No, that's a lifelong preference. Possibly a result of having younger brothers who thought leaving the whole seat up in the night was a good idea. It's not.
Interesting! I find most of the people I know who are firm about the lid are women, but it doesn't come up in conversation that often...
I have (jokingly) said before that it's the most equitable solution: for every use women want the seat down while for a percentage of uses men want the seat down but the majority of the time want it up, so in the average M-F household there's not going to be a reasonable compromise if the lid is left up. Neither party will feel they've got the fair end of the deal, being required to move the seat as necessary. Lid down means both parties must lift the lid, and men can move the seat in the same action if they want to.
Also, if you keep books or other items within n feet of the loo it's the least unpleasant option. (I know people who keep toothbrushes in a cup on top of the cistern and habitually leave the lid up. This makes me feel quite unwell.)
Me too. One very good reason for keeping the lid closed: when you flush the loo, unless you have the lid closed, fine particles of 'flush matter' fountain out over really quite a large range. Which is not really all that hygienic.
On the other hand, if you close the lid before flushing you fail to notice when one flush is not adequate, leaving a nasty surprise for the next visitor :)
A friend of mine used to live in an all-male houseshare, and their policy was always to leave the seat up. Accordingly, I observed this policy when visiting as I felt it seemed reasonable.
I was, apparently, the only female visitor who didn't out-and-out refuse to leave the seat up.
I do leave the seat up in male public toilets. Mind you, I'm anti gendered toilet facilities in general, mostly as it's bad for resource levelling, but I gather it's also a frequent source of discrimination against trans* people.
I'd assume that a household with toddlers in it you'd definitely want the lid up :)
I'm very much a lid-up (seat-down) person. This is because the main situation is my life when it's relevant is when running to the toilet to be sick. This was a very frequent occurence when I was a kid.
I therefore assume that all children are sick a lot, and that the lid must always be left up to avoid Untold Horror.
Or, they don't fish them out but flush them. A mobile phone retrieved quickly from a toilet bowl may work again, given time and prayer. A flushed one will never be seen again. Ditto keys, money... and apparently a flushed sweater will block a loo very comprehensively and require a plumber to retrieve. *thanks all deities everywhere that none of this has ever happened to me*
Little plastic sheep, however, I seem to remember staying behind, which is not much consolation to the person whose keys have just disappeared round the U-bend.
Owing to an incident of clumsiness in the world's tiniest toilet cubicle last year, I managed to flush a pair of sunglasses down the toilet. I was very surprised that they flushed away, having had no prior experience of the flushableness of everyday objects.
I'm a lid-up seat-down person. I think it's partly just what I grew up with, but it's definitely the best position for the seat to be in in case of running to the toilet for diarrhoea too. And when you're in a rush for a wee it's less bad to accidentally sit on a loo with the seat up (a bit cold) than to sit on a loo with the lid down (!). Growing up in a house with one man and four women may have led to a different compromise than in more equally split households.
I sometimes put the lid down in public loos if they're blocked and unusable, or have no loo roll, in an attempt to warn other people.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 09:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 09:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 09:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 09:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 09:44 am (UTC)I have (jokingly) said before that it's the most equitable solution: for every use women want the seat down while for a percentage of uses men want the seat down but the majority of the time want it up, so in the average M-F household there's not going to be a reasonable compromise if the lid is left up. Neither party will feel they've got the fair end of the deal, being required to move the seat as necessary. Lid down means both parties must lift the lid, and men can move the seat in the same action if they want to.
Also, if you keep books or other items within n feet of the loo it's the least unpleasant option. (I know people who keep toothbrushes in a cup on top of the cistern and habitually leave the lid up. This makes me feel quite unwell.)
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 10:38 am (UTC)I'm male, and noticeably more consistent about closing the lid than the woman I share a house with :)
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 11:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 11:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 11:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 10:23 am (UTC)I was, apparently, the only female visitor who didn't out-and-out refuse to leave the seat up.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 10:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 10:16 am (UTC)I'm very much a lid-up (seat-down) person. This is because the main situation is my life when it's relevant is when running to the toilet to be sick. This was a very frequent occurence when I was a kid.
I therefore assume that all children are sick a lot, and that the lid must always be left up to avoid Untold Horror.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 10:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 10:39 am (UTC)Or, they don't fish them out but flush them. A mobile phone retrieved quickly from a toilet bowl may work again, given time and prayer. A flushed one will never be seen again. Ditto keys, money... and apparently a flushed sweater will block a loo very comprehensively and require a plumber to retrieve. *thanks all deities everywhere that none of this has ever happened to me*
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 12:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 10:40 am (UTC)My sample-size of toddlers is basically one (me). I never did that, so am not aware of it as a problem. What a strange thing to do.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 10:42 am (UTC)I sometimes put the lid down in public loos if they're blocked and unusable, or have no loo roll, in an attempt to warn other people.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 04:10 pm (UTC)