Why do men spit on their pee?

Source : Kutlwano

Author : Mothusi Soloko

Location : Gaborone

Event : Feature Article

Article: Mothusi Soloko

What is it with men! If it is not wearing socks that don`t match, or a pair of shoes that was last polished a month ago, you can bet their bedroom will be a mess. Now, in case you never realised it, there is a new activity on their surprise list. It is called spitting and peeing or peeing and spitting. It was not until recently while attending an event at one of the local hotels that I realised that nearly all men have a habit of either spitting on their pee or peeing on their spit or doing the ‘loop` – spit, pee and spit again. It is done so accurately that whatever follows will land on the exact spot the first fell: spittle on the urine or urine on the spittle. And all men, regardless of age, creed or color, social standing, or height or waistline do it unconsciously.

I realised during tea break, while visiting the John`s that all men who stood at the urinal either spat before peeing, or peed and then spat.  In fact I noticed this first with myself: spat then peed.  I decided to embark on a little research. So I pretended to wash my hands and took some time at it as men of various ages and stations came in. They all followed the same pattern: spit and pee or pee and spit or spit, pee and spit again or spit while doing it.  

Interestingly many men are not even aware that they do this.

  “It just happens, I don`t even plan for it, before you mentioned it I was not even aware of it,” said Tlotlo Ganakgomo, an officer at Gantsi district council. For those who are vaguely aware, they only suspect they know why they do it.  

“We grew up seeing older guys do it and we unconsciously inherited it. Normally I do that when I drink beer, I think it`s because the urine will be concentrated,” veteran BOPA journalist Kesentse Ketumile proffers an explanation.

Prince Mohurutshi an officer with Maun District council attempts a scientific explanation, one very much likely to be dismissed as too simplistic: “Just as animals mark their territory, men have a natural instinct to mark their territory by spitting on their pee,” he argues. He believes spitting got wired in a man`s brain somewhere in the path leading to modern man`s development.

 “Back in the days it worked because there were no toilets but that instinct has not died… it will stay with men for eternity,” he says.

To drive his point about the habit having been wired into men`s brains he challenges me to check men when they pee. Well, you can find men peeing just about everywhere you go –by the roadside, parking lots, or your security wall, or better, “check them at bars, night clubs, or any social gatherings. No man can deny spitting on their pee, it`s an instinct,` he says.

University of Botswana student, Edwin Simon thinks Mohurutshe`s suggestion would crumble under scientific duress. If indeed men mark their territory by spitting and peeing on toilets, then the spit as well as the urine end up somewhere in the sewer dams - far away from where the territorial claim is supposed to be located. So, he reasons, men do it because the place where the man stands up to pee is simply what he believes to be a convenient sanitary place to do it.

 “As you excrete urine from your body there comes another need to take up whatever unwanted fluid that could have formed in your mouth, sometimes it comes because of the bad smell in the toilet,” he says.

Although admitting that men do spit on their pee, a local doctor with princess Marina Hospital says there is no medical or scientific explanation to it.  “It`s just a leant behavior, there is no medical explanation to it, men see others doing it and they too do it,” he offered.  However, until there is a scientific explanation for the peeing- and spitting business, the action shall remain an intriguing topic. ENDS

Teaser:

Just as animals mark their territory, men have a natural instinct to mark thier territory by spitting on their pee