I have 3 questions:
1. Is there an "up" or "down" to the ass-gasket?
2. Does the "tab" go in the front or in the back of the ass-gasket?
3. How do I keep the ass-gasket from sticking to my ass?
I showed this to Mr. Blaster as I was posting it. He says the ass gasket dispenser at his work has instructions on it. It advises to put the flap in the front. We were debating the reason for this, and he says it's a good safeguard so a man's balls don't hit the rim, or so a man like him with a well-endowed penis doesn't get a wet weiner.
For the rest of us who don't have weiners, putting the flap in the front is still the way to go. If you put the flap in the back, you run the risk of pooping on it. The poop will pull it in the toilet if you lean over to wipe. Plus if there were poo smeared all over it, it would stink pretty badly.
For #3 a little baby powder might do the trick. You'd have to plan ahead for that, though.
I don't really think there is an up or down. The paper seems to have the same texture on both sides.
I never use these things. If there is a spot of something on the seat (within reason), I'll wipe it off quickly with TP. I'm sure there are those who would disagree with me, but I've always thought of ass gaskets as Prissy Paper.
I agree with TBW, I guess I just don't get the point of putting a piece of paper between you and something that is one of the most bacteria free places in a given building.
_______I poop because I am...I am because I poop.
I used to use those things. I was talking with my doc one day and he said they "Work" but the benefits vs the hassle may not be all that great. Like TBW if I see a small something Ill get a damp paper towl and a dry towl and do my Wax on Wax off routine and call it good. But if Im drunk in a dive bar, I will grab one on my way out and wear it as a cowboy hat.
Sorry I can't help you with your questions -- I've never used one, and never will. However, I am always glad to see them handy, because I want everyone else to use them. One other thought. The question about how to keep them from sticking to your ass made me think -- why not market these things for the individual? On a day you know you're going to be out on public toilets, you stick one onto your ass in the morning, wear it all day, and remove it at night. Here, sticking would be a feature, not a bug.
Oh, and AB2K. You mention above that Mr. Blaster has a "well-endowed penis." Wow. His penis has a penis?
Looks like your questions are all answered. I think the secret to #3 is to poop fast. If you can poop before your butt starts to sweat, then the gasket is less likely to stick.
I have a problem with ass gaskets and auto toilets. The motion sensor sees you fumbling around with and situating the gasket, and when you turn around to pull down your trousers, it flushes the damn thing down the toilet. This happened to me three times in a row once before I figured out a method of avoidance.
My squadron once went to the officers club at an Air Force base and all the pansy Air Force guys were prancing around with their little colored ascots under their flight suits. We all put ass gaskets around our necks under our flight suits to show them how gay they looked and then proceeded to teach them how to drink. Other than that one time, I have never used an ass gasket.
I have never used an ass gasket, and have only seen dispensers for them a time or two. From what I know, they are generally found only in the women's room.
DungDaddy, I'm feeling you. I hate those electric eye toilet flushers. Luckily, only the urinals here have them, and they flush before the job is done. _______"Double the flush, double the fun" --The Amazing Anus
DF writes, "DungDaddy, I'm feeling you."
Get a room, guys. Please! _______Send all your money to Bilgepump, or to Dave!
LOL Dumpster! I was saying that I feel his pain; I understand his dislike for the electric eye. _______"Double the flush, double the fun" --The Amazing Anus
My laugh for today was Grogan's statement about wearing an ass gasket as a hat. Brought back memories of Beavis and Butthead and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure!
In a particular rest stop in Colorado, my son told me that "COLORADO STATE TROOPER HATS" is written in a Sharpie marker over the toilet seat cover dispenser in the Men's room. He got a good laugh out of that.
I've never used them either. My gramma was one of those little old ladies who always had me do that ridiculous, 3-sheets of tp covering job every time I was with her. If the seat has ever been that bad that I feel the need to cover it, I either hover, my butt like a white, round UFO over some unsuspecting trailer park, or I "3 sheet" it. Old habits are hard to break.
_______.....hugging bunnies since 1969 www.daphneszoo.com
"I either hover, my butt like a white, round UFO over some unsuspecting trailer park...."
Why am I suddenly inspired to try my hand at something for the comics section? _______Send all your money to Bilgepump, or to Dave!
I always put the part with the little flap in front. This is what I was always taught was the "front" of the gasket. Normally I just let it hang in the water, but if it is an automatic toilet I tear the tab off to prevent the gasket from being sucked away prematurely.
How do I keep the ass gasket from sticking? Well, that is a mystery so far. Most of the time I just hover and don't use one at all.
CEP, go Navy! My sister always said that if you burp at the recruiter's office the Army would hire you, the Marines would kill you, the Navy would critique it for volume and intensity, and the Air Force would run away. _______"That was a very disappointing party. I showed up and everyone left!"- Camille
Now, Dumpster, I don't think PR is full of gays. But I can't speak for you. However I think they were talking about understanding each other.
(Yes, I know you are being sarcastic)
TSV, all your recent sigs seem to have somthing related to hurrincanes in them. _______"KOC -- the Cool Crapper" - Rat Droppings
"hurrincanes"? Is that what happens when you lift one and it's too heavy?
Someone go into the forums and name the references to my hurricane quotes. I wonder how many others are into disaster trivia. _______"That was a very disappointing party. I showed up and everyone left!"- Camille
Logjam. Ha ha. He told me to write "well-endowed penis." I knew it didn't quite sound right. Thanks for the mental image.
i don't use ass gaskets. i rarely see them in men's rooms, and generally if i'm in a poublic restroom it's because i haven't located a suitable place to take a dump, and it's a powershit. i'm not a shameful shitter i just prefer home, where you have the leisure of reading and of course the luxury of good tp. dunno if this question has been brought up, but for those of you that do read on the can, what do you read? generally i read car and driver, or one of a whole slew of videogame magazines i got suspiciously subscribed to.
I use them to wipe down the seat if necessary or as tp if the big giant roll is empty. Never as a seat cover.
CEP is already Navy. And he can fly big stuff.
It makes one glance to the stars and night....and.......hold their hands over their head.
JK.
sahrty: Either play video games on my phone, surf the net, or read Maxim
Sharty: InFisherman Magazine, or any catalogue of crap i can't afford.
