your grandson is hilarious!
I had two MRSA infections two months apart on the skin of my buttocks. Getting it the second time was very frustrating, so I asked my doctor's nurse whether it was common. She said I could have gotten it from any public toilet seat. I use paper covers now.
I would agree with Jessica that men's track record in hand washing is less an women. At a local gym in the men's locker room, I count 50% of men would wash their hands...and the locker room is filled. What's more distressing is some fitness trainers don't wash...then shake hands with their next client...
I work at a school and there are times when I can't use the teacher's washrooms and I will use the student's washrooms. They are absolutly disgusting, but I never sit down. I will squat and I will flush with my foot and wash my hands right after I use them. I also have hand sanitzer in my class room that I use after I come back from using the washroom. I also ask my students when they come back if they washed their hands and if they say no I make them go back and wash them. It's amazing on how many don't do it.
Interestingly enough, I work as a park worker for a large California city. Most people would say that park restrooms are probably the worst. I personally think that it is the people who hover or refuse to flush that make the restrooms gross.
I washdown the restrooms with 4 kinds of disinfectants that kill both bateria & viruses. I have to use the park restrooms myself so I make sure both men's & women's sides are clean. However, even if I'm in the process of just wrapping up the cleaning, it is quite common for someone to go in and pee on the floor.
Guys use the women's room because they are cleaner but they pee all over the seat area & of course, the floors. Men's rooms are disgusting becuz men almost never flush the toilet or urinals so the bacteria in the urine begins to smell. Same for the guys who just have to pee against the walls or in the corners. Hey, I'd love it if there was just a trough in the floor because I have often asked why there are even fixtures if no one will use them!
Public restrooms are gross because people have the perception that they are & therefore do not practice hygenic ways. I use the park restroom everyday at work & have never used any barrier on the seats. Using seatcovers or putting down TP as a barrier is fine if you are considerate of the next person who has to use it by making sure you flush all wastes including the covers or TP barrier.
I have worked big events and been in charge of the restrooms which I clean every fifteen minutes. It is amazing how dirty a restroom facility can get in even ten minutes as no one cares if they drop paper all over the floors, don't dispose of used feminine products correctly or try to use the toilets or those feminine waste containers for their food trash.
If you want clean public restrooms, then you need to practice considerate usage everytime you use one. Just because "no one else" does it, doesn't mean you can contribute to the problem. People in general have no respect for public property whether restrooms, playgrounds, picnic areas or even public streets. Remember that the next time you throw trash out your window at a stoplight or feel you don't need to pick up your litter in a park cuz "someone else" will do it.
We all have a responsibilty to be part of the solution & not part of the problem. Things wouldn't be nearly so bad if we taught all our children respect for all things & made sure we set an example by always showing the same respect in all that we do.
As far as the unflushed toilets, why don't you just flush the toilet as I doubt it will attack you if you do. Carry wet wipes for the seats if you are so paranoid. And lastly, use those waterless hand sanitizers to make sure you've killed all the germs after washing your hands or touching the doornobs or fixtures. (Of course that is easier for a woman carrying a purse than for a man but if you are at work you could keep this stuff at your desk & take it with you) It really isn't that hard to be safe & you can always report a gross restroom.
There is a TV show Called Dr. Know and he researches ideas like germs in the bathroom or the 5 second rule for dropped food. One show he did talked about which restroom was dirtier the men's or women's. He took sample swabs from both room and had a lab at the University of Maryland run the cultures. Believe it or not it was the Women who had the worst rooms. I was surprised.
Having worked as a housekeeper and in building maintenance in a past life I can tell you the mens restrooms I've seen are actually much cleaner than womens...just FYI
I was washing my hands in a restroom of a grocery store a while back. While doing so, a waitress who works in their deli came out of a stall and left without washing her hands. I was very tempted to stick my head out the door and yell, "The employee who just left the woman's restroom did not wash her hands!" I should have reported it to management, even though I could not have identified the person, but I neglected to do so. I haven't eaten in their deli since.
great story about your grandson. They are loads of fun.
Hey don't forget about those lovely pinworms you can get anywhere. My daughter (4) picked them up somewhere and now we all have the lovely critters. They live in your lower colon and come out at night to lay eggs. If you're a female they travel up and lay eggs where you really don't want 'em. We thought my daughter had a yeast infection, but after being up 4 nights in a row (4 hours at a pop) with very itchy "parts" I took her to the doctor again (day 2 doctors trip resulted in a misdiagnosis). The eggs will drop off your body onto the toilet seat, floor, or be transferred by your hands. Especially if you're itchy and then touch anything, the grocery cart, door to the stall, bathroom. Once you ingest the eggs (that can live up to 3 weeks) you have yourself some company!
