Ophthalmologists have labeled a new form of blindness as “level blindness”. This ailment has been discovered mainly in males and can be distinguished as an inability to discern when items are empty or full. For example, males with level blindness are unable to determine that trash cans are full so they continue to stuff more and more trash into an already full trash can instead of emptying the already full receptacle or finding another place to put their trash. Another example at the other extreme of the spectrum is when a toilet paper roll reaches the end of the roll, persons suffering from level blindness are unable to see the empty or near-empty roll so they will not replace it with a new, full roll of toilet paper.
Previously women blamed symptoms of this condition on laziness and lack of observation. Now, with proper diagnosis, men are hopeful that women can begin to accept the condition and learn to be more supportive as is generally their role. It is estimated that three out of five men suffer from this condition, but with awareness campaigns and training, men are hopeful that women will back off and keep their mouths shut.
Researchers are unsure whether the symptoms of level blindness are related to leaving the toilet seat up and further study is necessary into this dangerous habit which can lead to severe injuries such as a broken tailbone. These injuries occurs most often at night when a female, and sometimes even males, enters a bathroom to use a toilet and sits down instinctively relaxing their leg muscles at the memory stored and intuitive seat height. If the seat is not in place when a person drops his/her weight then the result is that the person falls with an acceleration of gravity until he/she hits the bottom of the hard porcelain bowl. The resulting force is enough to cause serious bruising and possibly even break bones.
These accidents are similar to falls which occur on flights of stairs as a result of one or more of the risers or treads being a different height than the rest of the flight of stairs. The body develops a natural rhythm as one goes up or down a flight of stairs and one expects a tread to be in a certain position. If the riser is slightly too high or too low then a person falls, just as if the toilet seat isn’t where it should be, a person falls and injures oneself. But the fault does not lie with the person going up and down the stairs or sitting down on the toilet; instead it lies with the person who has removed the element of normalcy from the fixture. In the case of the stair the contractor and/or architect could be held liable for injuries sustained. So it would stand to reason that in the case of a missing toilet seat injury a contemptuous husband could be held liable, unless it could be proven that level blindness is an associated ailment. The impact of this research study could very well be far reaching, and I’m sure both genders will be very interested to follow the developments.
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