Ok, now you’ve got me thinking. What’s the upper bounds of multitasking in that situation? So, reviewing previous SDMB threads about breaches of bathroom ettiquete I have come up with the following items which can be done simultaneously(in theory at least) in the situation: pooping, talking, texting, reading(a paper or somesuch), chewing gum(preferably popping bubbles loudly), and masturbating. What else could one, umm, fit in?
Once a list is achieved, should we then dare Giraffe, our resident bathroom daredevil, to execute said list and document it? In the name of science, of course.
I did not know that Giraffe was our resident bathroom daredevil. Learn something new (and useless) every day.
And I would add eating to the list although I don’t know how hard chewing gum and eating would be. But it ups the level of grossness for me by quite a few magnitudes. Snerk on myself. I almost wrote magniturdes.
Based on your username, I thought it was you seeking a panoply of suggestions so that any staff meetings you hold in the head would contain as many useful tasks for as many people in attendance as possible.
OK, when I am calling you, which of us is aware that you are in the bathroom? That’d be you. Who chose to take the call. Does knowing that it grosses others out make you rethink taking the call?
Well, let’s see. We’ve covered reading, talking on the phone, laptops, eating, talking to someone in another stall, texting, self-gratification, chewing gum, popping bubbles…not sure if I covered it all, but - anyone ever take a quick nap in the can? On the other end of the spectrum, could elimination possibly be that boring that it puts you to sleep?
Giraffe - take a brief siesta in the can and let us know the results of your experiment.
They’ve also created a class of people who expect you to be accessible 24/7, and resent it if they can’t get hold of you exactly when they want. “Where were you? I called your cel and you didn’t answer!” As if everyone is entitled to full access to you at your convenience, and you have to justify otherwise being unavailable.
Fortunately, I don’t have to deal with this. I can count the number of people who have my cel # on one hand, and I receive, on average, 2 calls/month.
After reading that, I’m wondering what those couple Pit threads about the TMI were all about lately. It’s obvious from reading that thread that TMI has been around here for a very long time. And there was a big emphasis on the T and the M.
I used to work at an office equipment company where the shipper/receiver used to put down paper towels on the floor in one of the bathrooms and snooze.
:: shrug :: Some people are oblivious to bad manners, then.
If I’m walking around the house buck naked and the doorbell rings, I put on a pair of pants before I answer the door. Not because I give a rat’s ass if some strangers sees me in the buff, but rather as a courtesy to the poor schmuck at the door who had no idea my boys were swinging free and who may not want to gaze upon my hairy ass.
Good manners aren’t for your convenience. They are to display respect for others around you.
If I ever took a business call in the can and my boss found out, I’d be fired.
My Wife has a friend that makes phone calls while out hiking. Yep, let’s get away from it all.
One time my Wife called her land line and it was busy. It was just to chat so my Wife thought nothing of it. Later the friend asked “If my land line is busy, why didn’t you call my cell”?
This reminds me of some guy I work with. He runs around with his wireless headset on while he’s on conference calls. I don’t know if he’s trying to look important, just can’t sit still or what, but when he first started working in my group, he had the nerve to come up to me while I was on my own conference call, which I was leading, and start firing off questions at me that the people on his call had for me. I was livid. I had to calm down for a few minutes after I got off my call before I politely requested that he wait next time until I’m done with my meeting before interrupting me with questions from other people. It never even dawned on me that someone would think that was okay.
He’s the type of guy that hangs around with his headset attached to one ear and his cell phone slapped up to the other side of his head. Drives me batshit crazy. I can’t imagine what the people on the other end of either line are thinking. I’d probably hang up.
Last summer my 16 year old daughter got a call while we were kayaking. Her phone rang, she answered and talked for a bit. After, she couldn’t understand what we all found so funny.
He slept on the public bathroom floor with just paper towels between him and… you know, the miscellaneous stuff that always ends up on the floor? Yikes!
Just to reiterate and add a bit to what others have said so well in this thread, there are certain things I really, really, really DO. NOT. WANT. TO. HEAR. ON. THE. PHONE. For those of you who just can’t understand this, I pity you. Undoubtedly you have a lot of social problems that you just can’t understand.
If you’re still having a hard time keeping track, I’ve put together this handy list of … Things I Do Not Want To Hear Over The Phone
[ol]
[li]Bathroom Noises.[/li][li]Sex Noises.[/li][li]Eating Noises.[/li][/ol]
One time I called a colleague about at about 7 on a Sunday night to remind him to bring something to work the next day. He answered the phone and is going, like, “Uh–OK–Uh–I’ll–Uh–Make Sure–Uh–To Bring–Uh–The Whatits–Uh–To Work–Uh–Tomorrow …” As quickly as I could I just said “OKthanksgbye”, but what I really wanted to do was yell, “For God’s sakes man, I know you own a freaking answering machine, why the HELL did you answer the goddamned phone?”
