JFF: Hover or Sit and What Do You Do with Your Bag?

Updated on April 25, 2012
H.D. asks from Allen, TX
38 answers

A little hump day question for you all...

When in a public restroom whether it be in a hotel lobby, an airport or Target, do you sit on the toilet seat or do you always hover? Also, if there is no hook for your bag, do you plop your bag down on the bathroom stall floor or hang it around your neck?

Just wondering what majority of the ladies do:)

Oh, for me, I admit, I hover and have been known to hold my bag the best I can if no hook is provided, I don't dare put it down on a bathroom floor:)

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M.M.

answers from Washington DC on

I sit, plop the bag where it looks at least dry or have my kids hold it.
If I am at an amusement park or someplace where a ridiculous number of people are I take a daypack which is on my back, I still sit though.

2 moms found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Chicago on

I always sit, since I don't want to end up dirtying the toilet seat or the floor. I wouldn't want to use a dirty toilet, so its only fair I don't dirty one myself.

If the stall looks neat and smells OK, I just sit. If there's a toilet seat cover, I always use it. If there isn't one and if I have doubts about the toilet seat, I sometimes lay some toilet tissue over the seat and sit. If the stall's too soiled, I look for another stall.

As for bag, I use the hooks. If there isn't one, I hang it around my shoulders. I never keep it on the floor.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.G.

answers from Houston on

I sit BUT I hold it until I can make an adequate lining by folding the tp into long thick strips for both sides of the seat.

I can't go #2 and hover...I was never able to master that skill and still keep my dignity.

1 mom found this helpful

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N.G.

answers from Dallas on

I sit and plop the bag down. Always have... and I haven't died. :)

7 moms found this helpful
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P.M.

answers from Portland on

I'm physically unable to hover, so I sit. My shoulder bag stays on my shoulder if there's no hook.

Ladies in my situation dearly wish that ladies who hover would politely lift the seat to keep it dry. Exactly the same courtesy we expect of the men in our lives, right?

7 moms found this helpful
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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

I've traveled all over the country, a LOT. Tyler Durdin a lot from time to time (what city am I in?).

On the West Coast... there are toilet seat covers.

I've lived out here long enough (with so little travel these past few years) I stood like a brain donor in New York LOOKING AT THE WALL for a good 3 minutes, trying to figure out where the seat cover dispenser was. Then I checked a couple different stalls (vandalism happens, only an addict or college student would want one of these things, but hey).

Oh. Yeah.

Not on the west coast any more.

When not on the west coast... it's 50/50. Sometimes I George Carlin it, and sometimes I lay down paper, or hover.

____

Here's something to bake your noodle...

In Japan, there are 2 types of toilets. Oriental/Traditional and Western.

Western are the sitdown kind, and they have HEATED SEATS, musical toiletpaper rolls, and self sanitize between each user (also very water conscious, you wash your hands in the little automatic facet with filtered water AS it's filling up the tank.)

Oriental are nicknamed "squatty potties" in English, and are similar to urinals laid horizontal (instead of vertical) in the floor. Cleanest type of toilet I've ever come across... because nuthin' but nuthin' touches anything (Japanese kids also don't have that 'lag' between pee training and poo training because it lines up your intestines correctly so the muscles work super easy and you don't have to build up new ones, but I digress. Another thing... because you're lined up 'correctly', you need almost no toilet paper. Girls don't get all wet from the pee running down our no no zones, and rectally? Like dogs and cats and every other mamal pooing 'correctly' we don't end up smeared with feces that have to be wiped and wiped and wiped -or bidet'd- off from sitting at an angle that makes poop get all over our tushes. One wipe, and they're almost always both dry AND clean. Go figure.).

