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Saturday, August 22, 2009

Sit on it.

This summer we spent days upon days on youth baseball fields, which means one thing: PortaPotties. Well, it means all kinds of things actually. Including feet sunburned with sandal patterns, raw tongues from sunflower seed overindulgence, children in doubleknit polyester...but also: PortaPotties.

PortaPotties that are not regularly maintained, emptied, cleaned out...whatever it is they do to above ground temporary toilet facilities sitting awkwardly and not quite level on old pallets in the middle of a ballpark. And, while I've learned to totally avoid hydration or elimination of such on these days, my friend Anne's little girls are not quite so finely in control of their bodily functions and are forced at least once per game to enter the fiberglass hulls of stench. Their little whimpers of "Momma? I gotta go..." usually come at a really convenient time of the game, like when their brother is up to bat or about to steal home. This is when I offer up a silent prayer thanking the powers that be for male children who can pee pretty much anywhere.

At one such game, Anne sent the older of the girls to the potty ahead of her so she could watch their boy's at-bat with the stern advice: LILY, DON'T TOUCH THE SEAT. Seconds later, she ran to catch up, opened the door and found her freckly-sweet curly haired angel proudly sitting on her hands so her bottom wouldn't be on that icky seat. Her blood-curdling scream nearly stopped the game.

I hearkened back to a Phillips 66 station in New Mexico, circa 1972, where my stunned and horrified mother saw exactly the same thing. We had always been warned to not let our bottoms TOUCH THE SEAT. Stand. Squat. Anything, but there were malicious diseases and terrible consequences to be had should any part of our little backsides came in contact with strange porcelain. Considering all these factors I did what any self respecting five year old would do to keep their bottoms off of something. Sat on my hands. And I'd been doing it for years before I was finally caught.

A question. What disease exactly enters from a non-porous surface through the back of the thigh? What germ is quick enough to stick to your leg and crawl its way up to your nether regions while you pee? We wear shorts on public buses. We wear shorts on amusement park rides. We wear shorts on grody ballpark bleachers and community park picnic tables and tree stumps. Why oh why oh why is it horrible to sit on a toilet seat?

I'll tell you why. Because of the Hover Generation. The very same people who holler at us not to touch the seat are the very reason we cannot. Because of their SHS Technique (Squat, Hover, Spray) we are all forced to do the same. Their paranoia caused by some middle school hygiene class from 1954 has made every public restroom and outhouse in the country disgusting. If men peed all over the seat women would throw fits, write books and call Dr. Phil. But they think nothing of hiking up their skirts around their midsections, blasting urine all over a public place, smoothing their skirts and smiling kindly at the next poor being waiting for the stall.

I would like to propose the following, slightly inspired by Fonzie.

Just sit on it.

Sit the hell down.

All of us.

Every woman out there. Save your thigh muscles for the gym. Relax. Put your bare ass on the seat and pee in the water, friends. It will be liberating. It will be tidy. It will put the creepy wax paper toilet seat cover people out of business. Which is probably an eco-friendly gesture. You'll save the planet and little girls all at the same time.

6 comments:

  1. Was my scream that loud. Beautifully writing - as usual. Thanks for the laugh

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hah! Oh my, you make me laugh. It's been so long, so it's nice to come back to the blogosphere to one of your posts.

    I agree, sit your ass down. I grew up in Europe where Portapotties were a luxury and the norm was a hole cut in the concrete slab. Talk about terrifying!

    If every female on the planet actually sat down, toilet seats wouldn't be so gross. Remember when gonnorhea was the big scare? Good times.

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  3. What really bothers me is when they have seat covers but people don't use them. I walk in behind them, don't notice the wetness, put the cover on the seat and it immediately gets all wet from their spray. Then I have to clean the seat before I can put ANOTHER cover down.

    One thing that I found interesting while on vacation; I did not find a single public toilet that had seat covers anywhere I visited in North Dakota. Is it that people in North Dakota don't have germs or aren't afraid of germs? Seattle must be a very uptight city. You will find seat covers almost everywhere you go.

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  4. Very interesting, Jules...didn't Seattle try to ban bottled water and grocery bags? But they're big users of disposable toilet seat covers? Hmmm. I smell a conspiracy! OR, a business opportunity. We could market REUSABLE seat covers that you could carry around in a hemp bag...Green, dude.

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  5. The thing that really gets me is when they put down a seat cover, and THEN PEE ON IT!!

    Why not just wear a stadium pal if youa re that toilet phobic?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Holy SHITE!
    I was just on vacation (which is why I'm commenting so late)and I swear, SWEAR, women are the grossest public restroom users EVER.

    I agree. Sit your not so dainty ass on the pot and keep it clean for the next person.

    ReplyDelete

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