Doctors Have Settled ‘Seinfeld’s Grossest Debate
George Costanza is many things: a liar, a New York Yankee, a boyfriend dating way above his league. Oh, and he’s also a public urinator.
In the Season Three episode “The Parking Garage,” both Jerry and George get nabbed by security for relieving themselves behind parked cars. Jerry’s bogus defense — claiming that he’s suffering from “uromysitisis poisoning” — doesn’t fly.
As we’ve mentioned before, Seinfeld was slightly ahead of the curve with this storyline, arguably anticipating the recent discourse surrounding public urination and America’s lack of public bathroom accessibility. Now, the show’s other piss-based storyline has become somewhat relevant thanks to a recent news story. And, somewhat surprisingly, experts have sided with George Costanza on an issue involving personal hygiene.
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In the Season Five episode “The Wife,” George faces expulsion from his health club after Elaine’s crush catches him peeing in the shower. Elaine and Jerry are grossed out by George’s behavior, shaming him for not simply holding it in.
But CNN recently published an article in which several urologists state that there’s nothing wrong with peeing in the shower, aka the Costanza Method. “There’s no downside, and it is just convenient for some people,” Dr. Karyn Eilber, a professor of urology at Cedars-Sinai in L.A., told the news outlet. Meanwhile Dr. David Shusterman, a “urologist and chief physician at Modern Urologist in New York City” stated that “contrary to claims of urinating in the shower being unhealthy, I think it’s actually healthy.”
Jerry specifically suggests that George is in the wrong because it’s unhygienic to be “standing in a pool of someone else’s urine.” But that wouldn’t be a problem since the running water simply washes the pee away. And there are other, bigger concerns to fret about in public showers. “I wouldn’t worry about getting an infection from someone urinating in public bathing areas as much as any mold or fungus you’re stepping in,” Dr. Eilber explained.
Elaine specifically takes issue with George putting pee down the shower drain. “Since when is a drain a toilet?” she asks him, adding that “different pipes go to different places, you’re going to mix them up!” But this doesn’t really make any sense either. It’s not like your shower drain is being piped directly into your drinking water, it leads to the sewer. In fact, the drain pipes for the shower are “tied together before they even leave your house,” likely even before they leave the bathroom.
So add this to the growing list of instances when George Costanza was totally in the right, I guess. Will medical science ever vindicate the time that George knocked an elderly woman and several children to the ground while fleeing a house fire? We’ll just have to wait and see.