# At what point do you start worrying about someone in the bathroom? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 26, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727 "2013-09-26T15:35:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/21 "2013-09-27T00:45:44Z")
Option 6: Sweet Caroline! [wait] Good times never seemed so good! [wait again] ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/22 "2013-09-27T00:50:50Z")
I work in a medical center, so considering the amount of bodily function issues that tend to go on due to sick people, I’d start worrying if I heard cries for help (muttering of “help me, Jesus” due to apparent constipation doesn’t count; true story) or saw bodily fluids coming out from under the stall. Otherwise, I assume whatever you’re doing in there, you’re doing for a reason that I shouldn’t be bothering you about. Well, with the exception of whoever pisses on the back of the toilet/floor by the wall now and then. I’m tending towards hoping she injures herself doing whatever gymnastics are required to pull off that stunt. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/23 "2013-09-27T00:53:43Z")
It’s a cheap company’s [nap room](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/03/11/more-work-nap-rooms/1977603/); wouldn’t be the first time, either. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/24 "2013-09-27T01:38:42Z")
My guess is work-avoidance. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/25 "2013-09-27T02:06:33Z")
I’d be worried if I saw bodily fluids or there were gurgling/choking/gagging sounds. Or if there was an actual body curled up on the floor. Otherwise, I’d mind my own business. I don’t like when someone comments about my bathroom habits\*. I know people can’t help but notice some things, but I’d still rather not know what they’re thinking. Especially if it comes across as faux-concern. (Not saying you weren’t really concerned, **Anaamika** , but sometimes people say they are worried about something when really they are just dying of curiosity.) \*A former coworker used to do this to me. She’d always nag me for not drinking enough water during the day, so every time she caught me in a stall was a cause for celebration since in her mind peeing meant I had been drinking enough. It sounds weirder than it was, and it was kinda funny. But it could be irksome sometimes. There’s nothing like being in the middle of changing your tampon and having someone pass by the stall door yelling, “I see you’ve had your water today, girl!! Woohoo!!” ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/26 "2013-09-27T02:37:20Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Option 1: Sit in the stall next to hers and ask her for a square. If she responds “I don’t have a square to spare,” she’s alive and a fan of Seinfeld. > > Option 2: Sing “Shave and a haircut…” and wait to see if she yells out “Two bits!” IF she does, she’s alive and most likely an old-timey cartoon character. > > Option 3: Belt out “The stars at night are big and bright…” If she responds, she’s alive and either from Texas or a fan of “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.” > > Option 3: Look through the crack of the door, and hold that position until she responds or you can confirm that she’s dead. 🙂 I don’t know women’s room etiquette, but the general thing that I see men do: Go to obviously locked stall door. Push on the door, even though it is obviously locked. Rattle the lock, even though it is obviously locked. Wait for a response from the occupant, through their teeth. The other male option is to take a shit, but neglect to lock the door even though it is functional, so someone walks in on you at least 3 times. Make no attempt to warn people off or brace the door. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/27 "2013-09-27T02:47:47Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > My guess is work-avoidance. If she’s not making a sound this is the highest probability. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/28 "2013-09-27T02:57:26Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Bumping into the door is a terrible idea! > > Do this: Open the door to the entire washroom. Say “Excuse me, did the lights go out in here a few minutes ago?” > > Case closed. VERY clever! I used to work in a small office building and one of our colleagues used to go to the ladies room a lot and spend a fair amount of time there. Turns out she was in there drinking. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/29 "2013-09-27T03:32:30Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > Didn’t [Stephen King already do this?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneakers_(short_story)) And it’s even older than that: > [@](#): > > [Judges 3:12-30](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%203:12-30&version=NIV): > > Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms. The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years. > > Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a cubit long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it. But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.” > > The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left. > > Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his seat, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. > > After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the palace.” They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead. > > While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the stone images and escaped to Seirah. When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them. > > “Follow me,” he ordered, “for the Lord has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands.” So they followed him down and took possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab; they allowed no one to cross over. At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not one escaped. That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/30 "2013-09-27T04:39:57Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > VERY clever! > > I used to work in a small office building and one of our colleagues used to go to the ladies room a lot and spend a fair amount of time there. Turns out she was in there drinking. drinking _what_? ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/31 "2013-09-27T05:16:02Z")
[Challenge her to a duel.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP7dm9oeW94) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/32 "2013-09-27T12:40:43Z")
> [@simster](#): > > drinking _what_? Drinking alcohol. :rolleyes: One day she went too far and told off the chairman of the board to his face in the hallway, enveloping him in her boozy breath. He fired her. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/33 "2013-09-27T12:45:13Z")
To answer the OP: 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/34 "2013-09-27T13:10:49Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > There’s nothing like being in the middle of changing your tampon and having someone pass by the stall door yelling, “I see you’ve had your water today, girl!! Woohoo!!” Great, now I’ve got that _Clapper_ song stuck in my head… _Tamp off Tamp on Tamp off, tamp on… Tampon!_ ---
**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:** [September 28, 2013, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/35 "2013-09-28T06:56:05Z")
I used to have a coworker who would go to the ladies’ room several times a day, always for exactly the same amount of time. It turned out she was a smoker, but was embarrassed about it, so she only smoked in the ladies’ room, where she could air out before returning to work. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/36 "2013-09-28T08:00:48Z")
TRUE story: I had a friend who was in his late 60’s, seriously depressed, alcoholic, and his apartment was full of clutter, including piles of empty bottles (or so he told me) that he sometimes fell over. One day I was talking to him on the phone, long distance from a far away city, when he excused himself for a minute. (He didn’t say why, but I knew he was going to take a pee.) He didn’t return to the phone. After I waited for about 20 minutes, I called 911 and explained some of the above. With some hassle, the local 911 (in my city) managed to contact the police in my friend’s city. About 20 minutes later, my friend called me back, wanting to thank me 10000 times. He had indeed fallen in the bathroom, and couldn’t get up, and peed (or maybe shit) all over himself. The cops showed up and with the help of a neighbor (who had a key) got in and took care of him. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/37 "2013-09-28T13:53:10Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > ETA: The stall is empty. Whew! She’s alive. Well, either that or your building has an absolutely fantastic janitorial staff. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/38 "2013-09-29T16:05:18Z")
I’d go in and say “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you’re looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you.” Actually that probably wouldn’t work, so maybe the lights going out or similar question. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/39 "2013-09-29T16:17:07Z")
I can’t help thinking of that young lady who was sitting on the toilet for YEARS, and she actually started growing into the seat. I think it was her brother who wouldn’t let her leave. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727/40 "2013-09-29T16:20:37Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I can’t help thinking of that young lady who was sitting on the toilet for YEARS, and she actually started growing into the seat. I think it was her brother who wouldn’t let her leave. [If this is the story](http://discovermagazine.com/2008/mar/14-how-the-heck-did-a-woman-become-fused-to-a-toilet-seat) the woman apparently did this of her own volition. [More there](http://busycowboy.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/woman-stuck-on-toilet-for-two-years-true-story/) [and here](http://cjonline.com/stories/032708/kan_262182218.shtml) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-start-worrying-about-someone-in-the-bathroom/669727.md?page=3)