Well, we don`t have such things as ass gaskets in the UK (except in the odd hotel). We don`t normally appreciate anything too faggoty in men`s toilets anyhow. You either clean the seat with TP or choose not to use it. I`ve never come across these things anywhere, not even in the US of A. Perhaps I never went to quality places, though I always enjoyed visiting the USA and it`s folks. Unfortunately, I doubt if they`d let me in now to check anyway. Probably person non grata.
Quite a list of guys above who know of ass gaskets and wouldn`t partake - Logjam, CEP, TBW, krzy,. DF, sharty etc.
Wow, Boxy, really? I mean about not even seeing them here in the U.S. In every Ladies' they're in EVERY stall. I can't say about the Mens', though.
Can any one help, here? Do most U.S. Mens' rooms even HAVE the gaskets?
Haven`t been to the US for some years GGG - maybe it`s all changed for PC or uber-cleanliness purposes, though I doubt if some of the bars I`ve been to in the depths of Alaska would boast of having ass gaskets in their toilets.
I`ve got too many "axis of evil" stamps in my passport to risk going back till it runs out - I`m not interested in getting chained up, rubber-gloved and deported for a few un-American visas.
Mens rooms in the US do not have ass gaskets as far as I have seen. _______"Double the flush, double the fun" --The Amazing Anus
i never use ass-gaskets but for those of you who do i have a question. if you do put the flap in front dont you piss all over it?? am i the only one that pisses everytime i take a dumpsky??? i dont know i was just wondering....dammit now im not gonna be able to sleep until i figure it out.
-under water the poop dont stink!
My husband (who looked at me askance when I asked, but sighed longsufferingly and answered my question anyway) said that as far as he can think of, there ARE butt-gaskets in most U.S. Mens' rooms. He can't attest to how often they're USED, and he declined to comment on his own practices, but it seems they ARE in there!
Thunderbox: I find it hard to believe you have not run into the famous "ass gasket. Especially if you have NOT been to an upscale place in the United States. My experience (anyone let me know if you agree or not) is that these crafty little things are generally located in your dirty gas stations or truck stops. Of course many upscale buisnesses use them, but for the most part I see them in the shitholes of the shitholes. _______Number One . . . I order you to take a number two.
I was in airports at both Miami and Hartford yesterday, and saw ass gaskets available in most restrooms I went in. The last one, in Hartford, even had instructions along with diagrams. These were in a fancy dispenser that had a lever to extract one. The instructions were something like.
1. Depress handle 2. Place gasket on seat with flap forward 3. Flush to discard
There was pee on the seat, which I had to wipe off, and it occurred to me that I'd have had to do this even if I had used a gasket. Can gasket users confirm this? You don't just put one of these flimsy things right on top of pee and/or shit and then plunk your ass down, do you? If so, this might explain why sometimes they stick to your ass.
Oh, and AB2K. Thanks to you and your and hubby for that photo. I must say, the gasket is draped rather nicely over the seat. Very inviting. Does Mr. Blaster also have a way with flower arrangements?
Yep, that's exactly what I saw.
Sorry, ass-gaskets are just too Japanese.
Ass gaskets are made out of almost the same exact paper as those expensive blotting papers cosmetic companies sell to us ladies for sopping up excess sebum from our pores. The only difference is the fancy blotting papers come dusted with talc and smell like roses. They are also not in the shape of toilet seats, but rather precise little rectangles. I am going to swipe some unused ass gaskets and see if they remove excess facial oil as well I as I suspect they might. I will report my findings to see if I am onto something, or if I am just really strange.
_______~Keep your friends close, and your enemas closer.~
I think the manufacturers of ass gaskets and lobster bibs should get together and market a hybrid that could go either way, catching either ass drippings or butter drippings.
Anyone for seafood?
i noticed in work that there was indeed an ask gasket thing in the shitter. maybe there are ass gasket dispensers in mens rooms in america... and because i just don't care i just simply don't notice? you know how things can completely fade into the background? i think that just may be the case. we that don't use them don't care, and don't notice their existance.
Random Rectum wrote: "...I will report my findings to see if I am onto something, or if I am just really strange..."
Are those mutually exclusive?
I get asked about once a year (normally by an older lady) why we do not have ass gaskets in our restrooms at our medical facility.
We politely answer that you do not get diseases by sitting on the toilet, you get them from not washing your hands after you wipe.
If the seat is dry and clean, there is no reason to use one.
I do have an image of this item from my childhood. We were at a nice restaurant when my father came out of the bathroom with one of these around his neck. He came to the table and proclaimed that this was a nice restaurant in that they provided bibs in the bathroom to keep the food off your clothing.
Wow! In a medical facility? I would never have thought there WOULDN'T be gaskets! Very interesting; I'm going to check next time I go to make sure, but I don't think there WERE gaskets last time I used the bathroom at the doctor's, either.
There was the little door to put the urine samples through, and the little basket with the marking pen, wipes, and cups, but I DON'T remember any gaskets! I'm going to ask them next time!
P.S. I think we would all really love your dad.
I also used to work in a hospital, and we were told that if the Ass Gasket got wet, it would act like a wick. I always accepted this, but after reading Catch22's post it leaves ME with a few questions. 1) What kind of wick? Do you light it up if the electricity goes out. 2) Given that it would behave as a wick, where would it transfer bacteria to? 3) Since they scrubbed the toilets within an inch of their lives twice a day with a caustic antimicrobial, antiviral, antishit and shinola solution, what kind of bacteria do we have left we need to worry about.
Also, the handwashing thing reminded me of a story I heard. A little boy is in a restroom and has just finished taking a leak. He zipped, flushed, and started for the door. An old guy piped up and said, "My mother taught me to wash my hands after I went pee." The kid gives him a withering stare and says, "Ma taught me not to piss on my fingers."
I'm new to this site. I heard about it from a friend at my school where I am a senior. He thinks it is one of the most creative sites out there, and, yes, the topics are amusing.
