Hacker News Reader

Comment by kranner | Hacker News Reader

> For the bathroom, I (a man) peed sitting down. I’m not ashamed to admit it.

I've never understood why it is considered un-masculine for men to pee sitting down. Or even if it is, why so many men pee standing up just to play along. It's one thing to use a urinal in a public toilet, but at home it's potentially messy and probably not hygienic to release a partially aerosolised stream of urine just below waist height.

View on HN

For somebody who is nearly 2m tall peeing without sitting down means uniformly coating my legs and the immediate surroundings with pee droplets of high velocity.

Precisely why I pee sitting down unless I'm at a urinal. I did not need to do this when I was younger and shorter.

That's why I pee in sink :)

You badass!

I consume most news in a day when I’m sitting on the toilets. Sitting down not only makes it more practical to handle my phone at the same time, it’s also an excuse to make my pee break a few minutes longer, thus being more informed on what’s going on in the world and the HN realm.

The only issue I see with this routine is that I can’t pee standing up anymore without making a mess 3 times out of 4.

In Germany it is the normal way to pee (I am not German but all my German friends told me so).

I also do it at home (I am French so this is not a typical thing to do here) and noticed that one of my kids (two boys) spontaneously does it too (at home).

I hope that everyone pees sitting when going to the toilet at night, without switching on all the lights...

Not to mention that if you're sharing a household with someone who prefers to sit, you either a) leave the seat up, which is inconsiderate or b) keep raising and lowering it every time, which seems like it's more work than sitting down in the first place.

Both my wife and I put both the seat and the cover down, every time because it is cleaner.

I'm amused how people considering raising or lowering the seat a lot of work. I don't understand why it is an issue. You should anyway close the lid when flushing to prevent toilet water and fecal matter from spraying around.

Who are those people who consider it a lot of work?

I also assumed that you did, since you went out of your way to comment on it. If it's not a lot of effort, why did you mention it?

I said it's more work than sitting down. Both is not a lot of work. A relative increase in a value does not imply an absolutely high value. I imagine if you enjoy peeing while standing up, it's worth the effort.

Taking a wild guess: Tall people with bad backs?

Everyone in my house closes the lid after they've used the toilet because I don't want a great big open funnel perfect for accidentally dropping things into. Also it conveniently stops any petty arguments about seat up/down before they even start.

Stop putting the seat up BEFORE you pee, just for a few days, and she'll stop complaining when you leave it up AFTER you pee.

I have never in my life considered closing the lid because of a fear of dropping things in it.

The only time I have my hands anywhere over the toilet bowl with anything in them is when I'm doing home improvement chores, or bleeding the radiator mounted there.

I've knocked saline solution off the counter into the toilet a couple times. Still not worth the effort to close it all the time.

I don't mean to offend but this is ridiculous and I say this as a woman. Just leave the damn seat the way you used it, if it's inconsiderate for you not to leave it lowered for me, it's inconsiderate of me not to leave it up for you. Turns out able adults are perfectly capable of operating a toilet.

I always got the impression that this is a predominantly US cultural thing to fret about. I mean, women have the lift the seat as well when the toilet brush has to come into action.

It's been a topic of discussion and low-brow comedy in Germany for as long as I can remember. Why do you lift the seat when using the brush?

Because you are moving a not completely dry object to and from a porcelain bowl with the express intent of brushing away faecal matter. Chances of dripping something (water probably, filth possibly) on the seat are non-negligible.

I’m confused why fully closing it is not always the way. Maybe that’s because I grew up in a house with pets.

And camping with pit toilets, closing the lid is imperative to reduce the intense ammonia cloud.

Urine is sterile. Toilets are not. I'd say it's much more hygienic to urinate standing. We don't sit down because we don't have to. It's really as simple as that.

Urine isn't sterile, though[1], and there's good reason to believe that the toilet seat is one of the least concerns when it comes to sources for bacteria[2].

I can buy the argument for "I prefer not to sit", but I'm not convinced about the hygienic aspects.

[1]: https://www.popsci.com/urine-sterile-drinking-pee/ [2]: https://time.com/4908654/cell-phone-bacteria/

Oh god... It's sterile enough. But I retract that bit anyway.

Men urinate standing up because they can. That's it. End of story.

On the eighth day, God came down with his bag of tricks and offered to both Adam and Eve some goodies.

Heard from the heavens: First In The Bag, Pee Standing Up

Adam immediately gets excited. "Oh, that would be so useful as I'm in the fields toiling all day. I wish for that ability to be bestowed upon myself". And so it was, that Adam could now pee standing up.

Heard from the heavens: Second In The Bag, Multiple Orgams

Life would be hell for a man with multiple orgasms. Imagine an itch that won't go away no matter how much you scratch it. The male urge to mate is very strong, but goes away the instant the act is completed. Sex does indeed mean everything to men some of the time, but it means very little most of the time. Without that relief and absolute end to the act it would be more like a never ending drug addiction than something worthwhile pursuing.

Come to the comments for a discussion on blindness, leave with the thought that multiple orgasms for men may not be a good idea.

I love HN.

Your own toilet is as clean as you keep it. Urine pools under your toilet smell which is why I also sit down at home.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com