Nasty, we had to wash all of our sheets, towels, underwear (everything that fit in the washer) in hot water and dried in a hot dryer to kill the eggs. The microscopic eggs can be anywhere in your home. Many kids get them from the sandbox at school. So my advice is to wash those hands and no more 5 second rule in my world!
I dont have the time to read the rest of your article, but from the skim that I did I noticed you said womens bathrooms are likely cleaner than mens.....On the contrary. Ask anyone who has ever worked in a restaraunt, gas station, bar, or even an office, and you will find that the womens bathrooms are much filthier than mens. From toilet paper to....well you get the idea. They are much worse.
Well, talking about catching something at more or less public places, it can happen at your best friends party place: Some 20 + years ago there was a string of simultaneous Herpes infections, diagnosed by a gynecologist in a short one weeks time with several of his patients. As it turned out the ladies all knew each other and (of course) swore not having been with anyone but their husbands; the MD researched and found that the place of contamination was a hot tub in some backyard somewhere north of San Francisco, CA; the rim of the wooden hot tub was the ideal breeding ground where they had all been sitting, when not in the tub.
As you might have guessed, I haven´t been in a hot tub since.
My Daughter caught school sores off a public toilet seat.
As a male I often find myself having to use a semi-public toilet that has just a commode rather than a urinal. Not wanting to touch anything I use the toe of my shoe to both lift the seat and to flush and if I use a paper towel to turn on or off the sink I avoid all contact with affected areas.
God Bless You, Anonymous 7:53 - If only all public restroom users could read your helpful, insightful comments.
Have you ever wondered how all the people who don't wash their hands ever reach the age of 50 or ever even feel healthy? Sorry, but I think there are some paranoia going in the US. I was in California for five weeks and I got sometimes a filthy-me feeling just by walking by local toilets. I have never seen stuff like 'Sealed for your protection' things anywhere else. I have been also to Russia (Moscow public toilets... 11 days), sailed "through" 10 different countries from Europe to Latin America (2 months), Venezuela (local public and private WC:s in the mountains, rain forest cabins, gas station rest rooms and urban motel toilets, 3 weeks) and in a camp of 8 000 scouts and guides in Great Britain (3 weeks). I got some slight stomach problems in Russia (drunk tap water half accidently) and Venezuela (made by malaria medication), bad problems while sailing (100% sea sickness) and cold in California (really cold and long shower)! I am quite convinced that no toilet or even hygienic reason was involved in getting these problems (well, that tap water thing was more kinda stupidity :)... even though I used some really unclean looking toilets and without washing my hands regularly or using non-potable dirty water. Now I have been doing military service for 6 months (I am something like border patrol guerrilla) sharing public toilets and during war exercises squatting in 'unhygienic' nature... and definitely haven't been washing my hands! Nothing this far.
I believe that improving our health should happen by naturally strengthening our immunity (doesn't mean vaccines), not by destroying our enemies - in this case pathogens. Afterall, that just leads to new and more resistant... problems. According to what I have seen and what I have heard, Americans tend to believe (too?) much what authorities say - and that is a problem when money talks. Hygiene and medicine industry is not small business - your media and cities are flooding of those ads! Remember, that there are lots of people around that are quite healthy without all the paper tricks and strong medication. Is that true in US? I don't know, maybe superhygiene housekeeping has lowered natural immunity and strengthened the pathogens so that every pathogen actually could be lethal.
Ville, Finland
I visited a Mcdonalds washroom in Birmingham,Eng. where you put you hands in a cubicle not much wider than 12'' sq. out came water,soap,water in that order then a blow dryer.I was so amazed I came out and got my family members to go in and try it.
It eliminated all those people who 'wash' their hands without soap, and there was no door knob to touch either.
I am a disabled registered nurse. but, I still feel an obligation to 'humankind' to continue to educate about health maintenance/prevention. 90% of time I ask permission to speak to the other person(s) in a public bathroom with me, (quickly) and ask them to please zip, button, whatever first; flush at last second, flush with foot, turn your back on flushing toilet immediately after flushing, get out of there, turn off faucet with towel they dried on, open door with towel, and please teach their children and grandchildren, friends these things. Ask teachers at schools to find a few seconds in their day to speak these points. Volunteer to teach these little points on your own time anywhere people are still for a minute or so. Be brave and offer your advice kindly.