((Note: You know how potty training girls shoot pee EVERYWHERE, because you have to learn what angle to point your hooha at?, and how little boys end up doing the same thing for other reasons?. Adults using asian toilets for the first time have the same problem, because they're pointing their parts the wrong way. Takes 2 or 3 times, and then it's, "My god... I wish we had these everywhere! They're so EASY. And so CLEAN!" Unlike urinals, they do flush, and like everything else in Japan, have the self sanitizing feature. ))

7 moms found this helpful

J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

Something is going to get me, let it be a toilet seat. My mom was a major germaphobe so I am quite the opposite. After seeing what my kids, pets and otherwise have done to my purse I can't imagine a bathroom floor being much worse. :p

Most of the events I go to that truly nasty floors I usually don't have my purse anyway. :)

I don't know why but the answers are giving me the funniest images of you guys in the bathroom. :)

5 moms found this helpful
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S.S.

answers from Cincinnati on

my two year old is usually with me and is a great purse holder lol. However I have a major issue with people who "hover". I am not saying you do this but its people who hover that pee all over the seat (and floor). And as someone who use to work at Target and had to clean bathrooms, its really gross to have to clean up other peoples pee. (but it could be worse. We also has someone pee in the fitting room once)

4 moms found this helpful
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C.P.

answers from Albuquerque on

I just sit--as does my 3-year-old. If I'm in a stall where an "oh-so-considerate hoverer" has left splatters, I'll move to a clean stall. If there's no hook, shelf, or grab bar on which to set my purse, I'll hook it over the corner of the door.

I work for the health department, and believe me, there are far worse things than a toilet seat!

4 moms found this helpful
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S.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

I sit and I plop my bag down on the floor. It hasn't killed me yet...

4 moms found this helpful
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R.R.

answers from Dallas on

I sit, and also add that it is SO gross to sit in a hoverers pee! And seriously, you rarely touch your rear with your hands unless you are in the bath or shower, so any germs picked up stay there. Not to mention that human urine is sterile unless you have a UTI, so it wouldn't carry germs to you. I do flush with my foot and wash afterward. If there is no hook, I set my bag on the floor. Gross, I know, but I also don't set my bag on tables, cabinets or my desk at work.

Also, there have been studies that show that the shopping cart handles carry far more germs than the bathrooms. Which I also don't really care about as I'm a firm believer in being exposed to germs makes ones immune system stronger.

3 moms found this helpful

J.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

i sit, there are so many dirtier things you touch with your hands AND you don't eat with your butt=)
I hate hoverers---you guys pee all over the seat and floor- sometimes the wall--IDK how that happens, but hoverers make the girls bathroom funky=)

I do flush the toilet with my foot, because I eat with my hand and thats ten times filtheir than the seat(even though I wash my hands obviously)
as for the bag- on my lap, or on top of something, because my hands touch that

3 moms found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Seattle on

I lay down lots of TP and SIT only....and i can't stand hoverers who don't clean the seat after spraying all over the toilet seat.

And I only use purses that cross my body, so that is never a problem...it's already in place.

3 moms found this helpful
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M.S.

answers from Dallas on

Billions of people sit on public toilets every day with no ill effects. How often has a dr asked you whether you sit on public toilets or hover? This is a germaphobe issue, not a public health issue. Our bodies are built to be able to handle the level of germs from a toilet seat and flushing. If it bothers you that much, put some clorox wipes in a ziploc and take them with you. My mom hovers and pees on the seat, and having to clean up someone else's pee on the seat is the gross thing. If you need a place for your bag, see if the restroom has paper towels and use one of those on the floor.

2 moms found this helpful

T.C.

answers from Austin on

I never learned to hover, so I just use a wad of paper to wipe the seat clean before I sit. I try to hang my purse on the corner of the door, balance it on the tp dispenser, or just keep it hanging on my shoulder. And I always wash my hands.....

2 moms found this helpful

E.S.

answers from Asheville on

Depends- no, not the adult diaper kind!
If I am desperate and the only potty is gross, I hover.
If the seat is dry/clean looking, I sit, but prefer a seat cover, and Love the sanitizer despensers that some pottys have for wiping the seat.
If no hook and no child to hold it, I loop my purse over the corner or the door or if the paper dispenser or fem product receptical is big enough, I put it there. Walmart, in my town, has a toddler seat in the handicapped stall that is perfect for a purse!

