Page 3 | Help! She's standing on the toilet seat!!

Crazyworksituatio · 2025-03-19T20:35:06+00:00

Help! I've no idea how to deal with this without offending. Since a new female employee has started working with us there are shoe prints on toilet seat. It's a corporate office but only a few females use this toilet so obvious who the culprit is. The lady is from India and new to country. She's very professional and I think this is a cultural difference but I'm horrified she thinks this is ok? What would you do??

D4isyCh4in · 20/03/2025 08:56

AlmostAJillSandwich · 19/03/2025 20:48

The men do this in the disabled toilets of a service station i frequent when they want a shit. The seats are knackered, barely hanging on and a weight shift when sitting on it properly can send it sliding with a very sharp jutting motion by a few inches, i've nearly fell off and hurt myself a few times! They drench the floor and leave their arse rinsing cups nicked from the self service on the sink too, and never use the provided toilet brush. They're genuinely dangerous to use now if you're not steady on your feet and don't have great balance. I doubt signs would help tbh, if they're used to squat toilets they don't want to use western toilets the way they are intended.
Makes me wonder if cultural toilet use practice is a protected characteristic as its fear of being branded racist why i haven't complained about the service station disabled toilets.

I've been disgusted twice on the same thread!
Women for squatting on the toilet - WTAF
Men for leaving shitty cups in the disabled toilet!

SpringIsNearlySpringing · 20/03/2025 08:46

Tbrh · 20/03/2025 04:07

Tell me you've never travelled anywhere out of the UK without telling me you've never travelled anywhere out of the UK 😆

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Irrelevant whether that poster has or hasn’t travelled outside the UK. This IS the UK and this lady needs to adhere to our way of using a flaming loo and not leave filthy footprints all over it.

BobbyBiscuits · 20/03/2025 08:37

You can't be certain it was the Indian lady. You can buy a sign that shows a figure seated on the toilet with a tick and someone standing/squatting with a red cross. That should get the message across. I have seen those in a few places.

Bearbookagainandagain · 20/03/2025 08:27

The signs are a good idea in public places, but I don't think you can put them up now without embarrassing her.

It will be very clear who it's targeting, or worst - people won't understand and start making jokes about it in front of her without realising it's about her.

If possible I would find someone with a higher level of cultural awareness to check-in with her and discuss some of the cultural differences. It could be HR, L&D, a DE&I representative if you have this, or maybe someone from India or other Asian country who feels comfortable having that conversation.

sellotapechicken · 20/03/2025 08:26

Notsosure1 · 20/03/2025 06:21

The lack of hygiene I’ve witnessed on children’s wards by nurses and other members of staff is shocking and ultimately inexcusable given the awareness of germs and their massive impact on health

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I can well imagine!

TheNoonBell · 20/03/2025 08:21

I worked at a company in Sweden where they had a lot of Indians join and lots toilet issues. In the end we ended up having an informal training for new arrivals on how westerners use the toilet. It was mostly successful but we did have to re-educate people a few times.

Old habits die hard.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 20/03/2025 08:19

Sofiewoo · 20/03/2025 08:16

More unhygienic than someone’s arse and upper thigh?

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I would assume that someone who can hold down a job showers more often than they clean the bottom of their shoes.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 20/03/2025 08:19

Letmecallyouback · 20/03/2025 08:13

Most people don’t walk around with dog shit all over their shoes either.

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Are you being serious?

Sofiewoo · 20/03/2025 08:16

Crazyworksituatio · 19/03/2025 20:42

Really do you not think this is unhygienic? Not being sarcastic, I'm just interested to understand the viewpoint where this is a reasonable thing to do for the next user of the toilet.

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More unhygienic than someone’s arse and upper thigh?

Sharptonguedwoman · 20/03/2025 08:15

MagicPharmacist · 19/03/2025 20:35

Why would you do or say anything? How does this affect you?

Would you sit on the seat after she's been standing on it?

Letmecallyouback · 20/03/2025 08:13

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 20/03/2025 06:53

Most people have not sat in dog shit with their bare arse.

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Most people don’t walk around with dog shit all over their shoes either.

Letmecallyouback · 20/03/2025 08:11

Crazyworksituatio · 19/03/2025 20:42

Really do you not think this is unhygienic? Not being sarcastic, I'm just interested to understand the viewpoint where this is a reasonable thing to do for the next user of the toilet.

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The point is in some countries everyone does it and will find us weird sitting down. In her country the toilet will be a lot lower to the ground, possibly just a hole you squat over. It’s actually healthier in some ways because you get a much better ‘evacuation’ by squatting then you do by sitting because it squeezes everything out removing more toxins from the body.