I worked at a gas station many years ago and remember not so fondly having to clean the restrooms; when it comes down to a war between who is cleaner, men's or women's, it's a toss-up.
I remember one day cleaning poop and pee off the wall, mind you I have no idea how a guy could get his butt that far in the air, in the men's and in the women's I remember cleaning dirt off of the toilet seat.
I guess it's a toss up, people can be pretty inconsiderate of those around them.
I also loved your story about your grandson; I raised two boys myself, and they were not shy about going to the bathroom outside!
I work in a hospital and use an employee only restroom. I have been absolutely dumbfounded to be in a stall and hear a NURSE come out of the other stall and go straight out the door. Someone pointed out that maybe she washed her hands somewhere else, but that is not acceptable either, because the door handle is contaminated as she goes out. (along with everything else that is touched)
A woman's bathroom can be VERY DIRTY. Women have a tendency to squat over the toilet. Urine sprays everywhere and its not unusual to walk through puddles in front of the toilet. What a mess!!
Only because I'm a man who has worked many jobs in the past doing maintenance at parks etc. and had many female friends over the years, I feel the need to defend the male gender as to "men's bathrooms are the worst" that seems to be a theme among many writers. Overall the women's restrooms were somewhat neater, EXCEPT in one area it relates to the age-old argument of Seat Up? or Seat Down?
In bathrooms that don't have a urinal us men must then use the toilet to do our business, and if we're considerate which many of us are, we have to lift the seat up so we don't pee on it. (Sidenote: both up, the seat and lid or both down is the proper position or usage in my opinion. Not just the lid open like women leave it and then complain about the toilet being open as men leave it....Can't we all just get along!?). So, in other words we actually see and look at the underside of the toilet seat itself. Women on the other hand sit or squat, so never see or look at the underside of the seat. Therein lies the problem........
When you lift the seat of the toilet, even in the most fastidious woman's apartment or personal bathroom, chances are the underside of the seat will have a coating of years of errant feces, urnine stains, and often mold, and I can pretty well assure you it's not from us guys! Even in the most perfectly coiffed and spotless bathroom, the "Dead Zone" exists...... check it out sometime, and you shall find that I don't lie!
Loved the grandson story! My late father and I often worked on projects in the basement building things and at that time we only had one bathroom in our house. So, there was a small stepstool and we would often pee in the laundry sink in the basement, granted always on the side that the washer drained into and never, ever in the other side that might be used for hand washing or other things..... it worked well until my mother came down one night and saw me standing on the stool beside dad with both of us peeing into the sink. She was less than impressed by our solution!
A few comments:
1. GEL HAND SANITIZERS DO NOT KILL VIRUSES!!!!! They kill bacteria. What causes colds? The flu? Most cases of vomiting and diarhea? VIRUSES. The only way to get rid of viruses is to REMOVE them by WASHING YOUR HANDS. And washing your hands also removes or kills those bacteria, rendering those silly gels useless (and harmful because resistant strains develop).
2. Women DO see the underside of the toilet seat, each time they lower it to use it. And the lid should always be closed when the toilet is not in use.
3. Perhaps a 50-year old does not get sick when s/he does not wash his/her hands. BUT they are spreading their germs (such as illness-causing viruses, which stay in your body after your immune system has conquered the infection) each time they refuse to wash their hands after wiping/sneezing/etc.
I feel the need to comment on this. I believe that in the teenage group, the girls bathroom is much cleaner, as the boys try to show off their "skills" (I have heard first-hand stories). However, as they grow into adults, somehow women don't seem to care as much or are less self conscious. I can say that now as an adult, I find the women's bathrooms apalling most times, and have heard from people who have to clean both. They agree. I do have a TIP for when one encounters a bathroom stall with a broken latch: Wad up a generous amount of toilet paper and wedge it between the door and the frame. It beats the cirqu de soleil balancing act!
