I just don't get it.  Why are men always supposed to leave the seat 
in the position that a woman probably wants it in, but women are 
never expected to extend the same courtesy to men (indeed, quite
the opposite)?  Isn't this supposed to be an era of gender equality,
when women show that they've no trouble opening doors, pumping gas,
paying tabs, etc. for themselves?  So why this bizarre Victorian
anachronism in the water closet? 

Is there any man out there who understands this? 

20 responses total.

Well, men sometimes use the toilet with the seat down, and women always do.
I've heard people claim that it's more efficient to leave the seat down, since
it needs to be that way for more than half of the use the toilet will get.

Of course, that doesn't work in households with more men than women.

Because if it's up, we may fall in (after not looking, or getting up in the
middle of the night and leaving the light off).

Plus, it's chivalrous.  ;-)

I never really mind if it's up or down.  Seems like such a small thing to
make a fuss over.

It certainly looks better down. That's reason enough for me.

But leaving the toilet seat up allows ultraviolet radiation to kill germs on
the bowl... :)

So why don't women look before sitting down?

 
 We want the seat down because you nasty boys piss all over the damn lid and
that is gross. Plus, in my family, my dad never did any toilet cleaning so
who is he to say where the lid is?

I don't follow the logic of #5 at all.  But then, it *was*
posted by a woman.

I'm with Katie's #3.  Esthetics trumps other considerations.

 
 How can you not follow the logic, John? Men pee all over the lid and it looks
icky. So we want it down so it doesn't look icky. Hrmm?

The I follow that logic is "guys tend to piss sloppy", so you'd probably want
the seat left up.  That way it can't be pissed on accidentally by a guy
wandering late at right and not looking first.

 
 Scott, that is an interesting point. But I'd rather have a guy accidentally
pee on the lid than for me to get up in the middle of the night and sit down
on the toilet while the seat is up. The cold water could wake the dead.

Ew, sitting on a piss-covered seat?

Hey, how about glow-in-the-dark seats so it's easy to see the lid status?

Or for a more high-tech approach, how about a smart toilet seat which senses
a microchip implanted in your body and automatically raises or lowers the lid
as you enter the bathroom?

 
 Scott, I think it would sell. Especially if you could get one of those really
cheesy infomercials with bad camera quality. Have some women in robes
wandering into the bathroom in the middle of the night, their eyes squinted
shut.. and then the splash! followed by shrieks of indignation. Then have some
"scientist" ..hmm.. maybe Rane Curl.. very slowly discuss how the "Smart Seat"
was invented and is "clinically proven" to prevent bathroom mishaps by over
76%!  What do you think..? 20% off if you call in the next ten minutes!!!

I don't buy the effeciency argument.  It's most effecient to change the seat
position only when it's needed.  Therefore, it it's left in the position of
last use, then for any given future user, it can either be left in place or
moved, depending on which is needed.  If it's returned to the default position
after each use, it may need to be moved twice between some uses.

Nor do I buy the argument about needing the seat left down to avoid falling
itno the toilet.  I suppose if somebody is used to living in an all female
household they might get used to not checking, but by the same token somebody
who has been living in an all male household, where it is quite reasonable
to expect the seat to be in a variety of positions, would have no reason to
be used to putting the seat down after use.

It really seems to me that for anybody who regards sitting on a toilet with
the seat up as a horrible thing, learning to look at the toilet before
sitting down on it would be a pretty basic survival need.

Exactly.  That's why I don't gripe about it.  I didn't put it back up for
him, and he didn't put it down for me.  The only thing I hate is having to
touch the toilet seat to put it down, but washing hands afterwards
eliminates germs.  Duh.  =)

Here's my take on the subject FWIW.

Unless the house policy is to put BOTH the seat and the lid down, arguing
about the placement of the seat is ludicrous.  Having a lid down  intends
to keep things from falling in to the bowl.  Having a seat down only is
purely an issue of who is whipped more.

We leave it as it was the last time used.  In daylight it's easy to fiture
out.  At night, a simple touch can verify position.

Right, it's a silly argument.  But as previously noted, I prefer
the seat down for esthetic reasons.

(I have the impression that Stacie must've shared living space
with some real animals...  ;-)

We keep the lid down, to reduce evaporation from the bowl.

We keep the lid down to keep a certain small person from (1) throwing objects
into the toilet, and (2) splashing his hands in the toilet.  These are the
basic games he plays with all bodies of water, and as far as he is concerned
a toilet is as good as any other.  The lid doesn't stop him, but has so far
slowed him down enough to allow us to prevent any unfortunate events.

Some people keep the lid up so their cats can water themselves.
Does anyone make a kid-proof toilet seat lid?

resp:18
Same here, just substitute the word "kitty" for "person".
(And, yes, said kitty can lift the lid using a "head-butt and stretch" 
technique.)

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