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.

Thank you, we have a little stool too but sometimes when it's really difficult squatting works best!

Japanese toilet are the best! Mine doesn’t play music but has nozzles, self-cleaning, dryer.. The Japanese have it when it comes to toilet cleanliness.

Back to the squatting, I can’t work out how their clothes aren’t a state? Imagine squatting while wearing high heels and tights..

Yes, I work in HR and over the years have had this issue in a few different offices. The main problem is how the toilets/floor/cubicle are often left afterwards which causes difficulty for the poor cleaners who I’ve dealt with a few complaints from.

It's been a problem where I work, not just because of broken toilets but also because the success rate at hitting the toilet wasn't that high and the poor cleaners had to deal with that.

Exactly, the human bowel is arranged so that squatting is a much more natural and effective way to poo. There are many things in our modern society that aren't ergonomically designed. The other one is seats and chairs, appalling for the back.

@AmazonPrim re the seat being up, it's considered the polite way to leave it in Asia. It allows the seat to drain/dry if it's become wet. I had to adjust when I lived away. It feels so wrong to leave the seat up on purpose!

I haven't read the whole thread, but certainly in many places toilet seats are always left in the up position so no poisonous spiders take up residence under the seat. In some places I have been in the USA, it was against the law to leave a public toilet with the seat down

I worked for a short while at Amazon. The toilets there all had this sign but they also had at least one squat loo in every set of toilets.
Only discovered it by accident as it just looked like all the others. It's a good idea if there's a lot of staff.
Now where I work has a public loo, not a diverse area at all but the loo seat has been broken before by feet (footprint evidence) surely it's safer to lift the seat if you want to squat?

😂

In Istanbul airport they have these signs at the handbasins.

Ever traveled to Asia? The no squatting on the toilet seat are all over the place in certain countries where westen style toilets are more prevalent.

Yup I’ve had a special needs child do that. The worse thing was his hands being all over a gross toilet seat to balance, then putting them all over me. Liked to wash his bum too with his hand and then ditto over me. Wasn’t pleasant but obviously taught to do his business that way, although I originally thought it was one of his peculiarities, until I saw one of the signs somewhere,

I’ve seen this sign everywhere in Japan. What gets me is the pic where you’re facing the back of the toilet, it’s clear the bum isn’t even over the loo! So it amazes me that people need to be told not to shit on the floor! Yes, people have different ways of using a toilet but surely anyone can see that your business needs to go into the loo!

See this is why I have an elaborate (& slightly hopeless) method of putting loo roll on the sear if I need to sit down, otherwise I hover. No way am I sitting on hairy bum seats, let alone shoe seats. And yes, squatting is the norm in some cultures, although it must be quite tricky/requiring agility on a western toilet (hence the signs I guess).

There are a lot of Chinese students at the university I work at, and they have these signs in the toilet to dissuade them from squatting.

A squat toilet is a great thing. But squatting on Western bogs isn't good.

It is easy to say that they should conform to our ways (and I totally get the damage to people and toilets from incorect use). How many of you though have tried and struggled with a squat toilet? I have used quite a few over the years, although I manage it, I would always, out of choice, prefer a 'western' style toilet despite knowing that the other way is ergonomically better. It is just what I am used to. Maybe organisations with a large number of immigrant workers should provide a choice for their workers.

Maybe all these companies should install a couple of squat toilets.

I have dodgy knees now so squatting is out of the question for me. That said, I’ve been using toilets western style all my life and hardly ever suffer from constipation.

I opened this thread expecting the poo troll to have curled out a festive one, but see instead it's a "aren't people from other cultures disgusting" one.
Some of you need to do a bit more googling instead of berating the people that actually know stuff.

Squat toilets are not that rare as a concept - found one, a public toilet in rural france last summer (fortunately they had installed a normal toilet in the disabled loo) and as for in Italy... they were sort of in between

Saw these signs for the first time in the loos at Edinburgh Castle.

My friend has a Japanese toilet and I am too scared to press any of the buttons because I don't know what would happen and I can't work out whether it is polite to ask so I just don't.

I don't think it's that weird that somebody might not know how to use a Western toilet if they haven't encountered one before. And I don't think it would be that difficult to get into the position - but I won't try since I don't want to break my toilet seat or slip off the narrow rim.

As a student I travelled on the trans Siberian railway and the loos on the train (western loos) had foot plates with grips on either side of the seat.

When you flushed the loo a flap opened and dropped the stuff on the tracks

Obviously squatting over a train loo could go wrong in so many ways, at least they had foot grips!

At the university exh works at they have put in one or two squat toilets in the larger blocks, they have a queue often!

What's the matter with you? Do you not have any knowledge of things you've never done? I've never gone looking for the squatting information, but if you're a reader or an intranet surfer you find out all kinds of things, and I've come across this info on several occasions.

It's very much healthier to squat than to sit. It turns out we all should be doing it. And if you've always squatted to poo, I imagine that it becomes quite difficult to do it any other way. If those people do not have access to a squat toilet, then they're probably going to do it by whatever means they can.

I used to do it in toilets in bars and nightclubs in Taiwan. These were western style toilets but because everyone squatted on them you couldn’t sit because they were dirty from everyone’s shoes (not seat iirc, just the rim). It quite an art to balance on a toilet rim, especially during a night out involving alcohol, but we got quite good at it.

(Have never done so in swanky London corporate offices though!)