Sit Not Stand Law - August 21, 2024
In 2010 a woman named Henrietta Hudson started a crusade against the men who left urine droplets along side and in front of the toilet bowl. She began protests to get men to sit, not stand, while urinating. She stated that every man she encountered would always say they never sprayed the bowl, but she found that when the men in her life used her toilet the bathmat was always damp. Joined at first with 22 women Henrietta, in her home state of New Jersey, protested at bars and restaurants holding signs that read, “Sit! Don’t Stand”, “Keep Your Pee Off My Seat”, “Don’t Fret To Stop The Wet” and “I Sit, Why Can’t You?”
Henrietta’s pleads at first fell on deaf ears until a local councilman, battling the same plight at home, joined her struggle to maintain dryness. Councilman Janson Lander stood behind her cause and brought wider attention to the issues plaguing many homes and establishment toilets across the states. But it wasn’t until January 1, 2018 when the whole country was aware of this issue. While having a New Year’s Eve party, at 3am, Janson Lander, now Senator Lander, was killed when he slipped on the wet floor in front of his toilet, hitting his head against the tile floor rendering him unconscious. He died after laying face down in a puddle of urine that had collected from all the guests in his home that night, whom had “unknowingly” sprayed the floor while urinating. It was headline news that the Senator had died drowning in urine at the foot of his own toilet. His domestic partner, Tristen Oliver, then horrified and wracked with guilt, saying he was also to blame for the Senator’s death, took his own life in a local bar’s restroom.
Following Senator Lander’s death many other prominent figures and celebrities began speaking out against the practice of standing while urinating. On May 25, 2020 a march went haywire when a large group of protesters broke out of the march, running into restaurants and bars, smashing urinals in men’s restrooms. Shortly after many establishments began having their urinals damaged by random protesters of the cause. Establishments began to voluntarily removing urinals from their restrooms and in mid 2022 many installed sensors on the seats that would monitor if a user of a stall did not sit when using the toilet.
The ban on urinals spread across the United States and was directly dealt with in the President’s 2023 State of the Union Address. An elated Henrietta Hudson was photographed dancing around her South Jersey home’s bathroom when she heard that the Sit Not Stand Law was passed.
