The subject of men standing versus sitting while urinating seems to be a subject that comes up every few years. Studies and polls sent out to the masses to determine whether men prefer to stand to pee or to sit. Personally, I cannot believe that science is still debating this subject after, what I can only assume, are ions. What is to become of it?
I am only reminded of the subject as it was discussed, albeit briefly, on the radio the other day. One half of the on-air duo, who is male, seemed almost embarrassed that he sat down to pee. Sensing his uneasiness, I texted in to the show that I was not ashamed to admit that I also sit to urinate. It's something that I've done for decades and although memory of my childhood is foggy, I believe I sat to pee as a kid, too. That is, until another chap teased me for doing so.
On the radio, they cited the results of one of science's latest studies, which revealed that in America only 23% of men sit to pee, while 31% prefer to stand. Comparatively, in Canada, 35% choose to be seated while just 21% remain standing. While looking up these statistics, I was surprised that the statistics for Europe are even higher. Germany leads the world in sitzpinklers at a whopping 62%, with Sweden coming in at a distant 50% and Denmark coming in third with 44%. It's mind blowing when you're not in the least expecting those kind of numbers.
Reasons for choosing to sit over standing varies, too, and they aren't related to the same reasons as why I choose to be seated personally. I'll explain that in a moment. Reasons most men do it, in Europe anyway, I was surprised to discover that it was medical. Some choose to be seated due to urinary infections and other medical conditions. I would surmise that the choice to stand is purely out of convenience. After all, it is much easier to duck behind a fence, whip it out real quick and piss in the corner. Hell, when I was mowing grass in the median strips on Circle Drive, I didn't have the convenience of hiding behind a bush or anything. When desperate enough, I had a method in which I'd open the door of my little tractor and pretend to be leaning in and searching for something when in reality, upon closer inspection, one could see a stream of urine pouring down on the ground. You don't want to know what I did if I had to poop. 😂
It was that discussion on the radio that sparked a long lost memory of my childhood and perhaps the catalyst to why I began choosing to sit rather than stand. As I recall, I was visiting my aunt who had a friend over. The bathroom was just off the kitchen in the small two bedroom apartment. I went in to pee, standing as young boys do, and upon the stream splashing down, my aunt's friend thought it would be funny to call into the bathroom. "We can hear you!" she called with a chuckle in her voice. The experience traumatized me and I was overwhelmed with shame and embarrassment. I never stood again, after that. Not if I was indoors, anyway. The anxiety from that day, propelled me into a state of constant Shy Bladder, which meant I was unable to go to the bathroom in a public setting if their were other people around. No matter how bad I had to go, if there were eyes about, I was unable to go. It remained that way until just a year or so, ago.
As an adult, I had many different jobs, some of which required me to clean bathrooms. Men's rooms, as you can imagine can be quite disgusting. It's like travelers don't care and willfully piss all over the place. What was most gross, though, was the toilets. Specifically, the outside of the bowl, more so than the interior. The piss can actually cake on the porcelain. And ladies, if you go to your man's apartment and take a close look at his toilet, chances are, there's going to be dried piss caked on the sides of the bowl. It comes from the splashing water as the piss hits the surface. It was this discovery that made it abundantly clear that when I was going to live on my own, sans roommates and family, that I would continue to remain seated when urinating.
Seems that my choice to avoid standing is a major reason to do so in Germany as a landlord, back in 2015, sued a tenant for €1,900 (£1400; $2,200), the cost to repair a marble floor that had been destroyed with urine. The case was lost, the Duesseldorf judge ruling that men are allowed to urinate from a standing position, adding that standing is still common practice. The case sparked a national debate, with another judge, Honourable Stefan Hank, agreeing with experts that the uric acid found in urine did do the majority of the damage to the floor, but that occasional splash back is expected. They never ruled as to why the tenant failed to clean up after himself, though. I'm empathetic to the landlord because, yes, urine can be quite harmful and clearly the fact that the tenant couldn't be bothered to grab some toilet tissue to wipe up, is unclear. I've never traveled to Europe, but in this report it's revealed that public washrooms all over Germany, have signs prohibiting men from standing to pee, for just this reason.
In the United States, 23% of men sit, 31% stand. In Canada, 35% choose to be seated, while 21% remain standing. So that leaves 46% in the US and 44% in Canada left undecided? The math does not add up. What do the other percentage of people do? Get creative?
It's a mystery for the ages, I guess.
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