Tbrh · 20/03/2025 07:53

Crazyworksituatio · 19/03/2025 21:09

Thanks everyone for all your advice. Yes I understand squatting is much healthier, but unfortunately western toilets don't facilitate this. Does anyone think putting up posters would appear passive aggressive?? There's only 4 ladies in the office so I think this lady will feel embarrassed if she has to see this sign everyday.

Wow, only 4 people. I assumed this was an office of 100's. You have to speak to her, that's not just passive aggressive that's cowardly and would cause such humiliation. Someone needs to be an adult and have a conversation with this person.

Valeriekat · 20/03/2025 07:24

MagicPharmacist · 19/03/2025 20:35

Why would you do or say anything? How does this affect you?

Use your imagination! In Singapore there are signs and pictures showing how western toilets are to be used.

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 20/03/2025 07:08

MagicPharmacist · 19/03/2025 20:38

Neither are arses. Wipe it or hover?

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Toilet seats are not designed to be stood on.. before long it's going to break.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 20/03/2025 07:06

Crazyworksituatio · 19/03/2025 21:09

Thanks everyone for all your advice. Yes I understand squatting is much healthier, but unfortunately western toilets don't facilitate this. Does anyone think putting up posters would appear passive aggressive?? There's only 4 ladies in the office so I think this lady will feel embarrassed if she has to see this sign everyday.

Could you send out an all staff email reminding people not to squat on the toilet seats for hygiene and safety reasons?

That way you're not pointing out that it is a woman who is doing it.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 20/03/2025 06:53

MagicPharmacist · 19/03/2025 20:38

Neither are arses. Wipe it or hover?

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Most people have not sat in dog shit with their bare arse.

Ginmonkeyagain · 20/03/2025 06:51

Just get facilities to put up a sign. Tney are common in places that have multi cultural staff/students.

Notsosure1 · 20/03/2025 06:21

sellotapechicken · 20/03/2025 04:42

Someone at my work was pooing in the cistern of the toilet. As in taking the tank lid off and then pooing in it whilst squatting on the seat. So gross. We also had a staff member pooing in the female changing room and repeatedly hiding the turd in the scrubs (we don’t have toilets in the changing room) we had to get swipe access so that security could figure out who it was.
we also had a lot of emails sent about not flushing knickers down the toilets in the female staff
room. The public have no access to our changing rooms and toilets so all the above is a member of nhs staff.

The lack of hygiene I’ve witnessed on children’s wards by nurses and other members of staff is shocking and ultimately inexcusable given the awareness of germs and their massive impact on health

arcticpandas · 20/03/2025 06:21

Why??? I get not wanting to sit down on a public toilet but surely you hunch down over it, feet on the ground. Standing on it would make pee/poo splatter all over since it's hard to aim perfectly from that distance so I would be more worried about that. It's very weird, never heard about someone doing this.

Notsosure1 · 20/03/2025 06:18

greenbirds · 19/03/2025 20:42

This is a common problem in our student residences and came to our attention after repeated toilet seat breakages.

The solution was to buy signs making it clear that the toilets should be used to sit on, not squat on. They are easy to find online and save having an embarrassing conversation with your colleague.

This happened where I worked - mums using the disabled toilets and breaking the seats while standing on them.

Kissedbyfire1 · 20/03/2025 06:14

Violinist64 · 19/03/2025 22:56

It isn't only in Asia, either. On my first school trip to France in 1980, the first toilet we encountered was a hole in the ground and it came as a bit of a shock. It seems to have been a common experience at the time as I have come across a lot of people who have had the same experience. I would imagine that this is no longer the case.

Still the case in many parts of France. One of our favourite ski areas has squat toilets in the public car park which I have used as recently as January this year. Also been in a football stadium toilets in France which was squat (and ankle deep in urine, which was nice).

sellotapechicken · 20/03/2025 04:42

Someone at my work was pooing in the cistern of the toilet. As in taking the tank lid off and then pooing in it whilst squatting on the seat. So gross. We also had a staff member pooing in the female changing room and repeatedly hiding the turd in the scrubs (we don’t have toilets in the changing room) we had to get swipe access so that security could figure out who it was.
we also had a lot of emails sent about not flushing knickers down the toilets in the female staff
room. The public have no access to our changing rooms and toilets so all the above is a member of nhs staff.

Tbrh · 20/03/2025 04:07

Newfoundzestforlife · 20/03/2025 03:58

It is gross and she needs to be told not to stand on the f*cking loo! Why would you do something so stupid anyway?

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Tell me you've never travelled anywhere out of the UK without telling me you've never travelled anywhere out of the UK 😆

Newfoundzestforlife · 20/03/2025 03:58

andyouwillknowusbythetrailofdead · 19/03/2025 20:44

No one has caught an illness through the skin on their bum cheeks. It's not gross, it's just culturally different.

It is gross and she needs to be told not to stand on the f*cking loo! Why would you do something so stupid anyway?