This comment is regarding the man (djg) who said that in women's personal bathrooms (as in an apartment/home) the underside of the seat will often have "a coating of years of errant feces, urnine stains, and often mold". With my paranoia I always "hover" at even my girl friends' homes and family friends' and my family members' homes and I always lift the seat so I don't get any urine on their seats (as well as hover very carefully so my urine doesn't get on the rim), and out of the VERY many homes and so very many times I have gone to the bathroom in them, I have never seen more than just maybe a bit of urine on the underside of the seat (and I haven't even seen it that often!). I have always cleaned, not only the underside of my toilet seat, but the whole toilet (including around the bowl and tank and both sides of the lid) at least every week, and often twice per week. I don't know where you get this idea that women don't clean the underside of the seat.. If you know this from experience at looking at supposedly clean, or "fastidious" womens' toilets, then either these woman are not truly keeping their toilets clean (what kind of person doesn't clean the underside of the seat when doing their scheduled toilet cleaning??) or you have some strange misconceptions about what a clean bathroom/toilet looks like (or of course you are making things up). And if you are also saying "the most perfectly coiffed and spotless bathroom" has stuff under the seat, obviously it is NOT the most perfectly coiffed (can you even use that term to describe a toilet? Doesn't the term refer to your hair?) and spotless bathroom!
I'd also like to mention that I ALWAYS lift the toilet seat at public restrooms as well (using some toilet paper if it is not a soiled looking seat, or otherwise using the sole of my shoe) when "hovering" so my urine doesn't accidentally splash on the seat!
With respect to the squat toilets seen in Japan... squat toilets are common in China also. Unfortunately, "flushing" is often a small trickle of water that fails to push the waste down the drain.
Squat toilets also exist in Italy and Switzerland, though not so commonly.
I work at a large corp and we have soap, santizer, seat paper, also have towel to wipe the seat, and still the women don't flush. We have signs all over the place. I see coworker come out and don't wash. I often ask one of our male coworker about the men bathroom and they sometime say that it is worst. All my three children were taught at a young age to wash. My seventeen year old when she was little would say to anyone in the restroom did you wash your hands. So if you train them young to wash their hand and get under the fingernails they will cont when they are older. Just love the story about your grandson
In my experience, most restrooms are yucky, even in many "upscale" places. I am often appalled at the number of women/girls who do not wash, flush, or even manage to get the paper towels in the trash. It only follows that they also left the toilet area a mess.
Unfortunately, many people cannot hover for physical reasons, and have no choice but to sit, and often need to clean up first. Often the handicapped stall is awful because of previous users, which is not easy for some to wipe down first. It's often necessary for them to use the bar(s) or walls to get to the toilet. No, I AM NOT blaming the handicapped people for this...everyone uses it if it is open and hopefully there is no handicapped person waiting for it when an able-bodied person chooses to use it. (I would hope they would give the handicapped person the stall, and wait for another.)
I am also glad to see the trend of automatic flushers, water faucets and towel dispensers, so that you do not have to touch them. I have not yet seen an automatic soap dispenser of door opener, though!
Yes, women have the advantage of a purse, but men could get one of those little flat travel packs or individual pre-packaged saniwipes because they would fit in a pocket. I know antibacterial products do not kill viruses, but it has to be helpful in just having the cleaning action.
Education( home, school, office, media, etc.) and reminders help, but it is ultimately up to the individual.
In my experience, most restrooms are yucky, even in many "upscale" places. I am often appalled at the number of women/girls who do not wash, flush, or even manage to get the paper towels in the trash. It only follows that they also left the toilet area a mess.
Unfortunately, many people cannot hover for physical reasons, and have no choice but to sit, and often need to clean up first. Often the handicapped stall is awful because of previous users, which is not easy for some to wipe down first. It's often necessary for them to use the bar(s) or walls to get to the toilet. No, I AM NOT blaming the handicapped people for this...everyone uses it if it is open and hopefully there is no handicapped person waiting for it when an able-bodied person chooses to use it. (I would hope they would give the handicapped person the stall, and wait for another.)
I am also glad to see the trend of automatic flushers, water faucets and towel dispensers, so that you do not have to touch them. I have not yet seen an automatic soap dispenser of door opener, though!
Yes, women have the advantage of a purse, but men could get one of those little flat travel packs or individual pre-packaged saniwipes because they would fit in a pocket. I know antibacterial products do not kill viruses, but it has to be helpful in just having the cleaning action.
Education( home, school, office, media, etc.) and reminders help, but it is ultimately up to the individual.
