Now that Casper's COVID-19 restrictions are slowly going away, I've begun to notice a disturbing issue returning. I'm noticing toilet seats are often left in the upright/open position.

At the height of the pandemic, hand washing and the spread of germs, especially when it came to bathrooms, was at an all time high. As a germaphobe myself, I was overjoyed. Having been raised by women (my mother and my dearly departed grandmother), who were sticklers about the toilet been shut after every use, it just became habit, which if I'm being honest, is a good habit to have. Matter of fact, I've done the same with my own children.

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There are a few reasons while the lid should always be lowered, and keep in mind, while some of these are just preferences and opinions, others are actual health concerns:

  • Shut the Toilet Lid Before You Flush To Stop The Spread of Germs: NBC News Today posted a study back in 2018 explaining how shutting the lid before you flush helps stop the spread of germs, in particular, “toilet plume” which is microscopic bacteria, including E. coli., which can linger in the air for up to 6 hours. Considering that a lot people have towel racks in the general vicinity of the bowl, this should be a no brainer.
  • Shutting the Toilet Lid Makes Your Home Bathroom Look Cleaner: This is definitely an opinion thing, but if the lid is down when I come into a bathroom, I personally feel safer. It's almost like the homeowners care more. After reading the reason above, you can see why I think that.
  • Shutting the Toilet Lid Is a Common Courtesy: If you've ever fallen into the bowl, late at night, while you're half asleep, because you didn't turn the bathroom light on and just sat down and nearly broke something, than you know how awful and gross of a feeling that is. The subsequent anger it causes can wake an entire household.

As a man, I will admit, this is mostly a man issue, but there are some woman that are just as bad. It's also worth noting, that this all started, because I have noticed unnamed co-workers leaving the lid up and it really grinds my gears.

MEN: it takes less than a second to close the lid. Everyone should do this prior to washing their hands anyway (for 30 seconds with soap and warm water; the pandemic isn't over yet, so let's stay on top of this). I'm not even going to get started on the washing your hands thing every time you use the restroom. I'll save that for another day, but I will say if you're not washing your hands, you're nasty.

In closing, we were all doing really well at stopping the spread of bathroom germs when the coronavirus pandemic first hit. Let's not stop the good habits now that things are slowly getting back to normal. There are still all kinds of other germs and diseases that can be spread in bathrooms. Let's all do our part. Fellas... I'm looking at you!

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