Admit….everyone is curious about what really happens in the bathroom….
German men pee sitting down. Yep. It’s true. I learned this back when I was living in Switzerland. While practicing with Regina, my German-speaking partner, I realized some of the cards I was reading at the card shop made absolutely no sense. Yes, humor is hard to translate, but she filled me in. German women hate the mess made around the toilet….those nasty yellow speckles that go everywhere….yuck. And so the solution is: Pee, sitting down. Yes, that means You, Sir!!
Apparently this habit is seen as the triumph of feminism. I’d think getting folks to clean up after themselves might accomplish the same thing.
“Really, Regina?” I asked? “That seems kind of emasculating. Men go along with it?” “Yes, at home, pretty much all men do sit to pee. When they are out in public, probably not.”
Me, don’t like dibbles either, but I’d be more worried about the peeing in public.
Surest way to lock a person with OCD in a bathroom? Remove the towels. I often wondered about wastebaskets in funny places. Like one I saw in an office yesterday, in the alcove between the real restroom—wet area—and the office hallway. The wastebasket is there for folks who will only open bathroom door with hand towel and
then, if no other place, toss it on floor.
Much ado always about handwashing. 92% of folks say they do when using public

One solution to the toilet seat issue.
restroom, but when cameras are there—only to watch handwashing!—only 83% do. And it gets worse, average wash time….11 seconds! And only 33% even use soap.
Never used a towel to open a restroom door myself….but maybe I should!
Men spit in urinals! Just learned this one the other day. Even men who generally don’t spit, often do in public restrooms before they let loose. Why? Been scratching my head about this ever since. The kind of story for which the Internet was invented, I think. Maybe 20-30% of men.
All kinds of proposed reasons…way to “check the territory” for poisonous critters before exposing delicate equipment. (Vestigial behavior, the way dogs swirl around to “tamp the grass” before lying on their beds.) Ammonia and or foul smells, bringing up additional spittle. But, hey, I’ve never seen—or heard–women spit in the toilet. Maybe some trigger in the parasympathetic system to help get the juices flowing.
Love any comments, or anecdotes about this weirdness….and so you won’t have to waste as much internet time as I have, I’m happily sharing the most sensible piece I’ve come across about it.
Does, though, somehow make one even more inclined to wash hands after!