I grew up hating ass gaskets. I mean really hating them. Back when I was in first and second grade and out with my mother and I had to use a public toilet, she would take me into stores and when we were in other public buildings, she would drag me into sometimes four or five bathrooms until she found one that had the ass gaskets. Friends and other girls my age were allowed to go in, select a stall, do their thing and as long as they washed their hands, their mothers were satisfied. NOT MINE! My ass would be ready to explode, and mom would lead me to several doors and if she didn't find the a dispenser full of paper ass gaskets, I couldn't use the stool. Her criteria was simple and there was no compromising. Sometimes I would cry and she would still drag me from a mall bathroom into one of the specialty stores and into the bathroom, and if there wasn't the paper seat liner to put down, it was out and off to another bathroom. On more than one occasion when we were at an amusement park and there was not paper seat covers available, we would get our hands stamped at the gate and drive back home (about 25 minutes)so I could use the bathroom and then return to the park.
My mom was adament that she had never sat directly on a public toilet. She would spread her legs and stand over the toilet to relieve herself. I thought it was dumb, although she could do it without much effort and fairly fast. I remember once at a gas station she took a complete shit that way and the shit hit the bowl with such force that you could see the water splash up above bowl level. She sure had the agility and it was impressive to me when I was only six or seven.
I didn't have any friends with parents so anal. When I was out with them, I enjoyed being able to sit right down and do my thing. Most of the parents insisted on hand-washing and I was happy to do that because it was a very small compromise to make.
Once when I was about 11 me and my mom were at a professional baseball game. She insisted on escorting me to the bathroom, and much to my surprise, there were ass gaskets in the dispenser she checked, so she allowed me to stay and use the stall. However, we I went to pull the paper I found it was down to the last one and a damanged one at that. The flap that went over the bowl was hanging out but it was all alone--the rest of the ass gasket had been ripped off. Thinking that I didn't want to hassle going into another stall, I simply sat down and was taking my shit when mom peaked in on me and she got really pissed to see that I was sitting on the uncovered seat. I lied and told her that at least I had wiped the seat off first, and she got even madder because there was no toilet paper left on the roll. She ground me for two days.
To this day when mom's with me I always make sure that I chose a bathroom with ask gaskets and that I put one down. We have them at my high school but I, like most of my friends, don't use them. I can't speak for others but for me, they remind me of several years of heavy-handed hassles that I would just as soon forget. Based on my experiences, ass gaskets are one pain in the ass!
have 3 questions:
1. Is there an "up" or "down" to the ass-gasket? There is no up or down as far as I know.
2. Does the "tab" go in the front or in the back of the ass-gasket? Whenever I use an ass gasket, I put the flap side in front, but I also tear off the flap.
3. How do I keep the ass-gasket from sticking to my ass? I always hold it to the seat while I am getting up.
Footnote, if the particular toilet is an autoflush, the autoflush can be fooled by covering the lens on the camera.
_______ A man who farts in church, sits in his own pew.
Sounds like Bab's mother has got some major-league issues.
Someone should be able to poop solo *~*long*~* before they're 11.
_______And it burns, burns, burns - The ring of fire.
Once and for all: The flap on the ass gasket goes in the front. It protects male equipment from dragging against the rim of the bowl. I don't give a hoot if anyone thinks a toilet seat is okay to sit on if it's dry. Yeah, right, on a hot day I don't sweat at all, and I'm not going to activate whatever scuzzy stuff is residing on the seat from the last person who was sweating. Give me a break. The only butt I trust is the sparkling clean one I present to the world each morning. Like a car fresh from a car wash, though, the shine doesn't last beyond the first encounter with mud. When you see people with rashes and pimples and other skin conditions in a gym locker room, you can pretty much assume that what's lying in wait on the crapper seat is not something you'd want your bare flesh to touch. No, I'm not a germ-phobe, and I don't have OCD. I just know when a situation cries out for taking some precautions. Anyone who says, "Well, I've never contracted anything from a toilet seat," is kidding themselves into believing that it can never happen. The risk may be small, but it's also very real.
Although a lot of the ladies rooms have holders with ass gaskets, I've given up on them.
First, I tend to move around when I'm peeing, and especially when I'm taking a shit. I don't know how many times I've spread my legs to aid evacuation and the paper splits.
Secondly, I occasionally will need to lean over to get something from my purse and I find myself sliding forward off the seat.
Third, when the hover pissers don't lift the seat and leave a mess, I don't see any use in the paper because the urine goes right through it and does little to keep my butt dry.
Fourth, my daughter who is 11 hates them and has for two years refused to use one. We were at a church retreat at an amusement park, she went in to take a shit, and came out exposing the seat protector dangling from her ass and under her shorts. When several people laughed, one insensitive girl called her "magnet ass" she said "never again" and I agree with her.
I'm a 32 year old mother who just doesn't see how they help. They have about as much value as swamp land on a flood plain! Regarding contact with a public toilet seat I say that's why we have known for years that you can't catch anything from a toilet.
The way Babs was raised is one sorry case!
I agree with Nellie that the ass gaskets can easily rip, their tough to get out of the dispenser (I've had several rip because I apparently don't have the patience to slowly slip them out of the holder). Sorry Mom! Rather, what works for me is my own ass gasket. About five panels of toilet paper put directly over the front of the seat. Then I sit very tentatively over just the front of the seat and no farther back than the paper will cover. It's not the most comfortable and my knees are many times against the door, but I'm not directly sitting on the dirty seat and I don't have the hassle of lining the entire seat. Those ladies who line the entire seat a couple times over and include the back are FOOLISH! I'm 23 and I thought of this as a teenager and it works for me. However, the only drawback is you have to make sure your urine stream and poop clears the front of the bowl. Once when I was at the St. Louis airport, I didn't sit back far enough and I peed on the front of the bowl and hence into my panties and my slacks and shoes. That taught me to drop them all the way to the floor and to spread my legs to a greater degree because it makes my sitting more comfortable.
I keep waiting for a scene from one of those teen movies where someone not only walks out of the can with TP on their shoe, but part of an ass gasket hanging out of the back of their tucked in shirt. You just know there's someone out there who's done this before, though maybe not at the same time.
I'm a high school student. I earn extra money babysitting. Three of the families I sit for are executive couples that frequently have to travel, often with short notice. I sleep over in their home for several days and often have to substitute as the person taking the children out to movies, the zoo, and last week, the circus.
My mom always did like Babs' mom and put a seat gasket down for me. Like Nellie, I had problems with them but I knew not to talk back or question my mother. Now, however, none of the seven girls and two boys from the families I babysit know or want to use one. Last week at the amusement park the 4-year-old boy insisted on getting up on the seat and pooping before I could even wipe of few drops of urine off. I think Babs' mother went too far but I don't know how much I should do. I'm afraid I will appear dumb if I ask the parents. What advice can you give me?