I am a man who always thought that men were unsanitary as far as restroom cleanliness. It is thoroughly disgusting to see a man use the restroom, finish, and never wash his hands. The only thing worse is when you see an individual exhibit this behavior and you are in a social situation where you might have to shake a guy's hand right after leaving the restroom. Quite a few men have been embarrassed by me since I won't shake hands with someone who I observe exhibiting this behavior.
In my younger life, I cleaned restrooms as part of my employment. However, I have seen some pretty horrible women's bathrooms in my life. Not only that, I have been told about the horrible condition of public women's restrooms.
I have a girlfriend who takes the risk of urinary tract infections because of this due to the filthy conditions of her workplace bathroom. In fact, she leaves work and drives five miles home because of this.
She works in an office with separate men's and women's bathrooms. She has told me about unflushed toilets with urine, feces, and paper in them. (You can imagine the smell). Even worse, she says, is that feces-contained toilet paper is routinely thrown in the garbage can but most of the time gets thrown on the floor.
By the way, I carry a fanny pack, even though it is out of style. I keep pens, paper, AND HAND SANITIZER just for sanitary reasons. If I sneeze, touch my nose, etc., the hand sanitizer IMMEDIATELY comes out.
Public toilets are the worst.
Sign me as "Tired of FIlthy Nasty F--king People"
I NEVER feel compelled to write on any webspace but this has to be my #1 peeve! I have worked in the medical field for over 20 years, more than once at OB/GYN offices, and I wish, just ONCE, that the Surgeon General would address this issue! I have never "caught" anything from a public toilet-and ladies, if your boyfriend told you that's how he got it, he's LYING. First of all, nobody is going to get a UTI from a toilet seat. Urine is a fairly sterile substance, it is only feces that have germs. I really wouldn't mind the hoverers-it's their own time and effort they're wasting, but the worst part is they're too paranoid to actually wipe it off. If I'm in a hurry and sit down quick, what an unpleasant surprise! There is no scientific evidence whatsoever that sitting on a public toilet seat makes you prone to anything (provided you aren't grabbing onto the underside) but every single woman I know will do as their mothers taught and wad up useless miles of toilet paper to line the seat with. Do they honestly think a couple of layers of tissue would stop anything? After asking my friends, many of whom are medical professionals and should know better, why they do this, they really can't answer except that it's "gross" not to. I have taken to loudly exclaiming that the previous user is ignorant while they are washing their hands when I sit on somebody else's urine and they just look at me when I come out like I'm from Mars. I have finally come to the conclusion that most people just can't bear the idea that their naked buttock is touching where somebody else's naked buttock also sat-how repressed is that? I guess you could say that I am no longer a public toilet user as well-but only because others who use it are thoughtless. If you are a medical professional, please, please, please, do the world a favor and let the ladies know that they are not going to get a venereal disease from sitting on a dry toilet seat.
I had to spend a week in a hospital in FL which had a bathroom I felt obligated to clean myself before using. Is it any wonder the fourth leading cause of death is hospitals? Not to long after getting out of the hospital my daughter and I took the dog to the Vet and while we were waiting in the exam room I noticed how much cleaner it was than the hospital room. Go figure. CC
I just want to say thank you for making me feel a little better about myself because I routinely attempt to disinfect to the best of my ability in ALL siutations and I often get eye rolls and sighs by other people who think it is a waste of time and ridiculous. I must say that I recently finished my first year at an All-girls college, living in a "wellness" "health conscious" dorm. In this dorm, about 80% of the girls were working towards a health profession and after watching my classmates, I was one of THREE girls on the entire floor, who washed their hands after using the bathroom. Even the RA was repeatedly caught not washing her hands. The bathrooms were so disgustlingly dirty, not from neglegence of the cleaning staff, but because the students didn't care since it was not "their own". Since it was a community bathroom the students were asked to provide their own soap and so to experiment, my roommate actually started buying soap to supply the restroom and still more than half either "rinsed" (just water not soap) or still did nothing. So I just have to say STUDENTS BEWARE because even high class, educated, women are lazy and risking your health!
I have had two bad pimples or boils right were my thigh hits a toilet seat.
I was sitting next to somebody that didn't wash after doing the # 2 at Sears in Decatur IL.
I than walked past a booth offering free hearing tests. Guess who the tester was. YUCK.....
