As a young man, I was taught that men are messy, stinky people by my friend Terry's mom. One day she walked in to Terry's room and announced that her sons and all male visitors would henceforth not be allowed to stand while urinating in her bathrooms. She went on to tell us that even if we did have perfect aim, the force of the urine stream hitting the water was going to send an invisible urine vapor cloud up into the air and down on to her previously urine-free bathroom fixtures.
"Do you think I want to wash my face in your pee?" She queried. With that visual in mind, I took to sitting down to pee at Terry's house. To this day, I will sit down to pee if I am at home and just wearing boxers. I am sure that Terry's mom would be pleased to know that I always think of her washing her face with my pee when I sit down and tuck my junk in to the bowl.
Terry's mom is not the only person to come up with new ways to keep pee in the fixture intended for it. Some great minds have grappled with the problem. It seems there are two main reasons for the fact that so many mens' rooms are swampy around the urinal area. Bad aim or no aim at all is a big one; but you also have the splashback effect.
Someone known only as "Dr. Rick" posits that there is a urinal sweet spot (an unfortunate term if I have ever heard one). He even goes so far as to narrow it down for us: "The best place to aim is about 4-6" above the bottom of the urinal. This seems to direct any splashback directly into the pool, cake, holes, whatever, while slowing the urine enough as to prevent splash-up. "
Dr. Rick also mentions an innovation used at New York's JFK airport; a picture of a fly painted into the urinal itself. This idea was originally used at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam.
Another variation that I have run across: the soccer ball.
Supposedly this innovation has cut urine spillage by 80%.
But perhaps even that's not enough. Wanting something a little more interactive, the Ibstock Junior School and Special Unit in Leicestershire, England, has begun using heat-sensitive stickers in the urinals. When the boys hit the target, it transforms from a black color to a smiley face.
Other than the color change, it's nothing new. Some people who have a grudge against Jane Fonda's activities during Vietnam came up with this lovely sticker:
Personally, I like this one:
Considering the hi-tech times that we live in, one would think we could come up with something even more interactive. Fear not -- the whiz kids at Yanko Design have done just that. They've created an interactive game for the urinal.
When the pisser begins to drain the lizard, the game is activated, producing images and sound on a panel above the urinal.
All of these ideas focus on the matter of aim; but what about the splashback effect? Is Dr. Rick's "sweet spot" the only answer?
I think not. Just like Terry's mom said, no matter how good your aim is, there is going to be some vapor and splash coming back at you. Bruce Wilkins has answered the call with U.S. Patent #5,027,448: The Hygenix Men's Anti-Splashback Asymmetrical Urinal. His urinal is described as "a pair of vertically-oriented sidewalls which are connected along the rear edges to form a V-shaped wall. The surface area slopes downward toward the apex of the V-shaped configuration. The bottom wall has a drain opening at the bottom."
For some reason, looking at this thing makes me think of Terry's mom again.