I agree the upper-income customers are great for child care, especially overnighters. You get to stay in such nice houses and take the children to places that in my case, as a high school senior, I would probably otherwise never be able to afford to go to.
Yesterday, the boys who are 4 and 6, went bowling with me. One Friday evening we went to the ice-skating rink. Today we went roller skating. I allow the older one to go into the bathroom himself but the youngest I take in with me. He protests, but I don't think he's big enough to use a urinal and several months ago at the Muppetts show at our city arena, I stood outside the stall and had to correct him because he peed right over the seat. It took me quite a lot of toilet paper just to clean it off before I sat down for my turn to pee. I had him in the stall but facing the door while I peed. Once at the airport while we waited for his parents' flight to arrive, he scared me by walking off to the other side of the bathroom while I was on the stool, and I just don't know of any other way to keep track of him. For the six year old, I wait by the bathroom entrance while he goes in but, for the most part, he's responsible on his own. However, at the circus last year, I worried because he was in there more than 10 minutes. I asked a man coming out to check up on him. He had gone into a stall, pooped, then found there was not toilet paper and then he had to stand in line for another stall to open, only to again find no toilet paper. Finally, the man took him into a fully-stocked stall and helped him out. If he would have covered the seat before sitting down, he would have noticed the lack of toilet paper and not been in that situation. But I don't think it's appropriate to worry a 6-year-old about such matters. I know I didn't when I was at that age and my mother didn't force it. Just a couple of years ago in high school, I've started to become more of a "germ freak", or so my friends say.
Babysitting isn't as easy as it sounds when you have children of the opposite gender. However, I am still interested in majoring in child care in college and working in a day care.
Mariah and Andrea have questions about how to handle children when you are babysitting them and they need to use a public stool. I, too, have run into that in my three years of babysitting. I also have a question on how to handle situations when I'm not a babysitter. For example, last week at the mall in one of the large restrooms just off the entrance I walked in (the door was not locked) on a girl about four who was up on the seat to pee, had reached over to get some toilet paper off the roll, and then lost her balance and fell off. She had urine on the side of the seat and in her underwear. After I calmed her, I helped wipe her off and cleaned off the seat before I sat down to poop. However, I decided to put toilet paper over the seat before I sat down. I have never done that before and hope I don't become what one of my friends admits to being and that's a real germ freak. Each time I've used the bathroom at my high school this week, I've found that I'm putting paper down first. Once I didn't because there's not a lot of time between classes and I had a harder time getting my urine stream going. Is this should I or should I not put paper down normal?
I go through the Should I or Should I Not Put Paper Down question quite a lot. When an ass-gasket is available, I ALWAYS use it. My problem is that often when I go to pull one off, the dispenser is empty. I prefer not to put toilet paper down as a liner because it falls off easily. This is especially at school when I have to deal with my required uniform (which I hate--jeans would make it so much easier!). So at school I tend to favor the toilets that are open when I come in (nobody has just come out and warmed the seat), the ones on the second or third floor (because they are used a lot less), and if there's urine on the seat, I will generally bypass it (although sometimes someone will come in and sit right down in it--are they blind?). I've held it instead of sitting down at concerts such as Justin Timberlake; I would think large public arenas would have ass-gaskets, but so many of my friends don't seem to use them even if they were available. I remember asking my mom about this a couple of years ago when we were traveling. Her response was, "You have to trust your own judgment". My boyfriend says he never covers the seat. That's probably a typical male response. So I would have to say Monique's question is normal.
I'm in my mid-20s as a SWF. I wish I was better disciplined but I use the ass-gasket sometimes and othertimes I guess I'm just to lazy. What I've found is that when I have one down, I have a harder time getting my urine flow going. I might have to sit a minute or two longer. I wonder if I'm just "stressing" more because it's a big public place. On the other hand, when I sit right down on the public toilet seat (I know it doesn't sound clean but....)I'm able to get results faster. Could it be that my mindset is one that I'm in a situation like at home or at my boyfriend's apartment? I guess I've never been a fan of the ass-gasket since I was 13 and left a park bathroom with one dangling below my shorts. It was a softball team family picnic and everyone joked about it. My boyfriend says he uses one all the time when he's at work and other public places when he has to crap. It doesn't seem to inhibit him, though.
Oh yes,ah thee ass gasket!I personally haven't used one because they never stay-put.But I have had to use one to wipe myself before!Let me tell you,"OUCH!"that was ruff!
I grew up on a small farm and because of the demands of farming, my parents didn't take me on vacations or into large cities much. I was 11 when finally the time for our 6th grade graduation trip came and we spent the weekend in Kansas City. On the three day trip I had two public bathroom experiences that we new to me: 1) sitting on a toilet peeing and having it automatically flush from under me; 2) learning what was in those mysterious metal holders behind the toilets. Because I had been constipated and took a large crap, I ran out of wiping paper. Then I pulled on one of the papers in the mysterious holder and the front tore off in my hand. I finished wiping with it and and mentioned it to Kaitee who was coming into the stall next. I told her I thought it might be paper to wipe your face with since it was so humid that time of year. She laughed and said old ladies like her grandma use them as seat covers. Then she called me a "retard". But if you don't ask, you don't learn! Right?
That's right Retard! I mean this in the most positive way.
TBW--12.04.2006: "I keep waiting for a scene from one of those teen movies where someone not only walks out of the can with TP on their shoe, but part of an ass gasket hanging out of the back of their tucked in shirt. You just know there's someone out there who's done this before, though maybe not at the same time."
Two words. Breakfast Club. I don't know if that principle had TP on his shoe, but I sure remember the gasket coming out of his pants!