I worked in a office with 23 people (only 3 males) and one bathroom (toilet & sink, trashcan & door with lock) After working there for several years I became increasingly agitated & flummoxed by the bathroom ways of the office. Urine on the seat, under the seat (which creeps me out just as bad! Wipe it up!!!) on the floor. And these squatting people that complained about germs and nasty bathrooms were the ones doing it. I COULD NEVER GET UP FROM THE TOILET WITHOUT ALWAYS DOUBLECHECKING!!! How can you miss leaving a puddle or a drip? To me, that is common sense - how nasty! And, when someone is waiting for you to come out??? and they don't even have the oh, I can't even think of a word to use. Decency? Common sense? At the least hygeine?? for them to think "hey, we as women cannot aim especially thighs shaking,trying to keep balance" (trying not to touch the sides-or trying not to stick feet in nastiness that always lurks toward the flanks)- this is why the toilet is designed the way it is.
Whew-this is a total run-on of pent up anger!! But a bathroom that can't be kept clean shared by an office full of professional adults that works together 60+ hours a week is a lot less then most public restrooms... so it is all doomed!
My synopsis is that people are LAZY and IGNORANT.
CHEERS to the lady who calls out to these nasty dirty ones who ignorantly don't care.
My friend and I even made a sign up "please be neat and wipe the seat" & another of those cute lil sayings & one saying this was the Maids Week OFF. They were hung up in the morning and by the afternoon they had been ripped down and thrown away. That said it all. Not only lazy, but now angry that it was all pretty easy to keep it clean.
---Its funny in the long run when I think of these germ-phobic girls that love to complain about the "invisible cooties" on a toilet seat that they are way to good to get their backsides even remotely close to - they are the same girls who must think their stuff isn't tainted or foul when its left from doing strange positions around a toilet bowl.
I guess they are all just too good. Who knows?
I think "Anonymous @ 12:39AM pretty well hit the nail on the head; and it is a terrible indictment of human nature - many, note: I say many, not all, people are just plain lazy, inconsiderate, rude, slovenly, etc., or any combination of these traits.
I am a man in my mid sixties, and I have been cleaning up after human and not human critters for over fifty years, and my experiences pretty well cement my opinion. In an industrial setting, I even had a physical dust up with another man over his attitude about the toilet facilities - I asked him if he was as nasty at home as he was on the job, and he told me, in no uncertain terms, that the job was not his home, and his wife cleaned the toilets at home, not him; we then "boxed" a bit, and I had the satisfaction of noting that his attitude changed some after that, and he did give me a wide berth, when we were around each other. I am retired, now, and hope that I never have to get into that position, again.
In the past I have cleaned public restrooms in health clubs and in churches. The mens restrooms were alway much cleaner than the womens. I was surprised at how dirty the womens restrooms were.
How come all thse people complain about how bad a bathroom is when they go out to eat do they every think about some of the places they go to eat,I figure if the bathroom is dirty the place isnt fit to eat in when there is no soap or towles o dry with ,then most likely the cook does not wash either.Do you know what you are eating .I have lived in China as my Wife is from there and they have mostly squat toilets and if you go there bring your own paper.but most people wash but there is no soap most times.
I always hate it when someone changes a poopy diaper, and leaves it in the ladies room to smell up the place. Yuk!
I used to clean restrooms in various establishments (from factories to high-class women's boutiques) and I can tell you that women's bathrooms are NOT cleaner than men's rooms, and often they're WORSE. Little boys are not the only ones who get urine on the seat and floor. All that squatting makes a nasty mess for whoever comes in behind the "lady" who neglected to wipe up the mess she left because she didn't want to sit on the toilet seat. And someone needs to teach them the fine art of flushing, whether with their foot or not. Age, class, gender or income level has no bearing on peoples' disgusting hygiene habits.
I'm sorry. I wrote the previous comment, and neglected to state that I am a "lady"; not some guy ranting about how much worse women are than men. And I DO wipe the seat (before AND after) and I DO flush, and I DO wash my hands (with SOAP). I later entered the healthcare field, and I agree with the other commentators: Healthcare workers are just as guilty as the general public when it comes to poor hygiene.
I have worked at a State Park for 4 years cleaning restrooms. No more. I have seen enough inconsiderate and filthy people and kids to last the rest of my life. But, on to my story. A friend of mine has several small children, and his wife went into the restroom with one of the girls. When they came out, my friend asked his wife"did you give her some gum?" The reply "no" Arrrruuuuuggggggghhhhhhh! She found some when his wife was not looking!
