Okay, quick summation before poll.

[conuly]

Over on MtS people are talking about stupid questions asked of blind people, and one person mentioned "How do you brush your teeth?" and another said they got the similar question "How do you know when you're done wiping?", which struck a third person as "somewhat more reasonable than the toothbrushing question" (although that presupposes that you have the right to just ask random people about their bathroom habits apropos of nothing) leading to "Well, how often do you actually look at it?"

So! How often DO you look at it?

[Poll #1535486]

Edit: Obviously that first question came out wrong. Just subtract 1 from each answer and pretend it goes from 0 - 100 by fives.

Comments

[catnip13.livejournal.com]

I only look in the mirror when I brush my teeth because it's there.

[conuly]

But why not look out the window, or at a conveniently placed book?

[catnip13.livejournal.com]

Because there isn't a window, and I wouldn't want to get a book wet! :)

[conuly]

I mostly read when brushing my teeth, and I don't get my books wet. (Of course, I never managed bathing while reading. I don't know why.)

[celtic-luna.livejournal.com]

i also look in the mirror because it is there, because it is in front of the sink.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Funny, I bend over and look INTO the sink. (So anything that drips ends up in the sink, not [on my bosom/down the cabinet/on the floor].)

[wodhaund.livejournal.com]

I look when flossing (my teeth are kind of crooked and my gums aren't super sensitive, so otherwise I'll floss the same tooth multiple times--not helpful!), but I walk around the house and harass my cats when brushing my teeth!

(Related: when I was little I used to foam up as best I could and chase my sister around, yelling "I'VE GOT RABIES" as inspired by my childhood hero, Calvin.)

[conuly]

Isn't Calvin EVERYBODY'S hero?

[wodhaund.livejournal.com]

If he's not, I sure think he should be! :D

[conuly]

CALVIN FOR HERO!

HOBBES FOR HERO!

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Calvin is cool, but Hobbes rules!

[flamingtoilet.livejournal.com]

Thanks for doing this. Truly Fascinating.

(I should clarify that I mainly look after I'm done to make sure it's all gone down. I have a lousy toilet.)

BTW: Added you if you don't mind!

[conuly]

I never mind being added :)

[opalcat.livejournal.com]

Same here. I look to make sure the toilet is empty (and clean).

I answered 'always' for the first question too, even though it no longer applies to me, really, since I have a bidet on my toilet, which revolutionized the very fabric of life itself.

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

I don't actually brush in front of the TV, but I don't really like standing in front of mirrors, so I do tend to wander through the house.

[conuly]

I have no reply, but I've said something to everybody else and I don't want you to feel neglected and left out.

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you. To be fair, it wasn't really a reply-worthy comment.

[conuly]

I know. But that's not a bad thing.

[conuly]

Um. Sure, I guess so.

[feebeeglee.livejournal.com]

I brush my teeth in the kitchen.

[conuly]

I brush my teeth in the kitchen
I've done it all my life
It makes my sink smell bitchin'
But I like that minty knife.

[feebeeglee.livejournal.com]

Cottleston, cottleston, cottleston pie
What's a blind man do when he goes poo?
Ask me a riddle and I reply
Cottleston, cottleston, cottleston pie.

[conuly]

Stinky, stinky, little poo!
I don't know what I will do!
I just sang a silly song
This has gone on much too long
Stinky, stinky, little poo!
I don't know what I will do!

[sayga.livejournal.com]

I don't need a mirror to brush, but I do to floss (well, not that I NEED one, but I am accustomed to using one). I rarely look into the tissue after I blow my nose, which is strange because I delight in looking at anything that comes out into the sink when I use the neti pot. I always look at the TP after going #2 and wipe till it comes clean and we keep like flushable baby wipes on the back of every toilet. We're "over-wipers" according to my doctor (which according to her is just as bad as not wiping clean enough, but whatever).

