QUESTION: Why Do So Many Public Bathrooms In Malta Not Have Toilet Seats?
A confused expat recently shared a photo of one of Malta’s public bathrooms without the expected plastic seat, saying the Asian hole-in-the-floor-style is “much more hygienic and ergonomic”.
And that made others wonder: why do so many public bathrooms in Malta not have toilet seats?
Jokingly, someone commented: “I’m still waiting for the day when I see someone walk down the road with a toilet seat under their arm… There must be a gang of them!”
But it soon turned out reality might be more hilarious. A commenter who worked in an amusement park in Sweden said she saw a woman came strolling out of the bathroom with three seats under her arm.
“Weirdest stuff I ever saw being stolen. I asked her to put them back and she insisted it was her own… Yeah, right! You took three toilet seats with you to a park at the very same time three of ours went missing. What a coincidence!”
It turns out that local councils and even restaurants have taken note, as some toilets are being installed without the seats at all, resigned to the fact that they will eventually be stolen anyways.
The fewer items there are in the cubicle, the smaller the chance of vandalism.
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“Porcelain is a better disinfectant than flimsy plastic seats,” one commenter said. “Wipe it, and let your bum make love to that glazed ceramic. Your skin is quite impermeable to bacteria and infections, that’s what it evolved for.”
Others are used to carrying their own disinfectant wet towel in their bag, or have learned the art of “hovering sur les toilettes”.
And after all, this is where women get their muscled calves from – all the squatting at public toilets.
Have you ever seen someone steal a toilet seat?
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