Ladies: The backs of our thighs and backsides sitting where someone else's has is no worse on a toilet than on a bench if we're wearing a swimsuit! And what about little girls who feet don't reach the floor? How nasty to plant their small bottoms in some other female's urine! The obvious solution is for ALL of us to sit.
I DO recall having to tip a restroom attendant who cleaned a unisex facility between "customers" while I was backpacking in Europe 30 years ago - I was 20. It was worth every cent - I'm all for making that into an American custom!
In the restroom at O'Hare, I experience for the first time a toilet seat cover which was protected by a plastic shower-cap- type cover that one could sit on (or not) and which, when the toilet was flushed, slid around the seat back into a container at the rear of the bowl while a new section came out of the same device, providing the next customer with a new seat cover. Spiffy.
I am a 16-year-old high school sophomore who is turned off by not only the girls bathrooms at my school but at public bathrooms too. I use the bathroom two or three times a day at school and although my mom taught me to cover the seat, I do sit directly on it. However, I will not use a stall with urine on it--and that's quite a few because so many of the girls don't take the time to lift the seat before they straddle. I do however sit very gingerly over only the front of the seat and since I do not pull my panties down all the way, they do limit the contact I have with the front of the seat. However, when I have rejected using a stall and am using an adjacent stall, I'm amazed by the number of girls that will just plop themselves down in the urine and often leave without flushing. There are several occasions too when I've had to give them toilet paper under the partition because they forgot to check for any and need to wipe. My grossest experience, however, came this last summer when I took an eight-year-old I was babysitting to the bathroom at a Greenday concert. I refused to let her go into one stall because the seat was dripping and she and I used the stalls immediately adjacent to it. A woman came in with two very loud boys--probably about four or five years old--and let them open up and pee without supervising them. They didn't even try to aim and both Megan and I got splashed on our sandeles before we moved our feet out of the way. Megan noticed when she got done with her bowel movement that there was no toilet paper in her stall and asked a lady just outside her stall to hand her some. The lady did but remarked that Megan was "dumb" to be sitting directly on a public toilet seat. When we both got done and were washing our hands we saw this lady leaving with her two wildly peeing sons. Megan remarked: "Who is the real dummie?"
My daughter has just started middle school and she is taken aback by how filthy the girls are in the restrooms. Although she has been taught to put paper over the seat, Jill says that many girls sit directly down--even after she's avoided a stall because there's urine on the seat. Sometimes there is not enough toilet tissue available in a stall to cover the seat, so she occasionally does have to sit down on the bare seat, but in most cases whe "holds it" until she gets home. The problem apparently is that a few girls straddle to urinate and get some urine on the seat because they haven't lifted it. How many other parents out there have concerns like this? What is the answer?
I travel frequently and have seen some totally disgusting restrooms in my travels. I have 3 young children and they all flush the toilets with their feet, open doors,etc. I recently encountered a company, whose stickers I saw in several restaurants, Sparkling Image. It seems this company does an exellent job of cleaning. I also saw their touch free dispensers for soap, paper etc in these restaurants.
Loved the story. I have a question and need help from anyone w/ MSRA experience. My 2 year old daughter picked up MRSA in her tush probably from a public changing table. Our pediatrician did a culture & put her on antibiotics a month ago but she is having another outbreak (boil). Someone told me this was common and to expect symptoms like this for up to six months post antibiotics?!? Is this correct or should I take her to an infectious disease doc for 2nd opinion? Don't want to panic but don't want this to continue infecting her if the antibiotics did not work.
I guess I'm not too bright. What is MSRA?
Guess I'm not to bright either cause I too wonder what MSRA stand for?
Also I always wripe the comode seat before I sit down even if it is dry.
Here is some information about methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureaus (MRSA).
Apparently I am not to bright after all. I used the wrong to. Thanks for the eye opener.
Also thanks to the person who led me to the explanation of MRSA.
kindly tell me one really elementary thing..
1)there is a lid that is there
2)second there is the seat
3)third there is a rim finally that is a part of the commode
i use indian commode from childhood and not western
so i wanted to ask that when we sit on the commode do we lower the "2" or do we raise the "2" and sit like this guys says"Not wanting to touch anything I use the toe of my shoe to both lift the seat and to flush and ..."
