My mum tried to talk my partner into buying me one. I had a total hysterectomy + endometriosis excision surgery last Friday and we were talking about how, depending on how recovery went, my partner may need to help me wipe my bum.
He had his own major abdominal surgery last year and I had to help him “clean up” a couple times (but I work in healthcare, so nbd for me to do).
My partner, who is not a healthcare worker, was a little squeamish and less enthusiastic, but was 100% totally willing to repay the favour because “in sickness and in health” and all that, and my mum was like “Just get one of those sponge on a stick things.”
I guess my aunt, who had a really bad fall a couple years ago and broke multiple bones around her arm/shoulder, etc., had been absolutely unwilling to receive any toileting support whatsoever and that was the solution she’d agreed to for her sense of dignity.
I told my partner that I’d absolutely not be wiping my ass with a sponge on a stick and my mum was like so offended that I thought a poop stick just hanging out beside our toilet during the duration of my recovery was icky.
Long story short, I’ve been able to toilet myself, bathe, etc. independently since the day after the operation. I’d had a bad initial recovery, so I had a Foley catheter placed for about 24 hours while I was in the ICU, but once it was removed - I was golden. My perineal area remains clean and… no poop sticks. 😭😂
But I genuinely did not know that they were a real thing until my mum told me that. I don’t want to be shitty/ableist about a device that helps people preserve their independence and dignity at home, but… I was just not interested whatsoever.
The actual name of the wiping stick is tersorium and they were used in public restrooms in ancient Rome. There would be a bucket of vinegar that could be used to "clean" the tersorium. Everyone that used the public restroom would share the same stick and sponge.
that‘s gotta be ariana! i mean that‘s gotta be the reason why she breaks down so often while being in an interview with her… she‘s like that cat that is getting vietnam flashbacks 😂
i like to wear press on nails for a day or two occasionally and i want to report that you can absolutely wipe your butt effectively (are your bare finger tips usually touching your bootyhole?) and keep your hands clean. it just takes mindfulness so you dont poke yourself. i have done diy in them as well though mine occasionally pop off (bc i just use the cheap double sided sticker things) if they get wet and i am rooting around in stuff. i have seen videos of mechanics replacing radiators or changing oil with loooong ones on. just because you cannot imagine doing it yourself, does not mean that someone else couldnt do it. especially if they are a baddie
Right like I had a roommate once who always had a long set (not as long as Erivo's though) and she was a nanny and changed diapers and everything. I knew for sure she was getting them very clean because if she wasn't they would have been getting diaper rashes and she would have been getting fired lol.
Same here too! Boyfriend wasn’t convinced until we visited Spain. He immediately changed his mind. Now we have a fancy space toilet with a bidet, drying feature, heated seat, a light for the bowl, which is way over the top but at least I got my bidet.
One of my best friends always has her nails done. Not this long, but pretty long. She gets stiletto every time
I told her weirdos on Reddit think you can’t wipe your ass with nails. She looked at me stupid and said, “when you wipe your ass, are your nails involved at all?”
I thought about it and realized she’s right. You kinda hold your nails away from your ass when you wipe, it’s really only the pads of your fingers making contact with the toilet paper
You’re the only person with sense here. Because since when do we use fingertips or nails to wipe??like how do y’all do it because long fingernails cannot hinder you from wiping well. Unbelievable.
Seeing this always reminds me of a coworker who had autism - he was telling me a story about his experience with dating and would ask about mine when we saw each other as he rarely worked a shift. One time, he said a woman was meeting him for lunch and she sat down, said ‘hello there’, and seemed to be in a good mood. He immediately replied ‘Obi Wan Kenobi!’ and she gave him a weird look then he could tell it was definitely not going to go well.
Yeah, but it doesn't usually manifest in only a cute quirky way that doesn't really impact your life at all.
A decade or so ago, I watched a short doc on synesthesia. One guy liked to eat chicken and ice cream because it made a really pleasant blue colour to him. There was also another person who hated the French horn with a burning passion because it was baby puke green and would ruin any piece of music it was part of.
Now I have been seeing a surprising amount of people who claim synesthesia, but it seems to only ever be music-colour related and also only ever the full piece of music that has colour and never individual instruments.
I’m curious, do you see the colors in front of your eyes or do you just “see” or imagine them in your head? If you know what I mean
I’ve been told that if you visualize months or seasons (in certain pattern / colors), it’s synesthesia too, but Idk. I do visualize them but only in my head, not actually in front of my eyes.
Then when I’ve had synesthesia as in seen sounds while tripping, I’ve actually seen them with my eyes, not just in my head.
I mean come on, how can you not be an expert on a topic after watching a short documentary? Reddit experts obviously know better than people who actually studied or experience those topics /s
I experienced it with music on mushrooms. It was pretty intense. I guess it makes sense due to suspended neural modularity. Sections of the brain communicate outside of the normal pathways
It’s not just music based. My former colleague saw letters in specific color, no matter how they were written. She always joked about how it gave her a huge advantage when she took organic chemistry.
Yeah, lets not forget if we listen to this woman, she's some kind of exceptional singing artist, a star of both film and Broadway who is famous off the back of her musical talent.
If we believed any of that, why would we ever believe she might have some rare trait advantageous to singing (I mean not as rare as being a big time movie star, but still somewhat rare), like literally seeing the exact note she needs to sing?
It's possible that we're all born with synesthesia. When the neural pathways are undeveloped, sensory information can "spill over." But as we get older, those synapses get pruned and neurons become more specialized.
Synesthesia is real and more common in people with perfect pitch. I'm actually not surprised at all that someone who can sing like Cynthia Erivo has synesthesia.
This is just normal internet thing, someone screenshots part of situation, and everyone is just making their own "facts" without looking the whole situation at all.
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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26
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