Tissues and issues

[venta]

Please excuse inanity. Is very important for clearing up an argument:

[Poll #1560066]

Comments

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Having heard this topic discussed before (!) I get the impression that people who mount toilet rolls backwards typically do so because they attach the roll whilst the loose end is still glued down and don't know which way round they're doing it. (And then don't care enough to reverse the error.)

[shrydar.livejournal.com]

I'm sad to report that I've actually come across people who deliberately mount them the wrong way round.

And don't get me started on people who don't sort out the plies such that the perforations line up.

[the-alchemist.livejournal.com]

When I was a child, my grandparents *always* had it at the back - it seems unlikely that could happen by chance. I usually swapped it and I think they sometimes swapped it back.

[ar-gemlad.livejournal.com]

http://ar-gemlad.livejournal.com/35419.html

:)

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

The front-vs-back toilet roll debate is a synecdoche for a deeper, more profound contrast within human society down the ages. It's the Apollonian vs Dionysian tension, the Utilitarian vs Aesthetic movements, the Enlightenment vs Romantic ideals, Cicero vs Cato, pragmatism vs ideological rigidity.

All of which is a fancy way of intimidating people in to my point of view, which is that it's handier to use with the free end down the front but looks slightly neater down the back, and that in the context of wiping your arse, practicality and comfort are paramount considerations, and certainly outweigh style.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

but looks slightly neater down the back

Matter of opinion. I think it looks neater hanging down the front; you've just got a nice smooth continuous surface of toilet roll, rather than a smooth surface of toilet roll with an end hanging down trying to look inconspicuous and failing.

[secretrebel.livejournal.com]

My parents are rabid on this subject. I actually don't care but I do it their way because otherwise when they come to visit they will
a) reverse my loo roll positioning
b) ask how I could have been so foolish as to have it the wrong way
c) despair of me as a human being

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

My parents just cut straight to (c).

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Two loos. Downstairs is a 'don't much care' situation: it's very easy to change the orientation, thanks to the design of the holder, and I often do put it with the loose edge at the front if I happen to notice it's the other way around, but honestly I would not go out of my way to ensure it. Upstairs it's sideways so irrelevant.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Addendum: with it at the back is better when there's a toddler in the house - no 15ft trail of paper.

I care much more about whether people shut the lid or not.

wikipedia

[shrydar.livejournal.com]

the neck of a goose!?

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

Cats (and small children) are a good reason to put it with the loose end at the back, but in a cat- and child-free household, I think front-facing is easier to use. Although I think if one could only use one hand due to injury or whatever, back-facing might be better.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Is this thing about cats actually true ? Occasionally, browsing something like icanhazcheezburger, I run across references to cats pulling the free end of the toilet roll and wreaking havoc.

I think while I was living with my parents we shared the house (at various times) with five different cats (six if you count next door's which visited a lot) and none of them ever played with the toilet roll. I'd assumed it was a thing only cartoon cats did.

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

I suspect some backwards-positioners just do it out of general misanthropy.

[lnr]

I never used to care, and then met someone who had a strong opinion about it, which I found strange! Now I do acknowledge it's mildly more convenient at the front, and tend to turn them round if I find them the other way and it's easy to do, but I don't care much, and certainly wouldn't complain to anyone about it.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

I actually have no idea which way round I put the toilet roll. Generally when I am having a wee I am trying too hard to remember what I was about to do before I decided to have a wee on the way past the bathroom, to notice anything about toilet paper.

Besides which there is a much more annoying bathroom habit I have recently become aware of: using mouthwash and then screwing the lid back on without washing the mouthwash out of it. Very sticky bathroom with grouting now permanently dyed blue grr.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Well yes - I have never considered the oritentation of my loo roll up until now. It seems I now live with someone who cares a lot about which way round it goes (and is happy to turn it round himself, it's not an issue). I was just curious as to which of us was the weirdo. Him for caring, or me for not caring - looks like it's me from the poll results.

The sticky mouthwash problem also happens with washing liquid - however careful you are, there are always leftovers dribbling down the bottle and making it gummy.

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

Can you find colourless mouthwash?

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that I've posted a poll on this very topic, probably about two years ago. [grin] When I get home, if I remember, I might even check through the "poll" tag on my LJ, just to compare results. Or not. Maybe.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

Having once found a spider on the toilet roll, I put it at the back. That way, as the roll turns you get to see front and back.

[thegreenman.livejournal.com]

We do not own a toilet roll holder. We noticed many years ago that toilet rolls will happily sit on any flat surface near the loo.

Less is more...

[ringbark.livejournal.com]

I see you already have 64 comments on this subject, none of which I have read yet.

I believe that it should have the free end at the back, and I was amazed that anyone should think it otherwise while growing up, but now discovber that my view appears to be a minority view. In particular, my wife disagrees with me on this point, and equally cannot believe that anyone holds to my view on this. It's a minor point for us, fortunately, but I could well believe that this issue has snuffed out romances.

I may have more to say when I have read the other correspondence on this matter.

[ringbark.livejournal.com]

It now appears that I am a misanthrope who tailors his bathroom for the benefit of toddlers and cats, even though we now have neither. Though at times we have had up to three toddlers and up to five cats. The cats are also a reason to leave the lid down. I never liked cats drinking out of it, and leaving the lid down is far simpler than attempting to train numerous cats.

[keris.livejournal.com]

We have loo rolls with puppies on and I think it's only fair enough they're the right way up before they get used. It would be cruel otherwise. Or something...

[dr-bob.livejournal.com]

We have toddlers. Spinning loo rolls are fun, apparently. More so when paper ends up on the floor. I never really cared which way to hang them before having to clear up after baby and scary.

[markbanang.livejournal.com]

I may be in the minority, preferring rear hanging ends, but it does look neater that way, IMHO.