Potty Talk

I have noticed a peculiarity in Taiwanese ladies bathrooms that continues to befuddle me: it is not uncommon for women to leave the toilet seat up.

I can't seem to figure out why on earth a woman would lift the seat to use the toilet. In Taiwan, as in other Asian countries (Japan, for example) it is common to see a toilet that I call "the squatter"

Most places that you go here in Taiwan also have "western" style toilets. In some places you may get a choice between the two options while other bathrooms will only have one flavor of toilet, although in my experience most homes have a "western" toilet.

I am wondering if the use of the female squatter toilet has something to do with why some women lift the seats of "western" style toilets, but I can't quite connect the dots... how could these two things be related?? I don't have a clue.

Unfortunately, at this point I don't have any Taiwanese friends who I feel comfortable broaching this subject with, and it's not like I can just approach someone who's just used the toilet and ask her "excuse me, why do you lift the toilet seat when you go to the bathroom?" Aside from the fact that this is obviously an inappropriate question to ask someone, I can't even imagine trying to discuss this through broken English.... that would just be a complete nightmare! HA HA can you picture it!? O dear Lord.

Anyway... I will have to get to the bottom of this issue and report back at a later date!

For now, I'll leave you with an especially humorous sticker that Nick and I found at our local "Ho Easy" store which is what Nick calls "a poor man's Wallmart, with cheaper crap and less stuff"