# Another men's toilet etiquette thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 18, 2012, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502 "2012-06-18T12:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/21 "2012-06-18T17:26:53Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > OP here. Shocked at the responses. I liken a toilet stall to a parking space. If you have an empty lot except for one parked car, and you park next to the lone car, I think there’s something wrong/odd about you. I think that the reason for that is that you’ve told the other driver “This is the acceptable place to park.” Like a safety in numbers thing. Maybe it’s the same for shitters. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/22 "2012-06-18T17:28:59Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Double that if you shit in the car. While vacuuming it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/23 "2012-06-18T17:29:43Z")
Being old and wise I always check a stall for toilet paper and cleanliness before using it. All things being equal, I’d choose the far away stall. But TP and hygine trump the leave a space rule. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/24 "2012-06-18T17:36:49Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#): > > As for the stalls, who gives a shit. Excellent choice of phrase. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/25 "2012-06-18T17:37:06Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > OP here. Shocked at the responses. I liken a toilet stall to a parking space. If you have an empty lot except for one parked car, and you park next to the lone car, I think there’s something wrong/odd about you. I suppose if I used a bathroom that had a number of stalls roughly equivalent to the number of parking spaces in an average Target parking lot, I might agree with you. Certainly, when I’m parking in one of the 5 spaces in front of say, a Caribou, I don’t particularly care whether I park next to someone else. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/26 "2012-06-18T17:38:14Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Being old and wise I always check a stall for toilet paper and cleanliness before using it. All things being equal, I’d choose the far away stall. But TP and hygine trump the leave a space rule. Exactly. Sometimes the only clean stall, or the only one with toilet paper, is the one next to an occupied stall. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/27 "2012-06-18T18:18:00Z")
The classic educational film, “[Male Restroom Etiquette](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzO1mCAVyMw)” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/28 "2012-06-18T18:31:20Z")
The last three-stall bathroom I remember had the stalls in a corner; that is, one stall in the corner of the room, one next to that, and another next to that. So the first person (was it you, **BwanaBob**?) might have taken the corner stall for maximum privacy. So now the next guy comes in and he has the choice between stalls 2 and 3. 3 might be right next to a urinal; or maybe everyone coming into the bathroom can now see his feet under the partition. If he takes number 2 (sorry), he’s intruding on the precious privacy of Mr. Cornerstall, but he does get a one-stall buffer between himself and the bathroom at large. That’s perhaps not the tradeoff we all would have taken, but it’s not so indefensible as the OP would like to believe. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/29 "2012-06-18T18:34:20Z")
Perhaps the stall farthest from the occupied stall was handicap-accessible and the defecator in question was leaving it open for someone who might need it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/30 "2012-06-18T18:42:07Z")
Add me to the “who gives a rat’s ass” column. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/31 "2012-06-18T18:44:31Z")
It’s a public toilet, so get over it. What I object to is when contractors come to my house to do a job and decide that that’s when they need to relieve themselves of last night’s hard-boiled eggs, pickled herring and beer. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/32 "2012-06-18T19:01:03Z")
It’s nice if you can have an empty stall in between two people shitting, but if not, oh well. If you want to shit in privacy work from home. ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/33 "2012-06-18T19:34:55Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I don’t care how irrational it is, I still get upset when someone sits down in the stall next to mine when there are 5 unoccupied stalls in the whole rest of the bathroom. It’s only happened a couple times since I started working here, fortunately. I’m totally with you. I don’t want to crap next to someone else and hear all their grunting, etc.. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/34 "2012-06-18T19:46:37Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Especially with a Dyson. My new Dyson “Animal” would clean up your ass hair too. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/35 "2012-06-18T22:59:45Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Maybe fodder for Totally Mindless… > > What the fuck is wrong with some people? There are three stalls. One of the end stalls is occupied. The other two are clean. Why the hell would you select the middle one? For crying out loud people crapping want their space. > > There was a humorous app making the rounds where you had to choose a urinal based on occupancy. The cardinal rule was to never select a urinal that was adjacent to one being used (if possible). This rule holds for bowls too. Where were you people raised? I don’t understand this myself. It’s like when you are using a urinal and someone chooses the one right next to yours, even though all of the others are free. It’s as if they do it on purpose to be rude. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/36 "2012-06-20T20:51:31Z")
I’m in the “Get over it” crowd. I read once many years ago that the most used urinals and toilets in public bathrooms were the ones furthest back. Ever since then it’s been my policy to just go to the first open position available and have at it. The only exception for me is if the first urinal is a kiddy urinal. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/37 "2012-06-20T21:54:01Z")
White people (brown) problems. I’m surprised that the people with this hang up can take a shit in a public restroom in the first place. I thought people like that needed home field advantage to de-clench. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/38 "2012-06-21T12:48:54Z")
“Men” and “toilet etiquette” don’t belong in the same thread… unless we are making fun of women’s toilet etiquette. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/39 "2012-06-21T13:03:38Z")
Get over it. Stop trying to make up “rules” that aren’t. Oh, and while we’re on this subject: Urinals and their flushing\_ If you don’t flush, well I understand; saving water & energy. If you do flush, you say politeness rules over saving water & energy, and so that’s a reasonable point. This is possibly the “gold standard” .😉 If you pre-flush only if it’s yellow- well, maybe you’re getting a trifle anal, but we’ll let you slide. If you always pre-flush(even if clear) (and post-flush): OK, dude, that’s some pretty serious resources you are wasting. Not cool. If you constantly flush over & over- STOP THAT! see a psych. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502/40 "2012-06-21T13:37:14Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > Why don’t they just put up real doors (might not be feasible, though, at certain public toilets)? I’ve seen fully enclosed stalls in a few places, but it’s extremely rare. Most of the ones I’ve seen were in restaurants or bars, but I remember there was at least one airport, and I want to say it was Louisville. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mens-toilet-etiquette-thread/625502.md?page=3)