Warning: SLIGHTLY CRUDE ENTRY COMING UP!

Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Sorry for the crudeness, but can’t help but think… when you go to the toilet, do you sit directly on the toilet bowl and do your thing, or do you usually put both feet up and squat ON the toilet bowl before you pee?

Back in the Philippines, Western toilets abound, and so, the common practice is to wipe the bowl first and then sit on it to do your business. But here in Taiwan and in Mainland China, toilets are on the ground so you’d have no choice but to squat and pee.

I asked around, why do they Taiwanese people do that?!

Their answer — It’s more sanitary. They think it’s more sanitary, because at least, their butts won’t come anywhere in contact with anything that other people’s (strangers) butts had come in contact with.

Sanitary B.S.! Why do they think this is more sanitary?!

Toilets are sanitary or unsanitary from its upkeep. For me, squatting and peeing isn’t really the most sanitary thing as well. Imagine, like men, don’t you think that women have the same problem of not being able to “shoot” straight to the bowl at times?! Inasmuch that we’d like to think that it’s always a “bulls-eye,” I seriously doubt it.

And so, more often than not, you can find pee spread on the floor.

And goodness knows what else!

Imagine even further, since anyone would just want to get out there as fast as they can, they probably won’t wipe up their mess either.

Yuck, yuck, YUCK! Isn’t that really disgusting?

At least, when you use the bowl, it goes straight to the bowl.

And of course, for more “sanitation,” people just stand on the bowl, squat and do their business. My colleagues say that sometimes, you can see shoe marks on the bowl. Another colleague share standing on the bowl is his wife’s “position” of choice.

Personally, it’s very difficult for me to imagine a grown, sophisticated woman, peeing while squatting on top of the bowl.

Haha, imagine rich, spoiled Paris Hilton going to the public restroom in Asia… if she is as conscious of hygiene, will she lift both feet up the ground as well and sit on the toilet bowl before she pees?

Eeeeew!

Whereas I’d have to admit that bacteria do exist in public toilets, I also do believe that God has made our butts more resilient than that. I don’t think we’ll get STDs by just sitting on the toilet!

So given the choice of an Eastern toilet and a Western one, give me a Western one anytime!

And of course, I’d wipe the bowl first before I use it.

*Note: Toilet picture came from this site: http://www.cromwell-intl.com/toilet/. Thanks!