Comments on: Comments on 14672

Post number 14672

homunculus — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 10:19:21 -0800

Use the natural squatting position with Nature's Platform. "Two-thirds of humanity use the squatting position to answer the call of nature. Doctors and Yoga teachers recommend it for more complete elimination and to prevent hernias, hemorrhoids and colon disease." And what a fine Valentine's Day gift it would make too!

By: Avogadro

Avogadro — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 10:34:04 -0800

Or, you could use a turkish toilet.

By: theplayethic

theplayethic — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 10:36:05 -0800

Guaranteed to support a 300-pound man or woman -- comfortably! Or 250, once Nature's Gravity takes its course.

By: bunnyfire

bunnyfire — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 10:41:59 -0800

That turkish toilet looks like the squatty potties in Thailand.... Actually the product here might do better if marketed to Asians in the West who aren't comfortable with Western toilets...I have heard more than one story about footprints on the toilet seat.

By: tommasz

tommasz — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 10:48:20 -0800

After discovering the Asian-style toilet in Japan I was glad my Tokyo hotel had Western-style ones. It was tough some days having to hold it till I got back to the hotel, but the bathroom is one place I prefer not to experiment.

By: altojen

altojen — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 10:48:22 -0800

Check out the endorsements page to read testimonials and see pictures of happy customers (not pictures of the product in use, of course). Priceless quotes like, "I've been balancing on toilet seats for twenty years. I've broken a few, and dislodged my share of toilets from their anchors to considerable expense." (Charlie Walters, MBA). Good grief, Charlie.

By: adampsyche

adampsyche — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 10:51:32 -0800

Stern talked about this a year ago or so, and had a woman on who advocted the squat. She said it was like performing childbirth in many developing countries, to which Stern laughed uproariously.

By: bunnyfire

bunnyfire — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 11:12:25 -0800

Without going into detail (i know, this will be a stretch for me) I have tried asian style facilities. It's not that bad, and I could get used to it.

By: Keen

Keen — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 11:12:37 -0800

Looks like it would be hard to read the newspaper using these things. I'll stick with the western style.

By: Danf

Danf — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 11:17:56 -0800

You can achieve the same ergonomic benefits from having a footstool or something in front of you to prop up your bent legs. We used to use one of those slanted wooden meditation benches.

By: Postroad

Postroad — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 11:19:40 -0800

it may be good for you. But the fact that it is used by so many people in the world does not convince me that it is the right thing to switch too. More people eat with chopsticks or with their fingers than with silverware but I don't feel a sudden need to change to this method. Stick with Metamucil and all will come out in the end.

By: asok

asok — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 11:35:45 -0800

eating and defacating in the squating position will aid the digestion for the majority of people. not that i reccomend doing both at once. reading the newspaper can be acheived, but requires better balance than needed for the sit'n'shit design. potty training is probably a distant memory for most of us, but i am sure it was a chore at the time.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 11:41:25 -0800

Their R&D department does some nice work.

By: Red58

Red58 — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 11:52:30 -0800

As a woman with hideously bad knees, all I can do is wince in anticipated pain. This would not be a good thing for me, or for heavy people, handicapped, etc. We can't get in that position. And if we tried, we would fall. And that's not the place I want to be falling. Also, imagine that lawsuits as people fall off your toilet onto a hard ceramic floor and the ensuing mess. Give me a comfy seat any day.

By: meep

meep — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 12:01:01 -0800

I always found pants difficult to deal with when I tried the Japanese-style toilets. If I was wearing a skirt, little problem, but the pants tend to bunch up in a way that promotes instability of stance.

By: spilon

spilon — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 12:06:24 -0800

Personally, I prefer The Love Toilet.

By: emptyage

emptyage — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 12:29:15 -0800

As an American who has lived in both Kuwait and Iran, I've got to say that once you get used to this, er, posture, it's in many ways preferable to the standard seated pose. Let's just say things tend to move along quite nicely. But for reading the Sunday Times, I'll take my unmodified crapper any day.

By: UncleFes

UncleFes — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 12:39:07 -0800

I wouldn't mind seeing the US inculcating some bidet technology, but otherwise: I am a king, at least in my McCastle, and deserve a proper throne.

By: quirked

quirked — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 12:41:02 -0800

spilon: nice one! I remember watching that a while back.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 12:55:38 -0800

I understand the pros and cons of both the squat toilet and the standard western toilet. What I don't understand is the German toilet. Thats just wrong.

By: donpardo

donpardo — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 13:42:05 -0800

My favorite quote from the testimonials page: "I've been balancing on toilet seats for twenty years. I've broken a few, and dislodged my share of toilets from their anchors to considerable expense." Personally, I'd reconsider my stance once I'd taken out one. But that's just me.

By: smcniven

smcniven — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 15:46:13 -0800

Homunculus, I remember visiting a high school friend who's parents lived in Germany at the time. My exposure to the German toilet was indeed a bit distressing. If I remember correctly, the thing I hated the most (besides the smell) was the sound of the turd hitting the shelf (and a teenagers angst about whether or not I'd done something wrong!). I am now happily married to a fine german lass, who has never professed a desire to convert our north american toilets.

By: benh57

benh57 — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 16:10:36 -0800

Naysayers should go and read their FAQ and info pages. This really is superior. Period.

By: MiguelCardoso

MiguelCardoso — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 17:54:57 -0800

Philippe Starck says American Standard toilets are the coolest in the world - they're in all his hotels, even in the tiny Hudson bathrooms - and no amount of ethnic, undignified squatting is going to change this. Plus it's not a good position to read. Going to the bathroom shouldn't just be about shitting. That's the meaning of civilization. Like Cadillacs and Barca Loungers, our Western commodes are not supposed to be efficient or healthy. Harrumph!

By: kindall

kindall — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 18:16:59 -0800

I don't see how having your knees up under your arms, like in the picture, is supposed to be "comfortable." Maybe for a contortionist.

By: Oriole Adams

Oriole Adams — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 19:42:51 -0800

Oy, Homunculus, thanks for resurrecting some wishfully forgotten memories. The first time I set foot on German soil was after a train ride from Belgium. Whatever I'd eaten in Brussels was not agreeing with me, and upon arrival in Germany, I made a beeline for the restroom. I won't go into the difficulties and painful delays involved in currency exchange, etc, (thank goodness pay toilets have been outlawed in most of the US), but severe gastric distress meeting bare porcelain was unsettling, to say the least. I figured at the time that most Germans were apparently too dainty to ever suffer from "tourista". What in the world is the point of those commodes, other than a designer suffering from dyslexia?

By: homunculus

homunculus — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 20:52:22 -0800

Thanks for sharing! LOL. Those German toilets really sound traumatic, I wonder what their origin is and why an entire culture would chose such a fiendish technology.

By: HTuttle

HTuttle — Mon, 11 Feb 2002 22:05:18 -0800

Squat position... Oh...I thought you were talking about sex positions! Nevermind...

By: maniabug

maniabug — Tue, 12 Feb 2002 20:23:28 -0800

But .... where would I put my laptop computer?