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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

What worse - a boy peeing on the beach or a dog peeing on a footpath?

71 replies

JerryGarcia · 21/08/2022 20:31

Just sat on the promende by a beach and saw a boy (7-8years old) pull his trunks down and pee on the sand before running off to carry on playing. Cue gasps of 'that's disgusting...did you see what that boy just did?!' From one lady. Less than 2 mins later her dog peed in the middle of the prom.

AIBU to think that dogs peeing on the pavemet where we walk, often barefoot is as bad, if not worse than a kid peeing in the sand that will get washed away by the tide?

OP posts:
megletthesecond · 21/08/2022 21:05

Peeing on the beach is gross. People sit there, dig in it and walk barefoot. I agree that he should have gone in the sea.

If I walk barefoot on a footpath (sometimes after the beach) I know the path will be dirty and I will be washing my feet the moment I'm home. I certainly wouldn't be touching a footpath with my hands at any point.

Ithinkitsenoughnow · 21/08/2022 21:09

Is a child peeing in the sand where it gets washed away really that bad?! Or a dog peeing in the street?!

Chlobo89 · 21/08/2022 21:09

kid peeing on the beach is gross, people are barefoot on the beach or sit down in the sand people are rarely barefoot on the pavement or sit up against a lamp post.

I8toys · 21/08/2022 21:09

Can't get excited by either tbh. Its a beach its not clean.

5foot5 · 21/08/2022 21:10

greywinds · 21/08/2022 21:05

He might've been old enough to know better but maybe he couldn't hold it? Some children at age 7 still can't.

Couldn't get excited about either case but agree people don't mind their own business enough.

Bet if it had been a little girl of 7 or 8bwho can't so easily pee Al fresco she would have been able to hold it in until she got to a toilet. So could the boy if it wasn't so convenient to just do it there and then.

And yes I think it is much worse for the boy to do it. Obviously. At that age he knows better. The dog doesn't and never will.

ManateeFair · 21/08/2022 21:11

Hygiene-wise not much of a difference, (although I suppose people aren’t going to be lying down on the pavement to sunbathe and their kids won’t be digging in it, so I’d say they were less likely to come into close contact with wee on the pavement)

But a child of seven or eight years old just pissing in front of everyone in the middle of a beach seems like pretty bad manners. His parents can take him him to a loo or, at the very least, he can nip behind a rock or something instead of just doing it in front of everyone. Even toddlers who are caught short usually get taken to wee over a drain, or somewhere a bit away from other people, don’t they? So a child of primary school age shouldn’t really be peeing in the middle of the beach and I would probably find it quite gross.

Yes, dogs pee on the ground, but that doesn’t mean it’s all right for a child to do it. I mean, dogs also say hello by sniffing each other’s bums, but I wouldn’t think it was OK if kids did that either.

User1563 · 21/08/2022 21:12

Meh with water companies dumping raw sewage into the waterway I can’t get worked up about a child peeing in the sand

CactusBlossom · 21/08/2022 21:13

Child of that age should know to ask to go to the toilet. You can expect that of a dog. You can't blame the dog, although you could blame the owners. I'd be more disgusted by the child peeing -- where were the parents?

Dunnoburt · 21/08/2022 21:15

Doh!!! The boy should have peed on the pavement then there wouldn't be a problem 😉

IAmAWomanNotACis · 21/08/2022 21:16

Sewage in the sea. Can't get worked up by either of these things tbh when there is government endorsed raw shit and piss being pumped by the gallon into our seas.

Lockheart · 21/08/2022 21:17

We live in one big ecosystem full of living things. Piss and shit happens from everything everywhere. If you expect outside to be clean, you're in for a shock.

That said, I think people are more likely to be in bare feet or handling the ground on the beach than the pavement, so from that perspective I'd say the beach is worse. But in neither case would I expect the sand or the pavement to ever be clean.

Lovemusic33 · 21/08/2022 21:20

He should have peed in the sea like everyone else. Kids dig around in the sand, I wouldn’t want my kids digging in pee. You can tran a kid not to pee on a breach but you can’t stop a dog peeing where it wants too.