The couple times I tried one, it didn't flush but stayed soggily stuck around the bowl-- what is the point of that???? Gross and potentially clogifying. I'll do without leaving that for the next person, thank you very much. _______'Hey that sounds pretty nasty, how about a courtesy flush over there?' (AP1)
Also, one last little aside, there was a fake commercial on my favorite radio station for ass-gaskets that's slogan was, "Protect your butt from God knows what." I have to say that to myself everytime I see a dispenser, even tho' I don't use them.... I try not to snicker too loudly, lest people think I'm even more strange than they already thought I was. _______'Hey that sounds pretty nasty, how about a courtesy flush over there?' (AP1)
My experience has been like that of SWF and Monique: on occasion, when I'm in a really public place and put an ass-gasket down, it takes me longer to get my urine flow going. When I sit right down without the ass gasket, I can get my urine flowing almost immediately, just as if I were sitting on my favorite toilet at home. Is it something mental? Some sort of superstition? I know I don't dare move my legs when I'm on the paper or I'll split it, something that I use to do pretty regularly until I learned to more completely sit still. I never saw my mom or older sister use one, so maybe I should forget it. In some situations, such as when I'm between classes at my university, speed is important to me. Could that be why so few people use them?
I agree that ass-gaskets can be more trouble then they are worth. As a 24 year old male, I use one only when I'm in a very large public toilet like a convention center or, like two weeks ago when I had jury duty at the courthouse. I can sympathize with what Misty said, because it's easy to move around a bit on the toilet and rip it. That's what happened to me at the courthouse. After my shit (I never knew opening arguments could go all morning without a break!)I tore off some toilet paper, dropped it, and when I reached down to pick it up, I inadvertently spread my legs more, ripped the paper and exposed myself to a seat that a criminal could earlier have sat on. Two days later, there was a line during recess and guess what, I ended up in a stall where the ass papers were all gone. I still sat down and shat--I wasn't about to carry my load for the rest of the day! I mentioned the experience to my girlfriend, who said she was taught to use one, but quit while she was still in school because they didn't stay on the seat easily and they would sometimes clog the toilet. Back to what Misty said. Do they inhibit me from delivering my shit in a timely manner? No. Do they continue to piss me off? YES!
Once when traveling, my six-year-old daughter had to pee real bad. There was no toilet paper in the stall and some pee on the seat (thanks mom for not lifting it for your young son!). I took an ass-gasket, used it to thoroughly wipe the seat with, Sadie sat down, and then pulled a second one off to wipe herself with. It worked well. Then I peed and used another to wipe with. Worked okey and our flight was on time. However, they are too much hassle to actually sit on!
Answer to question 3: Don't use the gasket.
I carry a ziplok baggie of sanitary wipes in my backpocket. Using this briefly on the seat obviates the need for the gasket.
Until I came on this site, I'd never heard of an ass-gasket, or that anyone put paper on the seat(I am English!) but I knew that some people hover over the pot rather than sitting down. Personally, I've sat on more public toilets than I can remember in over thirty years of shameless shitting, and have never caught anything. I think it's all in the mind!
My question is at what age parents should teach children what the ass-gasket is for and how to put it down? Those reporting in the postings seem to indicate availability is plentiful, but that few persons are actually using them. And it seems like the thumbs-down is coming from all ages, including parents and child care providers.
Plentiful only in the USA it seems. There are attendants in the toilets at the railway station in the city where I live. I must ask them for an ass-gasket. Or perhaps not - they might have me arrested as a pervert or something.
Because we live in the south,we've been told that we're cleaner about ourselves than those living in the northern part of the country. However, AC asks a good question: at what age is it appropriate to introduce the ass gasket to a child? I learned at 11 doesn't work. I took my son and his best friend to a pro baseball game. About fourth inning Caleb said he had a big bowel movement coming on fast and his friend, Tyler, decided to go down with him to the bathroom. I reached into my purse and pulled out a folded seat tissue that was no bigger than a folded piece of Kleenex that many of us carry in our purse. Caleb came back about 10 minutes later, obviously agitated, and I learned after we got home that Tyler was giving him a hard time for using a "female product". Two days later at school the harassment picked up and because Caleb is sensitive for his age, I think it spurs the other guys on. While both myself and my teenage daughter use them, I can't recommend the toilet tissues for the guys even though their toilets are probably in worse shape than the womens.
Let me get this right. Sally Mae gives her 11-year-old son an ass gasket out of her purse at a pro baseball game and expects him to put it down in a few minutes when he goes into the restroom to poop. Riiight! Teenagers, especially boys, aren't going to use those things and I also doubt what she said about her daughter using one. It's just not important to us, especially when we are with friends who aren't going to use one and who will think both we and our parent is weird. I asked my girlfriend about this too. Her response: "get real"! Like Retard Rhonda's friend said, ass gaskets are for grandmas.
Sally Mae, I'm intrigued by the revelation that Southerners are "told that you're cleaner than" us yankees.
Told by whom, may I ask? I'm fascinated; tell me more.
Oh, and I think that your son's discomfiture may have been more because his friend saw Mommy pull something out of her purse and hand it to the boy. You may as well have spit on your hand and cleaned his face with it.
If he ever gets hurt on the ball field (God forbid), PROMISE me you won't whip out a sanitary napkin and apply it to the wound!
GGG, being a Yankee down here in the middle of TX, I just keep my mouth shut and my ears open....JUST to hear dumb shit come out of these southerners like Sallie Mae.....Now for the rest of the southerners WHO have sense and don't make comments like the one above....I thank you for your intelligence.Producing waste since 1967
Never heard of an ass-gasket until this morning. Anyway, grew up in the Philadelphia area and am as yankee as they come I guess. My parents moved south a few years back, one time while on the way to visit, a clerk at a store looked at my name on my credit card, she said-"thats a yankee name". Then she looked at where I live, she said- "people are rude up there". Then she started laughing hysterically. Now if that isn't rude, I don't know what is. (Miss Simone, you are welcome to visit here anytime)
Southerners are cleaner about themselves in their personal habits than Northerners. That is what Sally Mae appears to be saying. I remember about 10 years ago when I was in college and about a dozen of us were talking about similar statements in Analysis of Mass Media class. There was a book out then that our professor said demonstrated "lifestyle" media/reporting because, among other things, it compared the bathroom habits of Northerners and Southerners. It was Bernice Kanner's "Are You Normal?" Some of the findings of her national poll: *1/3 of women (led by southerners 42.7% and 39% of northerners) never sit on a public toilet seat. *just under 24% admit they don't always flush; midwesterners and rich people do better here. *in the eastern part of the U.S. the sole or heal is the preferred method; more than one-half of all in the U.S. use a foot. Westerners and Midwesterners tend to use their hands; southerners wrap toilet tissue around their hand when flushing. These are the only notes I took on the hour-long discussion. I remember discussing this with my boyfriend at the time that I was probably taught by my mom and older sisters to be more like a southerner, but in my actual practice I probably fell more with the northern characteristics. He, on the other hand, displayed more of the southern attributes. By the way, he was born in Kansas and I'm a native of Iowa.
