I will post this as a poll. I will be voting yes, they should. Not only do I think it's common courtesy and a gentlemanly thing to do, but I think I have solid infection control rationale.
Think of it it. If a woman has to put down the seat before doing her business, she will be contaminating her hands, and then she has to wipe herself 'down there'. Maybe she is menstruating and has to perform an invasive procedure with a tampon.
On the other hand, men only have to aim and fire, maybe briefly touching the external part of their organ of urination. There is no chance of the men folk performing an invasive procedure.
I bring this up because it has become an issue in our workplace. Someone keeps leaving the seat up!
I am a man. I use my foot to lift up and put the toilet seat down, which negates the infection control rationale. I am not dirtying my hands in this way. And before you say that my shoe is infecting the seat by touching it; almost all the female nurses in my unit perform "hovering" in which they urinate all over the seat worse than a man, in my opinion, so they aren't touching it.
New question: should female nurses leave the toilet seat up, since they just hover anyway?
Just wondering why we never hear of men falling in the toilet?
Shouldn't we all remember to check before sitting down?
Yes, but my rationale is that women sit on the toilet more often than men (urination is more frequent than defecation, I hope:) so it's more likely that a woman would be the one falling in. Also, please note that I was kind of joking. I haven't had much trouble with toilet seat location in the workplace because we have separate restrooms
I am a man. I use my foot to lift up and put the toilet seat down, which negates the infection control rationale. I am not dirtying my hands in this way. And before you say that my shoe is infecting the seat by touching it; almost all the female nurses in my unit perform "hovering" in which they urinate all over the seat worse than a man, in my opinion, so they aren't touching it.
Maybe they wouldn't have to hover if you'd quit putting your nasty shoes on it.
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I was brought up that gentlemen put it down and brought my son up this way. This has nothing to do with gender equality, but good manners and thoughtfulness.
I am a man. I use my foot to lift up and put the toilet seat down, which negates the infection control rationale. I am not dirtying my hands in this way. And before you say that my shoe is infecting the seat by touching it; almost all the female nurses in my unit perform "hovering" in which they urinate all over the seat worse than a man, in my opinion, so they aren't touching it.
Cool. If you haven’t already thought of it I’d like to share a personal tip with you. I find that reaching the bottom shelves in a fridge, is just so much easier with your feet.
You don’t have to bend and reach, it’s real practical. You just need to practice the technique of flipping/kicking your lunchbox from the floor up onto the counter or table after you’ve foot-retrieved it from the fridge. It took me a while to perfect but now I’ve got the move down. My co-workers still frown a bit at my slightly strange habit.. but meh…. It’s probably mostly due to the fact that they’re old, overweight and shall we say not exactly beauty pageant material
Can someone please explain why people don't just use some toilet paper or paper towel to lower the seat if they're worried about germs? Why use your foot??
Maybe they wouldn't have to hover if you'd quit putting your nasty shoes on it.
Yea, putting my hands on a seat that people pee and lay their rear end on is much more hygenic.. Those women would hover anyway. They hover because they don't want to touch the urinated seat, not because a shoe touched it.
When you hover, and spray the seat worse than any guy, though, could ya WIPE THE DANG THING OFF?! I've been in women's bathrooms that look like a sprinkler went off, and wonder how it's men who got a reputation for being disgusting.
IT HURTS when you sit on a toilet without the seat being down! Not to mention that your bum gets wet. My argument is this;
If you pee standing up, you are looking at the toilet while you're peeing and it's not a big deal to just flip the darn thing down when you're done.
There are consequences for sitting on a toilet with the seat up, not vice versa. If I'm doing the pee pee dance, yea, sometimes I don't look and them *BOOM*, my bum is bruised.
LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN
8,429 Posts
I keep my toothbrush in my cabinet; love my Clorox...
I hover, look where I sit, and wash my hands before and after I go to the bathroom; just some battles I have no interest in choosing.