There must be some reasonable way to say this when you are in a public bathroom that has been stinkified by some previous occupant, and someone else walks in. Then you get that look that is combination disgust (dear god, what is that smell) and pity (she must be feeling really sick). Any ideas?
“Holy mother of god, what crawled out of someone’s butt and died?” just doesn’t seem appropriate for workplace. 
A sympathtic wrinkling of the nose, and a conspirational “ugh!” usually suffices. But really-- unless you know the person, it doesn’t matter if they blame you for the stench. Likely, you’ll never see them again, anyway.
Merely say:
Well, I’m in a big office building, and we always see the other people on the first floor…everyone uses the same bathroom.
Could be worse, though. The cleaning lady says she once found shit smeared all over the floor in the sixth floor bathroom. :eek:
Just smile politely as you walk by and say, “Hooboy! I ain’t eatin’ that for lunch ever again!”
Reasonable? Or are you looking for practical and polite?
Reasonable would be something like:
**“I’m sorry for the smell, but you must remember, it did come from my ass, and generally, that’s going to smell like that”
**
More polite could sound like this:
**“Oh my, the doctor warned me that the medicine might cause some intestinal problems.”
**
Or you could go for shock:
"Ok, it stinks, but just take my word for this - you do not want to touch the walls in there, ok?"
No! You’ve got it all wrong! She’s trying to deflect blame for a previous person’s handiwork. She doesn’t want to be blamed for an offense she didn’t commit.
I think regardless of what you say, you’re going to be blamed. Thou protest too much and all that. Your best bet is to stick your head in the door. If it smells, go to another floor.
Oh wait. You said previous occupant.
Heh.
Sure, “previous” occupant.
It’s ok, you’re among friends here, we won’t tell. 
Thank you! And I am too much of a lady to say some of the other things here! And ladies don’t fart, or if they do, it smells like elven flowers.
When I’m in that situation I generally use my ability to vomit on command and toss a projectile load in to the sink then exclaim loudly.
“Just so we’re clear, that nostril gouging ass-stench did not come from *my * bowels”
Then I calmly walk out.
Oh damn you to hell. Everyone around here makes the “cleaning monitor” joke, but I really had taken a sip of coffee right before I read your post. I had to clap my hand over my mouth so it wouldn’t come flying out!
Phew! Dodged another “have to buy someone a new monitor or keyboard” bullet.
In all seriousness, I used to panic when I went to the bathroom and someone else had corrupted it with their homegrown anal putrification as I most certainly did not want to lay claim to someone else’s aromatic masterpiece. However, at the ripe old age of 34 I decided that I no longer give a shit (no pun intended, really) what the decendents of excretory folly thought when they entered the den of equity. After all, the shitter is about the only level playing field we truly have. Everyone’s shit stinks.
So… elvin flowers smell like ass? 
See, that’s the difference between men and women. Women are mortified if they cause an odor.
Men want to brag about it, and if they’re alone in the bathroom, they’ll go find other men and drag them in so they can share in experiencing the stench.
I thought Jeff Foxworthy was kidding about “courtesy sniffs” but apparently he wasn’t.
Walk out of the bathroom backwards, waving your hand in front of your face and say, “Oh my god, I can’t go in there. Is there another bathroom on this floor?”
No, it’s the difference between women and pigs…
This is one of my very least favorite social situations. When you find a bathroom in that kind of shape, you already want to run out as fast as you can so you don’t pass out, hit your head on the urinal and die on the floor. Then I also want to run out so nobody else comes in and blames me for the stench. If somebody comes in, I try to exaggerate my reaction - wave my hand in front of my nose, look disgusted - so they’ll know it’s not my fault. I have no idea if it works.
Totally… I think the best option would be to say “Let’s see you top THAT!” with a huge (pardon the expression) shit-eatin’ grin.
My ex-roommate and I, when surviving on canned chili, balogna sandwiches, pot, and beer would routinely try to out-fecate the other. At one point he walked out of the bathroom when another friend was there. I asked “Everything come out okay?”
“Eh, it’s a mild one.” Out of curiosity I gave it a check and yeah, it was mild.
Said third friend was bowled over and ended up vomiting in the yard and refused to come back inside.
No, that’s the blooming dwarves.
This appears to have gone in a silly direction. I’m going to let it stink up a different forum.
Moved from IMHO to MPSIMS.
Why am I picturing Frank dressed as a London bobby?