Simone: Oh, I'm afraid I'm much worse than a Yankee. I'm from Southern California, born and *reared.
I've been told, though, that I'm a Southerner at heart, and should be able to adapt if the opportunity presented itself.
*(No comments, please, on the use of the word "reared". You "raise" crops. You "rear" children.)
AC asks at what age a parent should teach their child about what an ass-gasket is and how to put it down. My mom talked to me about them when I was about five. I think we were at an upscale mall, and mom was wiping the seat off for me to sit on, and as an inquisitive child, I noticed the dispenser hanging behind the toilet. I went to reach for it, had a hard time finding out how it worked, and mom showed me by pulling one off and placing it over the seat. It was SO DIFFERENT peeing that way. And I remember almost sliding forward into the stall door, because when I moved forward it was so slick. That was 20 years ago. Today I'll use one to pee, but not poop because it'll usually rip out from under me when I start moving my legs.
My mom had me start using ass-gaskets the summer before I began middle school. We took two family vacations by car that year and she was especially concerned not about places like hotels and that, but rather the Interstate rest stops and gas stations. I remember one stop in Missouri when she needed change from my pocket, I opened the stall door to give it to her, and she saw I was sitting right on the seat. She showed me the set of ass-gaskets in a dispenser on the wall, had me get up, pull one out and put it down. She checked in on me a couple of times later that summer, but when I got to school I just found putting paper over the seat was so inconvenient and besides none of my friends did. I have two daughters, ages 11 and 13, and I've never worried about taking it up with them. If they were ever in a place that was really, really filthy I would hope they would have the good sense to go to alternative restrooms.
I don't think there's an appropriate time to teach a child how to use an ass gasket. In my opinion, the older the better. I just don't think they are necessary things for children to worry about while they are in school. Traveling however, especially when you're going by car, is a different story because of all the gas station and interstate rest stop bathrooms. My daughter who is 19 and shopping for a new college talked about it a couple of times this summer as we were traveling to campus visits. I explained to her why I will use them under such circumstances, but she just thinks they are too much of a hassle. I guess I'm not going to push it because there are more significant things for her to worry about right now.
Putting a free sheet of tissue over the seat is a hassle? I don't think so. Ten years ago when I was in high school I loathed sitting down two or three times a day on those dirty toilet seats. I remember once complaining to my mom and asking for her to call in for me being about 10 minutes tardy because I wanted to have my bm (I was four days constipated) at home. She was sympathetic and recommended me putting toilet paper over the seat in such cases. I thought it was a good idea and tried it but found that trying to keep three or four pieces on the seat at once time wasn't as easy as it sounded. And on a couple of occasions, my bladder was was to explode! Then one day, while I was waiting for my dad at his office building, I used a restroom that had ass-gaskets. Comparatively, they were so easy to put down that I took 20 of the sheets from each of the three stalls and hid them under my winter coat. One of my friends saw me using one and told me that they can be bought really cheap at drug stores. Since that time, my stealing days are over, but I disagree with Co-ed Mom who seems to think gas station and rest stop toilets are dirtier than at school. The filthiest bathrooms I've ever experienced were at North H.S.
Co-ed mum - one of the most sensible comments on this subject!! Thank you!!
I find Kathie's post to be one very interesting read. I was able to special order that "Are You Normal?" book and it arrived yesterday. I'm from the South and wasn't surprised to find that we are slightly more prone to hover rather than sit on a directly on a public toilet seat. Being from Alabama and attending college in the Chicago area in the mid 1980s, I was surprised by the number of women who would come into stalls, that I had earlier rejected because there was no toilet paper available for the seat, and they would just place themselves down and do their thing with no thought of what they were sitting in. I would hold my poops until I got back to my dorm room or, if it was an emergency, my mom had taught me to keep my panties up over the front of the seat, so that only the very back portion of my butt would touch the seat. Although my mom and many friends are able to hover poop, I've never been able to successfully do it.
I didn't really know what an ass-gasket was until a couple of years ago. Mom asked me to get a special color of pen from her purse, and I came across a small package of papers about the size of Kleenex tissues. Because the lettering appeared over a diagram of a toilet stool, it captured my attention. I took the package into mom along with the pen she wanted. She didn't seem surprised when I showed her the package. She travels all over our city each day as a salesperson and she said she feels better about sitting on one of the tissues than directly on a toilet seat. She asked about the condition of the restrooms at my high school and said I might like to try them. I took a couple and put them in my purse. Several weeks went by and they were getting tattered in my purse and I decided to try one downtown at the Civic Center when my boyfriend and I were at a concert. Because it had been folded up and crunched around quite a bit, I had a hard time getting it to stay on the seat but nevertheless, I used it. What was most upsetting to me was that I spread my legs to get my poop out, and in doing so, it split across the front.
About a week later my boyfriend stayed over for dinner because we had a lot of homework to do. It was a similar situation when he was looking through my purse for a calculator (I was in the bathroom at the time) that he found the other ass-gasket. When I came back in the room, he was making a face, had it around his neck, and stuck the opening flap into his mouth to use as a pacifier. "Did you forget something?", he asked. It was funny but I didn't want to play up to his antics so I just faked being embarrassed. He even went out into the kitchen where Mom was preparing dinner and showed it off. She thought it was amusing, but he didn't remain in the room to hear her explanation of how they are intended to be used.
Later that evening as we were working on our Trig problems, he asked me about what it was for and how it was used. He said the guys don't really worry about sitting on public toilets that much, but he understood why the girls, who use a bathroom away from home three or four times a day, might feel better about using one.
As we continued our discussion, I got to thinking about why ass-gaskets aren't available in our school bathrooms. I would think on the side of the stall a dispenser could be added just like those that hold the toilet paper roll and the tampon disposal.
My boyfriend says a lot of the guys would be embarrassed to use an ass gasket. However, I think us girls might appreciate them.
Carlee is right. Guys wouldn't want to be sitting in a doorless stall taking a shit with an ass-gasket under them. They would be ###### with pretty bad. I'm a senior now, but I remember this very underdeveloped kid six years ago in middle school who would line the seat with toilet paper before he sat down to shit. He was both verbally and physically abused to the point where he would hold his shit until he got home. I could smell it daily; he sat behind me in 8th hour social studies.
