A collection of doodles with a bit of commentary by RICK GREEN - your cartooning friend

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Family Practice - Lid Up 1

Click on the above for a larger image.

Here is one of my pet peeves.

First, you need to know that I've lived in a household full of women: one wife, three daughters, and a female dog. So, when it comes to introducing a male point of view to any discussion, I am quickly, and completely, out numbered. For example, concerning the subject of "lid up" or "lid down," my voice is a dim clatter in the distance. I have been conditioned (more like trained) to PUT THE LID DOWN!!! after usage.

BUT, why is it that when I visit a public unisex restroom, that has just previously been occupied by a member of the male persuasion, do I walk in and discover that the guy has put the lid down! Have we men been so conditioned by the ladies that we just automatically accommodate their preferred toilet lid positioning?

Men of the world! Listen to me! It's our turf too! We can walk out of ANY such public restroom, with the lid left up, our heads held up, and (least we get distracted) our zippers in the up position too!

That's what this cartoon is about. I would love to produce a bunch of stickers, to be passed out to my fellow men, to be placed on the underside of every unisex restroom toilet lid that reads: "BE A MAN. LEAVE THE LID UP!" I would love to print a Billion stickers just like that and hand them out to all men everyone.

And I would, but...

...I don't think my wife would let me.

What do you think?

23 comments:

onthegomom said...

OH I am laughing hysterically! That is seriously way toooooooo funny!!!!! I am outnumbered in my house (3 boys, 1 husband, 1 male cat =5, 1 daughter, me, 1 female kitten =2.5) and we women rule the toilet seat! LOL My reasoning (and it's completely rationale, I might add) is that I don't want the cats to 1. fall in the toilet or 2. drink from the toilet. Hey, they all fall for it :)

Love your posts :)

http://momoftheyear-not.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

You are an awesome artist! I love your work! crazy thing is I was wondering about that cartoon on Dawn's page. Another crazy thing is we are both named Dawn, and both our hubbys are jack's of all trades! We have similarly crazy stories about our kids as well. She has more children and thus more material, and I have to say shes a bit more fluid with her writing then I. The woman has a real gift. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I am glad to have hold of yours now, I will add it to my favs.
As far as the toilet seat goes, until your naked buns fall upon a cold hard hole in the dark, and your cheeks brush the cool surface below, and you then have the shuttering realization of all the germs and things that have also touched that watery surface... only then can you truly understand.
I can not wait to have time to look at more of your posts!
much respect~d

*Tanyetta* said...

hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!

i would but, my wife won't let me! i know that's right! you know better!

my husband always wipes the seat and leaves the seat down. i don't have any complaints in this area. my newly potty trained toddler????? i need to help him with his aim! he is all over the place! *sigh*

Family Adventure said...

Very funny cartoon! :) You are extremely talented.

But! Living in a household with MEN ONLY, can I just say, please, please...I'd rather have to put the lid down than sit down on a wet seat.

Sorry if too much information, but really...yuck! I am still trying to teach my boys to AIM.

- Heidi :)

Eternal Sunshine said...

LOL! I have a friend who had instituted a no standing policy for her husband and four boys! I think that's a bit extreme. My husband told our boys to put the seat down when they are done, abd out daughter to put it up. Not really helpful, but at least the rules are the same for everyone...

Digital Scott's Illustrationblog said...

Very funny!!! Who decided the seat should be down anyway! Obviously not a guy. Why don't women show us some respect and put the seat up every once in a while!

Brooke said...

This is a big debate in my household! I tell my husband that when he puts the seat down it lets me know he loves me! HA! I feel that if ya'll are lucky enough to get to stand when you pee (and the aim is not well, believe me, if I had one of those CSI thing-a-ma-jigs that spotlighted pee I betcha the wall beside the toilet would be covered! HA! Ok, maybe it's not supposed to see pee but I can imagine right?) then ya'll should not have a problem with lifting and lowering the seat....I mean you love the women in your life right? Great post!
Hey, Can you draw me a caracature?? Did I even come close to spelling that right? LOL You did a great job on Dawn's!

Valarie said...

This was Hi-lar-i-ous! I do have to agree with the wise woman that left the comment above about your naked buns hitting the toilet water....just give it a shot once and I bet you will appreciate why women fight this battle! Plus, did you ever think that maybe the male that was leaving the unisex bathroom with the toilet seat down was doing something in there that he needed the seat down for!?! :)

Cecily R said...

My husband has said on numerous occasions that if we (meaning the girls in our house, but really the men sit down sometimes right?) aren't smart enough to check the toilet seat before we park our fannies on it, we deserve to fall in once in a while.

This is probably going to make some of my sex irritated, but I tend to agree. Ladies, check the lid! Since I have kids in the house who, (sorry)on occasion, presents on the seat, I'd check anyway. Yicks!

Suburban Correspondent said...

