FAMILY : Locked Behind Closed Doors

Hang around the bathroom much? So does Quilted Northern toilet paper, the makers of which surveyed 1,000 men and women about their privy preferences.

Among the absorbing data:

* Women hate it when a man leaves the seat up (but you knew that). Men’s biggest complaint is waiting for a woman to get done with whatever the heck she’s doing in there.

* Yet while 56% of the men think women spend too much time in the bathroom, the survey shows the difference is barely more than a minute per visit: just more than seven minutes for men, 8.3 minutes for women.

* Americans spend an average of 47 minutes a day in the bathroom, averaging five to six trips.

* Aside from the obvious, the most popular bathroom activity is reading--practiced by 73% of the men and 62% of the women.

* Talking on the phone is the second most popular non-traditional bathroom activity, according to nearly half of the survey respondents. Also mentioned: washing clothes, smoking, eating, sleeping, making love, dancing and doing homework.

* And about that age-old debate of which way to hang the toilet paper, 60% prefer it with the loose end flopped over the top.