Linc, that's a really good point. I never thought of that.
Several have said that ass gaskets are not necessary. I agree. Our skin is amazingly protective of us, and sitting on even a fairly dirty toilet seat won't harm us unless we have open sores back there. On the other hand, ass gaskets (which I have used maybe twice in my life) have been revealing: more than once I have heard a gentleman enter the neighboring stall, take out and deploy an ass gasket, and sit; after a minute or so, I can hear his turd descending and breaking the ass gasket with a very detectable clatter of paper as the poop slides through. It would have gone down quite silently without it, I expect. If I come upon a dirty seat, I wipe it with toilet paper and sit on as little of it as I can get by with; but I don't worry about contamination. Life is too short as it is.
If it's important to the discussion (and it was earlier with Kathie & Sallie Mae), I was born in the South (Texas) but moved pretty much every two years as a military brat. My earliest memories of using public bathrooms were of my mom and aunt (who was often my babysitter and caregiver) making me stand in a toilet stall (ready to make a mess in my pants with my "load") while they pulled off and put down an ass gasket and worse--how's this for southern hospitality--when the seat protectors weren't available at places like gas stations and rest stops, taxing my bowels and bladder a few minutes longer while they carefully placed toilet paper over the two sides, back and front of the seat. Sometimes when I finally sat down I was practically in tears from holding it and, for what it's worth, I don't think I was as fully productive after the wait and fuss was over.
As I progressed in elementary school and into middle school, the last thing I wanted to do was put paper over the seats. However, I did my high school in two cities in California and both had the ass gaskets available, but many of the girls didn't use them. However, I would always remember to go through the ceremony of covering the seat when I was out shopping, etc. with my mother.
In college at ISU I continued to rebel against seat covering and now at 33, with an 11 year old daughter, I still refuse to see any redeeming value in covering toilet seats. But I still remember to do it when mom's visiting. The conflict's not worth the hassle.
I'm so sorry, but I can't not comment. It's ridiculous that you are still catering to your mother's issues after all these years. Your ability to do as you see best for your child is worth any hassle, and by not standing up to your mother, what you're doing to to your child is imprinting yet another generation of catering.
Please consider changing this in the future. If your mother is willing to ruin the visit over a toilet seat cover, it's not your problem, nor is it your fault.
Get real, Carlee, you should know that most of us girls would not want to spend the time and hassle to use an ass gasket at school. We barely have enough time to sit down, pee or shit and wipe let alone about putting some stupid paper down over the seat. I've only known one girl and this was three years ago back in middle school, who would line the seat with paper first before she sat down. There weren't many of us who would wait in line for the toilet she was using because she was so SLOW in putting the paper down and doing her thing. Also, we thought we would be the ones to be shortchanged if we followed her in using the stall because she would use so much paper. Also, she would use a couple of pieces of toilet paper to flush with, latch/unlatch the stall with and even to turn on/off the water faucet. She moved away before she started at our high school and that was great because she was sooo strange!
I'm sorry, I just don't agree, Daphne. Leigh is right. What is the point in upsetting her mom unnecessarily!!?? There were a few little things that upset mine - like pooping in public toilets - and I usually used to humour her and not do them. If, because I was feeling 'that way out' I went against her, I ended up feeling guilty. Now she is dead, I still feel guilty that I 'wound her up' sometimes over trivial things. Leigh is being considerate. I'm sure her daughter, at 11, will understand 'humouring granny'!
And that's your right, Hamster, to disagree.
Most men don't ever get the nuances of women who have to fight to get the same respect that men receive in the areas of parenting when trying to branch out from an obviously controlling parent. For you to state who's right in this type of situation only proves that fact.
There is no guarantee that grandaughter will see it as humoring granny. She might see it as her mother caving to a controlling parent who would not be able to let her daughter, as an adult, decide what to do for her own daughter.
Just as you changed how you parented your kid's toilet habits before leaving the house, this woman should be able to do the same outside the house.
Well we will agree to disagree then. I must admit that I didn't really understand the point you were trying to make in your first para though.
Reading Leigh's post again, she just strikes me as being a very sensible and pragmatic person. I think I'd trust her judgement when dealing with her own family.
Sometimes it's the mood I'm in or how much time I have, but this is what I do: 1) if an ass-gasket is available, most of the time I will put it down to pee; for shitting it wouldn't make any difference because I would get off it or tear it as I change position. 2) if there's no ass-gasket available, I will put two strips of toilet paper over the seat (one over each side)if it's a public place such as a mall, the arena, etc. 3) I don't worry about having contact with the seat if it's a c-store or gas station bathroom because they don't get that much use. 4) at my work, I sit right down unless I follow our boss; she's a hover pisser, not as steady on her feet for a 49-year-old, and usually splashes. She has an MBA but isn't smart enough to simply lift the seat, I guess. 5) portable toilets: I've never used one. I have some standards I can't compromise on!
I came across Diane's listing somewhat by accident. I've had my boyfriend read it too and we've had an interesting discussion: 1) I never use an ass-gasket when they are available. If I haven't put paper over a seat for 18 years, why change now? BF: He doesn't use one at where he works, but he does at places such as the sports arena where he says sometimes the toilets are dripping with pee (urrgh!) and he's a frequent shitter. As far as portable toilets, both of us use them almost every weekend in the summer. I use them just like a regular toilet, even though I won't spend as much time on the stool because I'm sweating like hell from the confined space and I know there's a line forming. BF: he's never sat down and crapped in one, but he says they're OK for peeing in. He feels, however, that he's probably one of the few guys to lift the seat before peeing. Such a gentleman!
I put an ass-gasket down each time I pee or shit at school and at the mall where I work at a phone company kiosk. To me, it just makes good sense and it's something my mom taught me to do several years ago. Also, when we're out and mom and I are at a store or location where the gaskets are not available, she will hold her bathroom activity until we come to a "better place" (one that has the gaskets). She just loves Wal-Mart for this reason. On the other hand, my boyfriend says the gaskets are unnecessary and when he used once in a really dirty open-stall toilet in middle school, he was called a ***.
