# How many times have you walked into the wrong restroom? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 17, 2024, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-walked-into-the-wrong-restroom/1000404 "2024-04-17T14:07:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-walked-into-the-wrong-restroom/1000404/101 "2024-04-19T20:09:23Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Also fear. It’s not safe to be alone in a private room with a random stranger. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > In most cases I’d feel embarrassed, mostly at the thought that I might have embarrassed the men. In a location that was making me nervous otherwise, there’d probably be some fear; Here’s an interesting observation I just came up with. As a woman walking into a multi-person public restroom, should you be more afraid if you correctly walk into the women’s room and encounter one obviously-male person, or if you mistakenly walk into the men’s room and encounter one obviously-male person? ISTM the odds of a pervy unhappy outcome for you are vastly larger if the guy’s in the women’s room than if you’re in the guys room. Which is simply a consequence of the fact that the vast, vast 99.999% majority of guys in a men’s room are not attacky pervs, but the same can’t be said for guys found lurking in a women’s room. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-walked-into-the-wrong-restroom/1000404/102 "2024-04-19T20:40:50Z")
Unless i was in a remote place or there was something else dicey about the restroom, i wouldn’t be afraid either way. I’ve walked into ladies rooms and seen someone i thought was a guy. (Turned out to be a trans woman. Except once it was the father of a little girl who maybe didn’t want his daughter to see urinals in use?) I was startled, but not frightened. And I went about and did my business. And i certainly wasn’t frightened when I’ve accidentally walked into a men’s room. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-walked-into-the-wrong-restroom/1000404/103 "2024-04-19T21:06:35Z")
The Any Gender restrooms smell fine. I think it’s the urinals, with the splatter. No urinals, no smell. But there really truly is an awful urine smell from a row of urinals. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-walked-into-the-wrong-restroom/1000404/104 "2024-04-19T21:20:01Z")
Not as bad as the stench from stalls where the last lass hovered. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-walked-into-the-wrong-restroom/1000404/105 "2024-04-19T21:46:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > As a woman walking into a multi-person public restroom, should you be more afraid if you correctly walk into the women’s room and encounter one obviously-male person, or if you mistakenly walk into the men’s room and encounter one obviously-male person? I’m not likely to be afraid in either case unless there’s something else weird about the situation. If I walk into the women’s room and find somebody in there who appears male, I’m going to think that probably either a) the person looks male but maybe isn’t (or is trans male and afraid to use the men’s room) b) the person is escorting a small girl who might be in one of the stalls c) the person works there and is cleaning something or fixing something d) the person is in there by mistake. Or, of course, e) that I made a mistake and it isn’t the women’s room. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-walked-into-the-wrong-restroom/1000404/106 "2024-04-19T22:09:59Z")
Thank you. For both of you my intent wasn’t to single either of you out as holding silly or unfounded ideas. Your two comments near each other just caused me to examine the larger situation from a novel (to me) perspective, so I quoted you both to set the context for what I had to say. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-walked-into-the-wrong-restroom/1000404/107 "2024-04-20T17:08:39Z")
Heh, I mistakenly walked into the women’s restroom a few times in college. Each time, the place was filled with women, so I didn’t get far before realizing my mistake. Like many others have mentioned above, I’m also one of those people who will use the opposite gendered restroom without hesitation if the one I’m assigned is occupied and I’m sure the place has one-spot toilets. I’m not going to stand around and suffer because of a sign. If Texas has a problem with it, they can come arrest me. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-walked-into-the-wrong-restroom/1000404/108 "2024-04-20T17:25:08Z")
Twice. At my old job there was such a numeric discrepancy between the number of women and men employees that there were two ladies rooms right next to each other. I passed by the one and went into the other. The other time was at a chain restaurant which I will not name. Used to going to one of their outlets fairly often and one time at another I discover that the restrooms were swapped compared to what I was used to. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-walked-into-the-wrong-restroom/1000404/109 "2024-04-20T18:05:54Z")
Seems about time for this commentary on the difference between men’s and women’s bathrooms. > **[https://external-preview.redd.it/Ap5PhDlBaUgpmJRFzXyEw-Gi2nxmVo0lR\_sEvTzxCbA.jpg...](https://external-preview.redd.it/Ap5PhDlBaUgpmJRFzXyEw-Gi2nxmVo0lR_sEvTzxCbA.jpg?auto=webp&s=ba23f0c5e43957052ce4f0132ffa229a4a5ddb91)** ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-walked-into-the-wrong-restroom/1000404/110 "2024-04-20T19:02:04Z")
The idea behind those couches (still present, though increasingly rarely, in old restrooms) was that women who were having serious pain from their periods might need to lie down. Generally when those restrooms were originally designed there wasn’t much of any other treatment for the pain besides lying down with a hot water bottle, short of opiods; though those were a lot more available. (And I can confirm that lying down with a heating pad/hot water bottle didn’t help very much; but also, sometimes that for a while that was about all some women were capable of doing. Thank you, ibuprofen. Thank you, menopause.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-walked-into-the-wrong-restroom/1000404.md?page=5)