Ithinkitsenoughnow · 21/08/2022 21:23

But if it’s in the bit of the sand which the waves are washing over it’s exactly the same as peeing in the sea, which everyone does! And there aren’t always loos around (my 2 year old did this last summer on holiday and I was mortified but there was no nearby loo and he didn’t need to go until he did)

SizzlerFizzler · 21/08/2022 21:24

Neither bother me.

DramaAlpaca · 21/08/2022 21:27

I couldn't bring myself to get overexcited about either of those scenarios, tbh.

carefullycourageous · 21/08/2022 21:28

The boy peeing in the sand is less disgusting to me, but more socially unacceptable for obvious reasons.

I am sick of dogs in general, they piss and shit everywhere and their owners really fuck me off because they think scraping half the shit up and leaving only half of it on the grass is fine.

I watched a dog shitting right in a cafe play area the other day - I do not care if the owner picked it up - I don't think anyone should let their dog shit on a lawn that children are currently playing on. I want dogs banned from a lot more places. Dogs can fuck off and shit in their owners' gardens.

vodkaredbullgirl · 21/08/2022 21:31

🙄

Surtsey · 21/08/2022 21:32

An animal knows no different, and just does what comes naturally. A child should know better than to piss all over a place where people are walking, sitting and playing. Disgusting little oik.

thelittleapple · 21/08/2022 21:33

Definitely not usual for a child of 7-8 to feel comfortable urinating in a public place.

Kaiken · 21/08/2022 21:34

I don't sit with bare skin on the pavement to read a book, so boy on beach is worse

gatehouseoffleet · 21/08/2022 21:36

gogohmm · 21/08/2022 20:38

A child of that age should know better, end of. Dogs don't know better

Their owners do, but dogs don't know to hold it in until their owner gets them to a suitable corner, and a junior school age child does know they need to find a loo or a bush. So definitely worse for the boy just to do it while he happened to be at the time. If he has a condition which means he can't wait, then you carry something for him to wee in.

Agree it's insignificant compared with all the sewage that the water companies have seemingly decided to dump on the sea though. Apparently all the beaches between Hastings and Brighton are polluted. What the f-in hell do they think they're up to?

gatehouseoffleet · 21/08/2022 21:38

I am sick of dogs in general, they piss and shit everywhere and their owners really fuck me off because they think scraping half the shit up and leaving only half of it on the grass is fine

Me too. Every time I go out for a run or walk a dog decides to chase me at the moment. Most owners are very good but there's always one moron who refuses to keep their dog under control. I am really fed up of it - I have no desire to need to go to A&E with a dog bite with the hellishly long waits at the moment. However, I can't get exercised by a dog weeing.

stuntbubbles · 21/08/2022 21:38

Obviously the dog is worse. Dogs don’t belong anywhere near a beach really; though the point is currently moot with water companies discharging sewage all over the place.

chasingthedreamer · 21/08/2022 21:40

thelittleapple · 21/08/2022 21:33

Definitely not usual for a child of 7-8 to feel comfortable urinating in a public place.

My nephew does. He's autistic

Stroopwaffle5000 · 21/08/2022 21:40

ManateeFair · 21/08/2022 21:11

Hygiene-wise not much of a difference, (although I suppose people aren’t going to be lying down on the pavement to sunbathe and their kids won’t be digging in it, so I’d say they were less likely to come into close contact with wee on the pavement)

But a child of seven or eight years old just pissing in front of everyone in the middle of a beach seems like pretty bad manners. His parents can take him him to a loo or, at the very least, he can nip behind a rock or something instead of just doing it in front of everyone. Even toddlers who are caught short usually get taken to wee over a drain, or somewhere a bit away from other people, don’t they? So a child of primary school age shouldn’t really be peeing in the middle of the beach and I would probably find it quite gross.

Yes, dogs pee on the ground, but that doesn’t mean it’s all right for a child to do it. I mean, dogs also say hello by sniffing each other’s bums, but I wouldn’t think it was OK if kids did that either.

This!