To ask if squatting on the toilet to do your business is really a thing?

[AmazonPrim]

I visited a suppliers office for work (a major British company with a swank Central London head office). I used one of the loos in the lobby (there was 3 unisex loos, each with their own separate door and sink inside completely separate from the next).

On the back of the door was a sign showing a person squatting with their feet on the seat and a line drawn through it to indicate no squatting. Like this was a common problem they were dealing with? Do people actually squat with both feet on the seat to do their business on a western style toilet?! I know squatting toilets are common in parts of Asia, but they are on the ground. If I tried to squat on a western toilet I would no doubt fall in and break my ankle

This brought my thoughts back to about 15 years ago when I dated an Asian guy. We went to his mums house to visit her and his sister. His dad was away on business so it was just the mum and sister at home. I went to use the toilet and the seat was up which I thought was a bit weird since there were no men in the house. Anyway, I put it down, did my business and came back and we visited and ate lunch. I went back to the loo again before we left and the seat was up again. My boyfriend at the time hadn't been to the toilet the entire time we were there. So why was the seat up again??

I didn't have the confidence to ask him, but the first scenario about the signs in the office loos got me thinking about this situation as well.

Easy to say 'surely you adapt' but if you don't know how another culture does it, and you don't feel you can ask (nor until the issue arises, realise theres any need TO ask)... what do you do?

That's nonsense. We're not talking about a one time action. This happens repeated times. They now how to use a toilet. No one who has sufficient English and education to come to a university is incapable of working it out. They make friends with other people on the course. They see other people in the toilets, they hear other people using the toilets. They know how to use the toilet correctly.
It's quite insulting to say they don't understand.

I saw a tv programme about this once .Squatting is supposed to be better . If you can’t do that you can use a stool to create the similar angle so poo just slips out of you . Less chance of piles etc .

I first saw the no squatting sign on holiday in Finland a few years ago And was similarly puzzled that it was needed. It obviously is - I went to a concert when I got back to U.K. and found that previous occupant had left shoe prints on the seat 😬

I had to show an elderly gentleman from an Arabic country how to sit rather than squat on a toilet - we shared no common language either so it was interesting. I was working as a nurse in a hospital at the time

Maybe instead of ‘No feet on the seat’ type posters in toilets, employers/universities/service stations/wherever should be putting up educational-type picture posters, with simple illustrations as to how to use a western toilet correctly and cleanly without breaking it? Seems obvious if the reasoning (if posts on here are anything to go by) is that some people just don’t actually know how to use a western loo?🤷🏻‍♀️

It's a healthier and more natural position. Same as with giving birth. It's safer and makes childbirth much easier than lying on your back. Imagine being constipated and going against gravity lying on your back but in Western medicine for the doctor's convenience women generally lay on their backs or sit up to give birth.

Ugh this is so gross! The mind boggles why someone would even do this … It’s the poor cleaners dealing with this madness I feel for! 😱🤢

Maybe places should start to provide toilet cubicles which are just a hole in the ground type toilet for those who are not civilised enough to sit on a toilet in the way it’s made to be used? Or foot stools they can stand on so they are not damaging property and breaking toilet seats every time they go to the toilet?

Then at least those of us who like to sit on a toilet that’s not broken/ covered in shit or had someone’s feet on the seat before us can still do so 🤢

I have actually always thought it would be nice if public toilets provided sanitizer spray and paper towels to clean the seat before and after use… I thought maybe I was being OCD to think this but perhaps not 🤔

I'm elderly. If I tried to stand on a toilet seat, I would 'have a fall " and no doubt be waiting hours for an ambulance.

Once many years ago when I was visiting China, not only was the toilet in a place I visited a squat toilet, it was actually just a hole in a small bridge that went over a stream. Out in the open air, no privacy at all. I was only about 8 years old at the time and I refused to use it!

I am impressed with the level of dexterity required to adopt the position - outstanding.

Common in the ME and Asia

My lodgers are Indian - a married couple. They always leave the seat up, and don't use any toilet paper.

They've discreetly left a small jug by the side of the loo which I assume they are using for washing afterwards. Sometimes I'll hear the shower going for a minute or two afterwards as well.

Doesn't bother me, my last lodger used to get through rolls and rolls of paper.

I like to read about the Hadron Collider, but I haven't tried to play with subatomic particles in my free time yet.

Are you usually this obtuse or is it a special day today?

Muslims wash faces hands and arms and feet before prayers (AFAIK).
They wash themselves after using the toilet for either wee or poo.
The shataf (or bum gun) is a game changer - I use ours all the time. Definitely more hygienic

Yes they do and it breaks the toilet seat.

Slight tangent but @scrivette my little boy suffers with constipation too. I have a fairly high bathroom storage step (like this and when he's constipated he uses it to bring his feet and legs up into a better position for pushing. Just thought I'd share as I find it much easier than holding a small child (and I know my DS finds it easier too, as he's more in control when pushing and not thinking about falling into the loo/holding tightly onto me)!

Squatting and washing is actually a far better way of ‘doing your business’ than sitting and wiping. I’d love to have a bidet in my next house though I’m not sure a squat loo is possible.

I worked at a University where they had to put these signs up as the international students would do this.

I have actually always thought it would be nice if public toilets provided sanitizer spray and paper towels to clean the seat before and after use… I thought maybe I was being OCD to think this but perhaps not 🤔

There are places where you buy a 'pack' either from a woman at the toilet entrance (Ecuador) or from a machine (Germany) the pack contains toilet paper, sanitizing wipe, toilet seat cover.

Someone mentioned Japanese toilets, I have a friend who has visited a few times, he says he never uses any of the buttons because he is scared it will do something like attempt to wash itself while he is still sitting there.

Someone mentioned Japanese toilets, I have a friend who has visited a few times, he says he never uses any of the buttons because he is scared it will do something like attempt to wash itself while he is still sitting there.

I know what he means. You never know when you're sat there what might happen. But they play white noise so no one can hear you. All sorts of stuff. I really need a japanese toilet.

I agree - my son works for a large corporation and he has said that sometimes you see shoe marks on the seats where someone has squatted there. I guess if people have always squatted to do their business, they will continue to do it that way .

I have actually always thought it would be nice if public toilets provided sanitizer spray and paper towels to clean the seat before and after use… I thought maybe I was being OCD to think this but perhaps not

I once used a toilet in the casino in Monaco. When I stood up and flushed , a mechanism came out from under the seat ( a dampened brush type of thing) , and it swept around the entire seat, cleaning it with some kind of disinfectant which smelled lovely. So civilised !

I do.

My dad was creating signs like this in the 70s (working with recently arrived immigrants). It’s not news

I worked for a global bank in London, obviously male-dominated, and they had these signs - I was told the men's loos always had broken seats because of men standing and squatting on them - nothing to do with being Asian, more to do with the Brirish men eating high protein diets to stay in shape which made them constipated, and apparently this was the way the internet told them to deal with it...

I recently bought one. Heaven. I needed a new sofa and a new toilet. Decided to buy a cheap second hand sofa and the expensive toilet.