Sunday, May 24, 2009

Americans and Toilet Paper

It’s true!  Americans do wipe their bottoms with paper after they poop!  This probably seems really gross to Indians.  Want to hear something really disgusting?  They also frequently use their right hands to do it.  Ha! 

This is just another fascinating example of how cultures do things differently.  Since I’ve been in India, a lot of people have expressed their disgust that Americans do not clean with water afterwards to remove all the poop.  I’m going to try to explain it here.

First off, an American diet usually has more meat, and American poop is usually more solid and hard.  This is one of the reasons why Americans have more problems with hemorrhoids.  But the reason I mention it is that it is easier to clean yourself when your poop is very solid because less is left behind. 

Second, Americans wipe several times.  I don’t know if people who do not use toilet paper realize this.  The way it works is you wipe with paper, glance at the paper, throw the paper in the toilet.  If there was shit on the paper, then you wipe again.  You repeat this process several times until the paper is clean after you wipe.  That is how you know you got it all.

Third, some Americans do use water or wipes sometimes.  I wouldn’t say the majority of Americans do this, but many do.  Here is how it works.  If you wipe a few times and yet there is still shit on the toilet paper (or if you have an upset stomach or ate something that gave you runny poop), then many times Americans will put a little water on the toilet paper to finish the job.  Also, many Americans keep wet wipes on the back of their toilets in their homes so that you can wipe a few times with dry paper and then finish with a wet wipe.  Like I said, though, this is not something the majority of Americans do.

Fourth, most Americans shower after using the bathroom.  I’ve noticed that people who think it is gross to use paper usually do not think about this.  Most of the time, Americans shit in the morning at home, wipe, then have a shower.  (Sometimes you have a stomach problem or you eat something strange or you are keeping a weird schedule and you are forced to shit in a public bathroom, but this is certainly not preferred nor is it the norm.)  In the morning, Americans say they are going to do the “three s’s”: shit, shower and shave.  So it might be true that it is cleaner to wash with water, but Americans do that right after they shit anyway.  Even if you have to use the bathroom in public, you will still have a shower soon as it is the cultural norm to shower at least once a day, if not twice.  It’s not like Americans are walking around with weeks’ worth of poop between their butt cheeks!  Ha!

Fifth, toilet paper is not painful to use.  Indians frequently say that using toilet paper is the cause of hemorrhoids, but this is not true.  It might be true that this happens in India where the toilet paper is abrasive, but in the United States, the toilet paper is very soft and smooth.  Also, people wipe repeatedly but gently.  There is some discussion that using a sit-down toilet rather than a squat toilet contributes to hemorrhoids, but toilet paper has nothing to do with it.

Finally, yes sometimes there is a little poop leftover.  I’ll be honest and admit it.  It is gross, but it does happen every now and then.  Americans crack jokes about it frequently.  If you shit and wipe but don’t get it all, it can leave a little mark on your underwear.  Americans call these “skid marks” and if a family member sees that you have a skid mark on your undies, you will be ridiculed!  It’s considered very bad hygiene, but it does happen sometimes.  What can I say?  Shit happens!

3 comments:

  1. Hello its a good topic there ur talking about..it doesnt only happen in india ,infact all muslims do it,and some other asian countries like malaysia ,indonesia and etc.I myself wash off my poop using water and apply soap to my butt with my left hand then rinse it again as many time so that im certain that its clean up down there..then I wash both off my hands I wipe it off with a towel then im done...I poop everytime, after eating lol I dunno why it just happen and I shower at least 4 times a day if not 3 .and I also wash off my tampon ad when im having my period I wash my blood in my vagina with water if not it will get really itchy down there and its got nothing to do with the tampon I use..I change.it quite.frequently..do you wash off ur tampon and do u still use a toilet paper when menstruating to wash off the blood of course..thanks

    ReplyDelete
  2. In February 2017, my immune system was not functioning correctly and my primary care physician did a N.A.E.T. Treatment with Laser Acupuncture and Auricular Acupuncture to try to desensitize my body from the different allergies and allergies to the metals. This procedure began to make me drained and very fatigued. He recommended that I have a GI Stool test done as I was having GI issues in February 2017, to check for parasites, pathogens, bacterial flora, and fungi/yeasts. The results showed that I had a Bacterial Pathogen called Salmonella, high amounts of normal bacterial flora, called Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia spp., 2 parasites called Dientamoeba fragilis and Endolimax nana, and 2 types of fungi/yeasts called Candida spp. and Geotrichum spp. The doctor recommended that I take Dr Itua Herbal Medicine to get rid of the Candida as that was the main concern at the time and I did purchase Dr Itua Herbal Medicine and after taking it all as instructed I was totally cured so is a urged form of heart to believe in herbal medicines but yes indeed natural remedies should be recognize around the globe because is the only healing that has no side effect on each every healing, I will recommend anyone here with health challenge to contact Dr Itua Herbal Center on E-Mail drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com / Www.drituaherbalcenter.com he capable of all kind of disease like Cancer,Hiv,Herpes,Kidney disease,Parkinson,ALS,Copd. with a complete cure without coming back.

    ReplyDelete