Back in the mid-'70s, I was the one chosen by my best friend Misty to go with her and her family on lots of car trips to regional amusement parks, professional baseball games, the circus, etc. Her mother was a lot like Babs' (11.15.06) and was very strict about her using bathrooms away from home. However, with this family there was a BYOAG philosophy!.
In the back of their '67 station wagon, they would carry an inflated car inner tube. When it was time to go to the bathroom, Misty's mom would open the tail gate and get it for her. Misty would then place it on the toilet seat and she would sit on it to pee or crap. They had duct tape wrapped around the nozzle to help her carry it. I remember once when we were at Six Flags and for the first time, her parents walked us to the restroom door but her mom didn't actually go in with us. Misty didn't have to go that bad (I think she was just bored and she encouraged me to give it a try). For some reason, I was game. I flung it over the top of the stool, not noticing that the nozzle was on the side and would momentarily cause my butt discomfort when I sat down. A couple of pierces into my thigh taught me that the nozzle should be positioned in front of me ... like between my legs. I think I bounced on it for about 5 minutes (I admit, I'm what Grandma used to call a "wiggle worm") and I was not able to get my pee flow going despite the fact that I hurt. Because I was getting hotter in the humidity and in pain because I had to pee badly, I stood the innertube up against the door, sat down and doing it the normal way completely urinated in less than 2 minutes.
In the past 30 years I have never used an ass-gasket of any type and I doubt I ever will. We have three children (two girls and a boy) and I'm adamant about not complicating matters for them either.
I don't think I've ever seen one of these "ass-gaskets". They're clearly very rare in the UK, at least in mens' toilets. I can see how they would be useful, though.
From Babs to Misty (Tubeless Theresa's friend) I'm amazed at the number of postings that deal with inflexible and outright righteous parents who traumatize their children of all ages about such stupid issues such as not sitting on public toilets. Too bad Poop Report can't give some sort of special recognition to these children who were victimized (and perhaps some still are!) by outright "toxic" (term used by my counselor) parents. For me, I learned by age 9 or 10 that when I was out with mom I had to remember to line the toilet seat first. However, when she wasn't around, I was like my friends and didn't give it a second thought. But that spring at the state track meet I didn't expect mom to make the 3 hour drive. I won a gold medal in my event and immediately went into the fieldhouse to pee. Here I was sitting in one of several doorless stalls in the locker room and peeing when mom walks in and she goes ballistic when she sees I'm not using any "protection". That was 7 years ago and I still stays with me today. It also causes me to sympathize with the Babs' and Misty's who had to put up with similar demands and putdowns.
During my last visit to my sister's, I developed a bad case of airline anxiety and decided to take the train home. I waited to catch my next train in Chicago and had to take a massive shit, so I went into the bathroom and discovered the most amazing creation. Someone has invented an automatically changing ass gasket!
The toilets in this ladies room looked odd when I first came in, and at first I thought someone had left some sort of plastic cleaning sleeve on the toilet seat, but then I noticed the sign above the seat talking about how to use the device. It pretty much said, "press this button and wait." Being the curious sort I am, I pressed, and the clear plastic ass gasket was magically whisked away and replaced by a new, clean one.
Great stuff! And none of those annoying tabs to tear off. _______Well, you don't actually blow on it. That's just an expression.
Congratulations, Theresa, for standing the inner tube up against the stall door and just sitting down and peeing like a normal kid. I guess I was lucky in that I didn't have a parent that had the BYOAG philosophy. My mom seemed to have a BITTTIYP (better in the toilet than in your pants) philosophy and what I did in a public toilet stall was not micro-managed. It's tragic to think that a Mother From Hell could mess up a whole neighborhood's children.
Twice this week I've been in restrooms where the ass-gaskets have been available: once at the airport and yesterday at Wal-Mart. On both occasions when mother and child come in mom helps restrain the child from bolting into the stall "until we put one of these down, honey" and she takes the paper off before she lets the child sit down. Then I hear mom take the stall directly next to mine, quickly seat herself on the toilet and without pulling off a cover. Seems like a contradiction to me. My daughter's 8 and neither of us have ever used them. I've just tried to be honest with her.
I have never used an ass-gasket and never will. Germs do not enter our bodies through our asses. The aids virus does but that is another story.
_______Eat chilies and feel the burn!!
What the hell is an ass gasket?_______I will never shit somewhere that only has that horrible, scratchy brand of toilet paper. That stuff sucks!
GPT....An Ass-gasket is a paper commode seat cover.
Oh. Sometimes I feel incredibly blonde after getting answers to my questions._______I will never shit somewhere that only has that horrible, scratchy brand of toilet paper. That stuff sucks!
Just like CeCe reported, my mom was a fanactic when she and I were away from home and I would need to use the toilet. It so embarrassed me when when I was even as old as 8 or 9 and in front of my friends she would remind me to cover the seat before sitting down. Most of my friends were surprised because they had never heard anyone talk like that before. If anything, their parents were reminding them to take the time to wipe themselves thoroughly and to remember to flush. By the time I was 11 and in middle school, it Mom's "reminders" got to the point where I didn't even want to use a public bathroom anymore. It wasn't worse the hassle and the snickers generated from my friends. However, Mom would always cover the seat before sitting on it and sometimes I would see her straddle. As I grew older, my biggest problem was remembering to cover the seat when Mom was out with me, because I didn't want to hear that lecture again about what I was sitting in and what I could catch. I feel short a few times and got modified reminders.
For Stacee, CeCe, and Hassled, among others, do you realize that much of the toilet paper strown about the front and side of toilet stalls is from users who have--probably over many years--fallen into the habit of developing their own ass-gaskets? The paranoia is tremendous and the tissue paper waste is atrocious as some people of both genders seek to protect their butt from the "dirty" seats. I was telling my 14-year-old son about such fears last week when he was getting ideas for projects to save paper as part of a drive sponsored by his school's Ecology Club.
All this paper could be retrieved and recycled as tea bags.
You know Chief, a nice cup of Earl Brown tea would hit the spot right now.
Eliminate skidmarks.USABIDET: Hands-off hygiene. You'll think of us every day.
All Natural Colon CleansingTop-rated natural colon cleanser used by doctors worldwidegchealth.com
Your ad here!
You buy ToiletExam.com or ColonTimes.org, PoopReport makes money. Everyone wins! Get your GoDaddy promo codes here.