2 moms found this helpful
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D.K.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Sit and hold the bag.

2 moms found this helpful

J.S.

answers from Jacksonville on

I guess I live dangerously. I sit on the seat and plop my purse down. :) I am getting better about putting a tp barrier down now that my daughter is peeing on public toilets.

2 moms found this helpful
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P.G.

answers from Dallas on

I wipe and sit. Hovering makes a bigger mess - I HATE! HATE! HATE! when I go to pee and a hoverer has left a "gift" for me on the seat.

If there is no hook, and if the strap on my purse is long enough (I like the long straps) I'll hang it from the TP dispenser or just keep it on me. Floor is a last resort, and I put it closer to the door than the toilet, but not close enough for someone to grab. :)

2 moms found this helpful

J.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

If there is no hook I hang my purse on the corner of the stall (towards the back) where the stall and the wall meet. If I can't do that then I just throw it around my shoulder like normal.
Sometimes I hover, sometimes I sit. Just depends on if there are seat covers and stuff.
=)

1 mom found this helpful
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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

I sit and I carry a shoulder bag, which just stays on my shoulder.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.F.

answers from Utica on

I am very OCD and the germ part is a big issue for me. Public restrooms are raelly hard for me to take but I if I have to use one I have a system. I know its really not necessary but I just cant help it. I will start by making a 'rats nest' on the seat with toilet paper and then I sit my butt after making sure that no pee drops have soaked through the paper. Then I sit and do my business. I also will lock the door with toilet paper because I read somewhere that the dirtiest part of a public restroom is the lock on the stall door because thats the last thing that ppl touch before washing their 'poop' hands. I dont want that on my hands and then touching me and my stuff. As OCD as I sound I always flush the toilet with my hand because I head straight to the sink to wash any possible germs off of them once I leave the stall so why not. As for my purse if there is no hook I will make a 'rats nest' to place that on too - I know Im weird

1 mom found this helpful

X.O.

answers from Chicago on

Here's me:

12 month old strapped to my chest in an Ergo carrier, 3 yr old whining in a stroller just outside of the stall, 5 yr old in the stall next to me doing his business...hovering, praying that I don't somehow pee on my shoes since I can't hover as well with a baby strapped to my chest--usually keep my diaper bag strapped to the stroller for the 30 seconds I am in the stall. If I have a purse, it is a cross-body one that I can just keep on. When I'm all done I flush with my foot.

I usually try to get an accessible stall so I can bring the stroller in with me, or at least bring it in the doorway so I keep my 3 yr old in my sights the entire time.

1 mom found this helpful

B.B.

answers from Dallas on

Depends, if it looks clean I will sit, but of there is obvious signs of urine on the seat, i squat. but now a days places have the seat covers, so I use one of those. I hold my purse, or make my kids hold it. I wont put in on the floor unless its like an emergency, and its leather, so it can be wiped down with wipes, but still...

1 mom found this helpful

A.R.

answers from Houston on

I hover but I carry wipes to clean the seat when I am done. Oh, I want to add it's not the germs. It's the warm toilet seat if you go right after someone that gets me about sitting. Weird but there you go. I typically sling my purse over my shoulder to my back or something similar. Heck I have been known to hold a small clutch in my teeth. It is most definitely not going on the floor. Eww gross. On a side note last week I had my 16 month old with me and to keep him from touching anything, I had to hold him off the floor, pee and wipe all in one hovering position. I think I deserve a medal for not falling over. What a funny hump day question. Thanks for the smile.

1 mom found this helpful

E.B.

answers from Seattle on

So my husband thinks I am insane.....Because I am a GERM FREAK.....99% of the time.

The 1% I am not it is when I am in the bathroom...public or private. When he found out I did not hover or use the paper sheet things he just about died.

If the toilet is gross...I will hover hover hover. If it looks pretty safe I just sit my butt down.

As for my purse....9 times out of 10 I am carrying it across my body. And typically it is not very big. so I just leave it on. If there is a hook, I will hang it up.

For some reason Skin/rear contact on something ceramic just does not bother me.