[conuly]

I rarely look into the tissue after I blow my nose, which is strange because I delight in looking at anything that comes out into the sink when I use the neti pot.

Yeah, I can imagine that it's fascinating. (I'm not sure if I'm sarcastic or not.)

[celtic-luna.livejournal.com]

ok the whole over wiping, that makes me curious, did the dr tell you what a good amount of wiping is? lol strangest question i have ever asked.

[sayga.livejournal.com]

She actually said the best thing to use is a bidet or sitz bath, but as that's not possible after every poop, one or two wipes with toilet paper or wet cloth (or wet wipes). Except...it's often still really dirty if I only wipe twice, and I know she doesn't mean to leave a big pile of poop on your bum.

[opalcat.livejournal.com]

http://sanicare-bidets.stores.yahoo.net/acehsbidet.html
$99
Will change life as you know it.
Really.

[sayga.livejournal.com]

I bought one and my husband installed it and it's amazing. I LOVE it!!!



Just wanted you to know I took your advice. I didn't even know these things existed till you posted that link, so THANK YOU.

[opalcat.livejournal.com]

Isn't it great?? You will hate having to go to the bathroom elsewhere from now on, though. Heh.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

How is there such a thing as too much wiping?? I want my anus as clean as it can get, thankyouverymuch.

[conuly]

If you wipe so much that you start to chafe or otherwise damage the skin, that could lead to problems.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

well, ok, yes, but I think it would be difficult to actually wipe this much without serious OCD and many hours spent in the bathroom.

[conuly]

Or a severe case of the runs.

[tungol.livejournal.com]

Not sure which was the right no-mirror-brushing option for me, since none of them really fit; I don't generally look in the mirror for the purpose of brushing or flossing teeth, though I do generally do it in front of the mirror and probably see myself in it. But I'm not really looking at my teeth.

[conuly]

What are you looking at?

[tungol.livejournal.com]

I'm not actually sure. Perhaps I'll have to try to observe myself, though of course there is then the trouble that what I do when I'm observing myself may not be what I ordinarily do.

[opalcat.livejournal.com]

(although that presupposes that you have the right to just ask random people about their bathroom habits apropos of nothing)

To be fair I did address that it was rude and possibly therefore stupid because of rudeness.

[fuunsaiki.livejournal.com]

Whether or not I look at the toilet paper depends on what I've done and how it felt. As we're strangers, I'll leave you to fill in the blanks rather than going into excruciating detail.

Same goes for the tissue after blowing my nose, except I'm much more likely to look at that than the other.

In Germany, the toilets have shelves so that your leavings are helpfully displayed for examination purposes before you flush it away. Germany sometimes frightens me. XD

I will look in the mirror at the beginning and end of toothbrushing time, but for the three minutes in between, I tend to wander around the house and have abortive foam-filled conversations with people, because I get REALLY BORED otherwise.

[fuunsaiki.livejournal.com]

Oh, wait, reading other people's comments makes me want to clarify one of my answers. I don't look in the toilet immediately after going to establish "yup, that's poop in there all right". BUT I do look in the toilet immediately after flushing to make sure the toilet looks like a toilet and not something from a chocolate nightmare. I've left my poll answer as it is (I don't often look at mah poop), because I figure your questioning is more along the lines of "do you examine icky stuff that comes out of your body?" rather than "do you leave a trail of filth in your wake everywhere you go?". ;)

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Yes, I always look at the paper, because I want to be sure I'm clean. I always look at my poop, because that's the best guide to how my digestion is doing.

I look at the tissue after blowing my nose if I'm in private - same reason, a simple health check - but not if I'm among people, because that's rude. Mostly I blow my nose in the bathroom when possible anyway, so I can wash my hands afterward.

I brush my teeth in front of the mirror, but I floss while reading in bed, using those Plackers tooth-flossing picks, which make it easy to do one-handed.

I favor a generous but not excessive number of clickies.