Are you sure you have kids? Don't you know what happens when an unsuspecting, newly-toilet-trained kid goes to sit down, doesn't realize the seat is up, sits on the rim and almost falls in? Toilet-training is set back a good 2 months. See http://suburbancorrespondent.blogspot.com/2006/06/late-july-2005.html for just one example.

So, in our house, we put the seat down (actually, the lid too - it's gross leaving the lid up when you flush).

Mama B said...

I really enjoy your artwork. Very funny post! I thought you might enjoy this email I received recently....
The Man Rules­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­
At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down .

Finally , the guys' side of the story.
( I must admit, it's pretty good.)
We always hear " the rules "
From the female side.

Now here are the rules from the male side.

These are our rules!
Please note.. these are all numbered "1 "
ON PURPOSE!

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat.
You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.
We need it up, you need it down.
You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports It's like the full moon
or the changing of the tides.
Let it be.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want.
Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem ! only if you want help solving it. That's what we do.
Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.


1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.
In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.


1. If you think you're fat, you probably are.
Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the < /B> other one

1. You can either ask us to do something
Or tell us how you want it done...
Not both.
If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials..

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings.
Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched.
We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like nothing's wrong.
We know you are lying, but it 's just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really .

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball
or golf.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this.
Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight;


But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.
:0)

Anonymous said...

That is hysterical! My husband usually just leaves the seat down - he has great aim. My two boys always leave it up. You can bet I am already preaching the seat down message.

Our teams are totally even here - Me and my two girls + our dog Daisy and my husband and 2 boys + our dog Bungee. I am home with the kids full time though (we homeschool) so what I want indoctrinated wins.

Seat down boys!

Anonymous said...

hey i have fallen down a toilet before!i really had to go and so i sat down and i fell in! so its not just kids:)

Anonymous said...

I forgot to leave you my blog link so that you might visit me again sometime. I said early, I added you to my page, so I can get to you really easy now!!
Now all you have to do is make us a new post!!
http://www.gulfcoastmommy.blogspot.com

Jen said...

Have you seen the movie "About Schmidt"? His wife enforces a no standing rule, so that he doesn't miss, and make a mess. When she dies, he goes in and pees all over the bathroom, then just walks out. Funny, but sad, too.

Kim VanDerHoek said...

Too funny! Personally, I don't mind the seat being left up in a public restroom because that means that the previous gentleman didn't use the toilet with the seat down. It's pretty gross when you're going into a restroom, you see the toilet seat down but it's covered in little yellow droplets! EEEwwww!

Jenn's finding life funny! said...

Hi Ric! You visited my website and said you were the third out of 6 kids, but not LDS. It just took your parents sometime to figure out where all of you were coming from! LOL : O )

You are a very gifted artist! I love variations of art! My uncle is a graphic Artist (He is amazing!) My brother-in-law is a professional sculpter and we know he will be well known for his talent someday. I do hope you are doing you art fulltime! You gotta do what you love. It is very obvious you find joy in your art. (It gives us joy too and a giggle!)

Take Care

Rebecca said...

Hey, I think the less you have to actually touch in a public restroom, the better. So, men of the world, leave those seats up when you're out! I live with hubby and two boys, but one's still in diapers, so I still have the upper hand at home! Enjoy your blog, LOVE the illustrations - and thanks for the comment on my blog (denalizion.blogspot.com)

Kathy said...

This is the first time I read your blog. Great work! I love the cartoons, you are truly very talented. It is nice to see a man blogging too, different perspective and all. Keep up the great work!

Nicole said...

I am in your opposite world. I have two sons and one husband and have made the mistake of sitting down on the toilet in the middle of the night and falling in.

I also encourage the toilet seat up rule, because then there is more of a chance that it actually makes it in the toilet and I don't have to clean constantly :)

Unknown said...

LOL! Thanks for dropping by my place and cluing me in on your blog! I've seen the illustration you did for Dawn previously - recently - it cracks me up!

Anyhow, for the lid deal - I too, am conditioning (read training), my young sons to either sit and pee pee or put the lid back down. So I get your wife! ;) Sorry guys - this is why all men should have their own urinal as well, huh? ;)

Lissete said...

Thanks for stopping by! I love your drawings!
My husbaned learned early on in our marriage (almost 20 yrs) only after several near drownings (on my part,of course) in the middle of the night. He still hasn't mastered the art of replacing the roll of toilet paper though! Leaving it on top of the empty roll or on the counter, does not count! But I still have hope! :)

AmusedMomma said...

Rick, you'd have a lot in common with my husband. We also have three daughters, and two female dogs! So he's outnumbered like you.

My hubby was taught by his mom to put the seat down, but... when we first got married he taught me to put the lid down. He thought it was only fair that we each had to put something down after using the toilet. I hear it's a bit more sanitary, too.

Nevertheless, at the beginning of our marriage we compromised on that issue and I did learn to put the lid down.

Now the toilet paper is a while 'nother subject!

I enjoy your blog -- it's interesting and your cartoons are great!

Paula