I flush with my foot and wash.

I will say though I do try to avoid Public Restrooms....That is where the germ freak comes out...I hold it unless it is urgent:)

1 mom found this helpful

A.G.

answers from Houston on

I sit if it looks clean, I put down a cover or tp if it doesn't. I hate it when I get to the bathroom after a hoveror , most of them spray the toilet seat and are so germ phobic they don't bother to clean up after. I put my purse on the hook and if I can't I leave it on my arm

1 mom found this helpful

V.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

Oh... My... God... There are people who hover?!

... I honestly did not even know that was an option (It just never crossed my mind) and I think I will continue to sit. And I will just throw my purse on the floor if there isn't another spot for it.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.B.

answers from Chicago on

I will hover and try and hook my purse over the toilet tissue thingee. If I am in a rush, my purse might end up on the floor, but not usually. Although, I did use a stall once where a lady actually laid her baby (young child, maybe 6-8 months) on the floor of a bathroom while she used it. I look down to see a baby's thrashing arm under the wall of my stall. When the lady finished, she got up, didn't flush, grabbed baby and left without washing her hands. The whole scene was gross. Purse - maybe.......baby - never!

1 mom found this helpful
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H.P.

answers from Houston on

I try my best to avoid public restrooms, so it is extremely rare that I'll be caught in one, other than at work. I usually leave my bag with my husband or whoever else might be with me. I don't mind going in if I'm at a nice restaurant or other nice place. If I just happen to be alone, I keep my bag on my shoulder or hang it on a hook in a nice place. I also roll my pants up so that they don't touch the floor. And I hover. No exception.

At work, if I must sit, I go in with my can of Lysol and wipe the toilet down and use two seat covers. I wipe my feet when I leave and spray both the soles of my shoes and the carpeted area around my desk.

I use paper towel to lock and unlock the stall door. I make it a point not to anything I dont' have to, even though I'm gonna wash my hands, because I am nursing and don't like to handle the underside of my clothes with contaminated hands.

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K.D.

answers from Dallas on

LOL, my mother used to hover, you just reminded me of that. I don't though. I use a toilet seat cover if there is one, and if there is urine or feces on the seat, well...I will just leave and go to a different stall. I always bring hand sanitizer with me in my pocket to clean our hands with. I grew up in California and any public restroom that you went to had seat covers. Here in Texas there aren't many places that have them, so I am pretty much over it :)

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B.B.

answers from Detroit on

cover seat with paper, either hold purse, use hook, or put paper on
back of toilet (if there is a space) and then put purse down.

F.H.

answers from Phoenix on

I'm too fat to hoover so I sit, but only after covering the entire seat with either more than one seat cover, or many strips of toilet paper. And most of my purses are the messanger bag style so I can wear it around my neck so that's what I do. There is NO WAY I would put a purse on the floor in the bathroom. I am not a germ-a-phobe anywhere else, but women in public bathrooms are...well...dirty pigs...YUCK!!!!

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S.E.

answers from New York on

i put paper or one of those seat cover things on the seat and then sit so if theres no hook i can hold my bag

M.L.

answers from Houston on

I usually hover a little if it's yucky, but really clean bathrooms I will sit, usually on nicely laid out paper... I hang my purse around my neck!

I have had to clean public restrooms before... you have no idea how nasty they can be. I have squirted bathroom door handles that looked fine... only to have dried up poop come running down the door from the spray. Yep.

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C.V.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hover all the way! Unless its #2, then that sucker gets a visual inspection for no drips from a previous messy hoverer and 5 layers.
I also use a peice of toilet paper to shut and lock the door. When you think about how many hands have touched that lock after wiping, changing pads/tampons it grosses me out!
Oh an my bag will never touch the bathroom floor. If there's no hook I find a way to hook it over the corner of the door.

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C.B.

answers from San Francisco on

I'm with you, I hover and NEVER put my bag on the bathroom floor! Public restroom floors are disgusting!

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K.M.

answers from Kansas City on

Hover and hold the bag! No question!!

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