Why are residential toilet seats always round, and public toilet seats always “U” shaped? Who started this practice? –R.G., Jacksonville, Florida
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Who the unsung genius was who started this practice we may never know, but it’s now embodied in industry standards. Cecil was chatting with Shabbir Rawalpindiwala, chairman of the toilet-seat committee for the American National Standards Institute, and he told me that after months of solemn deliberation, he and his fellow intellectuals had definitively set the design of public (and private) toilet seats for all time, ensuring that our grandchildren will have U-shaped public potty seats too. (Actually, Shabbir heads the Committee on Synthetic Organic Materials in Plumbing Fixtures, but it’ll always be the toilet-seat committee to me.) One small step for a man, another giant leap for mankind.
Why don’t auto headlights go off when you turn off the ignition? Is it a conspiracy to sell more car batteries? I can’t think of a reason the headlights need to be switched independently of the ignition except possibly when you lose your keys at night in front of your car. –Curious in Marin County, California
Finally the GM lady called back. She had been asking around, and the consensus was as follows: (1) it’s a security measure–I mean, come on, we can all dream up some off-the-wall scenario in which you’d want to be able to turn the lights on with the ignition off; and (2) customers expect it to be that way, they’re not complaining, so why rock the boat? Seems pretty damn silly to me, but if so, the fault, dear Curious, is in ourselves, that we sit still for it.
