Public Bathrooms - Occoquan,VA

I could not care less about any of it! I have traveled in 3rd world countries with much cruder bathroom systems than we have and haven't blinked an eye. Life is too short.

Dont even think about it. And since I wash hands after I just flush.

EDIT: I DO wipe the seat, and the hoverers really drive me crazy because THEY are the ones that pee all over the seat trying to not get pee on THEIR butts! Oh, the Irony! ; )

Never. Except, like you, on the rare occasion, and then I do the same w/ the paper, lol... I have heard though, that a person's rear end is cleaner than any other part of their body, because it's always covered. So, maybe it's us squatters that make the seat dirty, haha... But, I always wipe if I sprinkle!! LOL

Yes, I sit, and have never contracted any sort of infection in 60-some years.

I am grossed out by sitting in somebody else's urine (can't always see it in poorly-lit stalls). So, ladies, if you don't sit, lift the seat, just like you expect the men in your lives to do.

I sit.

Did you know there is more bacteria on kitchen sinks and sponges, door handles, your purse, restaurant menus, and benches, then public toilets? Public toilets are actually one of the least germiest places in a public setting. (I was just reading about it yesterday.)

I sit. The chances of actually catching a disease from a toilet seat are actually vanishingly small unless you have an open wound or rub your privates all over it.

Doesn't worry me a bit. There are more important things in life to spend my energy on. I just sit.

this is why i keep diaper wipes and antibacterial wipes in my purse.

If they don't have the liners - I use toilet paper to line it. If I see yellow OR ANY wet on it - I use my wipes and wipe it off and then proceed.

I do NOT use my foot to flush. That's just gross in my book. Grab some toilet paper and flush....just imagine all the yuck you are putting on that handle when you do that - and then the person behind you, they touch the handle AND the door...or if the person before you used their foot - you have just put your hand on the bathroom floor. YUCK.

Why do people flush with their foot? Are you not going to immediately wash your hands?

When I was in high school a friend told me her mother told her to always flush with her foot. She was shocked that I had never heard that before. I new she always washed her hands, so I asked her why she was concerned if she was going to wash her hands a minute or two later. She thought about it and never used her foot again.

But to answer your question, no. I never think twice about it. I just sit down and do what I need to do.

To paraphrase one of the military advisors on the West Wing, I have enough real problems. I don't have time for the imaginary ones.

I sit..... I am 50+ and don't worry about it anymore.... after all, you aren't touching the toilet seat with anything that would likely become infected..... your genitals don't touch any part of the toilet.

I hate sitting and feeling a wet spot, though... that DOES gross me out!

However, I've seen toilets, that, when you flush, the rushing water splashes out a bit.... (the toilets at my school do that....)

I just don't like the wet feel on my butt or thighs!

I need to get used to just taking a handful of toilet paper and wiping down the seat before I sit, I guess.......

Not if at all possible. I use the seat covers or toilet paper if I must (or if DD must). Baby wipes are also not just for babies, if you feel grossed out. They make adult flushable wipes, too. I wipe the seat for the next person as necessary.

If your child might be scared, pack a few post its to cover the sensor of an auto-flush toilet.

Great post! And no, I refuse to sit. I squat even during number two emergencies. It's pretty funny because my daughter always says "M. squat," as she has adapted to my ways.

On a related note, I refuse to touch the handles in toilets that don't self-flush. Yes, I use my foot.

And on a once-removed note, WHY CAN'T PEOPLE FLUSH!

what i find most offensive is when all the delicate squatters hover over the seat, causing major misfires, and are far too squeamish and prissy to clean up after themselves.
i only plop down freely in restrooms that have toilet seat covers (and shame on any establishments that don't in this day and age.) if they don't, i wipe the seat beforehand. if the restroom is generally grody i'll probably layer the seat in TP and do an uncomfortable crouch, but no, for the most part i don't go to huge lengths to avoid the seat. i wash my hands well and shower daily. i'm not likely to get any horrible disease from any public place.
i find it ironic that most germ-phobic people are the ones most likely to gross things up for others. not saying it's you, but it's very often the case.
there is very little that a small baggie of wipes in one's purse can't fix.
edited to add that i think flushing with your feet, which have been tromping around in a public bathroom, is almost as bad as peeing on the seat and leaving it. by doing this you're perpetrating the very behavior that's giving you the heebie-jeebies in the first place. why can't you just use a piece of toilet paper to shield your hand when you flush??
khairete
S.

i don't get paranoid about it. although i have been flushing with my foot because i read on here actually, that people do that (thanks a lot guys, i put my fingers on that) and actually touching something someone's had their dirty shoe on bugs me more. i also open the door with a paper towel because too many times i have been in a restroom and heard someone not wash their hands. a lot more often than you think. people can be ridiculous.

