Open Front Toilet Seats
In the United States, Uniform Plumbing Code Section 409.2.2 requires an open front seat: "All water closet seats, except those within dwelling units or for private use, shall be of the open front type."
One school of thought believes the gap in the open front reduces the amount of urine that lands on the seat if it is not lifted, as most of the urine will land in the gap. Another thought is that the gap exists so that the genitalia of one user cannot contact the seat and therefore possibly spread syphilis to a subsequent user if their genitals contact the same area. A third, and more progressive school of thought, concludes that the "U" Shape of public toilet seats can be attributed to ergonomical concerns of seated users.
Toilet seats found in homes and homelike settings generally have fully circular seats with no gap (closed front).
Read more about this topic: Toilet Seat
Famous quotes containing the words open, front, toilet and/or seats:
“Parents offer an open womb. More than anyone else in your life, mothers, and sometimes fathers, can kiss it, and make it well when their grown children need to regress and repair. More than anyone else in your life, mothers, and sometimes fathers, can catch you when you start to fall. When you are in disgrace, defeat, and despair, home may be the safest place to hide.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“And into the gulf between cantankerous reality and the male ideal of shaping your world, sail the innocent children. They are right there in front of us—wild, irresponsible symbols of everything else we can’t control.”
—Hugh O’Neill (20th century)
“When a daughter tries suicide
and the chimney falls down like a drunk
and the dog chews her tail off
and the kitchen blows up its shiny kettle
and the vacuum cleaner swallows its bag
and the toilet washes itself in tears ...”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“At cheaper and nearer seats of Learning parents with slender incomes may place their sons in a course of education putting them on a level with the sons of the Richest.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)