Relieved to discover this wasn't a porno site. The number of responses you have indicates the need for this type of info
I was raised to paper the seat, use my foot to flush, wash my hands, including scrubbing the fngertips, turn off the tap with the paper that I took before washing my hands and held in my armpit and use the same paper to open the door... Now, having said that, Finally at 52 years old I asked a Hematolgist/Oncologist if it is true that a child who doesn't get sick very often, (not exposed to many germs) is more likely to get leukemia and he said, "YES and a whole lot of other very ugly diseases as well." While I still wash my hands and teach that as an important thing to do, all the other things are really pretty ridiculous! I had one grandchild whose excellent mother used antibacterial products on the counters, the grocery carts and anywhere the little boy might touch. Guess what? When he got sick he ended up in the hospital for a full week. His first cousin had the same virus and even though she has asthma, she got over the virus with no problems. DON'T carry cleanliness to an extreme! It isn't good for anyone!
very interesting comments, especially what the oncologist said about children who don't get sick very often. I'm a germ phobe, hate public restrooms and when I do use one spend at least 60 seconds washing my hands, while at the same time just want to get out of there before I breath in any more germ infested air. This is an embarrassing question but I must ask, have never seen anything like this asked before. If you do something in the public toilet (as in #2) and it plugs up the toilet, what do you do? This has happened to me more than once and because of it I don't dare use any bathroom but my own at home for this. This is a serious question. It's very embarrassing to be coming out of the toilet when this has just happened and have someone standing there in line waiting to get in.
Two points. ONE, for the person who clogs the toilet with a large BM, there IS a simple solution - do a flush part way through the process. Or two flushes. Whatever is needed, to avoid clogging the toilet. Finally, if you DO clog the toilet and you are somewhere that you can notify maintenance, do so. You can simply say that "there is a clogged toilet in such and such a restroom.", you don't need to say YOU did it.
TWO. Women who hover can do something to keep the toilet clean for the next person. LIFT THE FREAKING SEAT! Use your shoe, if you must. But don't pee on the seat, girls. You're NOT a LADY when you do this. Then, if you splash onto the toilet rim, WIPE it. Use enough tp to keep your precious hands dry, and then wash up. Be considerate of the next person, who, just like you, has NO interest in finding a dirty toilet with someone's wet urine all over the seat and floor.
Ugh.. I know exactly what you mean.
I just graduated from high school and so I know exactly how it is... Except-- girls can be worse than guys in the cleanliness of the bathroom.
The trash bins for the bathrooms were small and there weren't always one for every stall-- so there would be used-- "girl products" lieing around on the floor and behind toilets. So the bathrooms reaked even more. Also-- one time-- I recall seeing actual crap on the wall.
But-- in SF I saw those self-cleaning stalls that you were talking about. They were free and you had to wait a little bit, but it was clean.
Newsflash: This superbug they call MRSA has been with us for so many years and I can't believe doctors here in America have not been able to figure out or find a way to kill it or at least find a way to prevent infection. Well, have no fear because Malprac is here. I have a remedy that i've recently discovered and it's very inexpensive. One you can perform at home.
First of all regular handwashing with soap and water is good but it doesn't really do the job. Recently I discovered that handwashing with cane vinegar or citric acid with a ph of below 4.0 is very promising and actually prevents the spread of infection. The solution can also be applied topically to boils or pimples and actually kills this superbug. It's gonna sting but the result is very promising.
They say I walk on water. Not!!!!
Malprac
We live in Central Taiwan, many miles from our rather fancy capital city, and most public toliets away from the capital city are the "squat" kind, even in McDonalds. McDonalds (and many big department stores) have toilet paper, soap, and paper towels, but otherwise, public restrooms have none of those things. We all carry a small pack of tissues in our bags or pockets to use as toilet paper, and we wash our hands by rubbing them under cold water and then shaking them dry outside. The entry doorway is almost always an open entry, so there is no door handle. When we enter restrooms, I always ask my daughter if she has tissues before she disappears into a stall, and I find the squat toilets hygenic, especially as the flush in usually a foot lever on the floor. We've never gotton sick or caught anything from our cold water wash and air dry, so we don't worry about it!
I knew a woman who puy warm water into a bucket and used a wash rag too wipe her six month old grandaughters genital area clean when she changed a soiled diaper. Can this cause msra?
I say yes but, of course she denies it.
Womens bathrooms are often just as bad if not worse than mens bathrooms. You'd always expect a woman to be far cleaner than a man but thier bathrooms say they are not. And why do so many womens bathrooms in office buildings have a cuite little coffee table and chair set up? Is this where the women love to talk? I would be amazed if that were so.
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