I squat whenever possible!!

I have a tmi but cute story. (my husband has romance in his pinky toe only btw) I was in a store with him and got pretty sick. I needed a bathroom immediatly. He knew i was in trouble and came into the family bathroom. I guess he saw the panic in my eyes. It was so disgusting. He rushed and soaped a paper towel, cleaned the seat, dryed it and then put the seat cover on. One of the only cute (but gross situation) things he has done for me....lol!

i dont it shkeevs me out ..i put paper on the seat.. its not germs or peoples butts that creep me out its the fact that sometimes iv seen pee on the seat gr0oss.. a really long time ago i was in a bathroom where they had those seat cover things u put on there n as soon as i put it on all these wet spots came through it... ever since then i always put paper on the seat on the off chance someone peed on it lol

My mom always taught me to put toilet paper on the seat and use my foot to flush, this was way before they started making the seat liners. I also carry wipes in my purse. Since having my daughter and traveling a lot while she was potty training I carry toilet seat covers when we travel. I still carry wipes that are flushable.

I don't really care about other people’s butts on the seat it's when they leave urine or fecal on the seat and do not clean it up. I would never want a job where I would have to clean up public toilets, especially the ladies room they are much worse than the men’s room.

As a worman that worked and traveled for work.. when I had to go.. well I had to go.. I couldn't wait 8 hours till I got hoem.. or when I was on the road for a week-- I used whatever bathroom was available.. I dont woorry about it.. I dont think aobut..it.. I have never been sick. or injured in any way from a public bathroom. some are clean some are dirty... I just deal with it.

ALWAYS flush with your foot--unless it's a handle like at home, then use toilet paper to flush so you're not touching the handle!

I love the tissue liners.

IF you hover, PLEASE wipe up your own pee!

What about the bathrooms with no purse hooks on the door? Then you're forced to put your purse on the FLOOR? Then where do you put it? Front seat of your car? Kitchen table? That's GROSS.

And...I was once told this--if you're going to get a "disease" from a toilet seat--you've gotta be trying REALLY hard! LOL

Just going to throw this out there for further paranoia--do you know that our kitchen sinks are usually more full of germs than any public toilet?

I can't stand public bathrooms or anyone else's bathroom but my own-lol. But...having potty-training kids, I am constantly finding public bathrooms and or hauling around the kiddie potty for them. I try my best to cover the seat with the covers and toilet paper---I avoid sitting if at all possible. If I have to, then I make sure I am well protected from all angles--I can't stand it when you get your back wet or leg etc. Its the grossest feeling and if this happens, I have to go home and take a shower asap to scrub that nastiness off of me! I have another thing I wanted to add: People who don't wash their hands after using the restroom. They either avoid it all together or they do the 2-3 second wash and think they are done. I wash for at least 60 seconds and scrub well under the nail beds etc. Its obsessive I know, but I can't help it.

No sitting, and I only use a public restroom if I absolutely cannot hold it until I get home. They disgust me, and don't even get me started on having to take my kids in there. UGH! I've been this way since elementary school. I would hold it all day, and come home and my mom laughs and says, "the floodgates opened for 20 minutes." ha ha!

No, I don't not sit on public toilets and I do flush with my foot. The only things I touch in public restrooms are paper seat covers, toilet paper and paper towels. I use tissue to open the stall door. I feel that same as you... It's not so much a concern that I will catch something, it's just icky. :o)

I use my foot too to flush too! When i told someone that before they got very upset with me because they didnt, and they said I was nasty for using my foot to flush when they use their hands to flush it! lol I could see their point though! But I gotta do me! BTW I squat! I even try to squat when I poo...But on rare occasions when I really need to sit I carry antibacterial wipes in my purse at all times I wipe then line the seat cause I know how you feel about that bare butt feeling!

we avoid public restrooms as much as we can. i carry the toilette covers with me at all times. also we don't touch anything with hands (elbows yes, and only because i wash everything after one use).

I don't worry about it. I have always (as long as I can remember) flushed with my foot - my mom taught me that when I was little.