Why do you men have to piss against something?

Men pissing in semi-public is a common sight around here (from time to time I also pass a lorry driver nipping off into the woods with a bog roll.... but that's a different matter that I don't want to think about).  If I could wee standing up, with a little dignity, as opposed to squatting over the risk of being thistled or nettled on the arse with the likelihood of drenched trousers, I might well do it in the open, like the men.  It would be a boon, actually, because my bladder is a faithless companion.  I wonder, though, if I would feel compelled to seek out only perpendiculars to piss on.

There are miles and miles of unbounded roadside in Portugal, without fence or wall.  So why do they seek out the free standing gateposts or trees to piss against?  What's wrong with pissing into the grass? Or onto the asphalt? Or a muddy puddle? Or into sandy earth to make a muddy puddle?

p.s. Before any of you say it, I KNOW that, obviously, snow trumps walls, but we don't get that here very often.  If we did, then they would.

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written by Susan M , November 06, 2009

Maybe they're just afraid someone will see them from the other side?

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written by Brian Clegg , November 06, 2009

I think Susan has it. It's a concealment thing. Our brains are so small, we think if there's something blocking our line of sight, no one can see us.

Oh, and you can play 'How high can I get?'

I can't believe I typed that.

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written by Célia , November 06, 2009

Some days ago, i saw a teen doing this in a busy Chiado street (centre of Lisbon), watering a door step. I was speechless. But i think you were right. He thought he was invisible...

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written by judith , November 07, 2009

i always thot it was more of an alphadog thing.....

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written by Carlos Ribeiro , November 07, 2009

I guess it seems a waste just to dump it on the ground. And it kind of solves the splashing issue.

And, incidentally, the side stands of scooters are always on the left side.

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written by Abracadabra , November 08, 2009

Já viu algum cão a mijar no vazio? O mesmo se passa com os homens.


PS: sou homem.

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written by dem , November 08, 2009

I was going to say what others have said, it's the concealment thing, but others have said it so there's little point. I wonder, prompted by the alpha comment, if it's a bit like dogs marking/communicating only we've collectively forgotten why we do it or how to sniff out the markers/messages.

I also want to point out that I owned a Vespa T5 and the stand was central/on both sides so by no means do all scooters have stands on the left. Looking in my book of classic scooter, the majority of the scooters shown have a central/double sided stand.

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written by Carlos Ribeiro , November 09, 2009

I said the SIDE stands are always on the left side.
Of course the central are central aren't they? That's why they're called central, one spike on each side and the thing says upright.

About pissing against the wall, you're also wrong, it is all about taking care of the splashing issue.

We humans are lookers, not sniffers.

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written by Sosthene Bouillon , November 12, 2009

It's marking a definite trerritory and leaving one's odour on the marker. Read about evolution and watch dogs.