# I Pit public restrooms **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 19, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489 "2008-06-19T17:05:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/61 "2008-06-20T14:08:32Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] Itsy-bitsy trashcan? Huh? I swear, I have seen all of these words before, but never in this order. They are meaningless to me. Where are you peeing? Shangra-freekin’-La? Next time I’m out, I’ll look for these things, but I swear to you that they don’t actually exist. [/QUOTE] Public potties in the United States and Canada for girls, actually. Take a peek into a stall in the ladies room sometime. 😉 Upthread, **Norinew** called them “those little “feminine product disposal bins” in lady’s rooms.” They are little metal boxes, roughly 3" x 6" x 6", bolted to the wall of the stall, usually lined with a bag, in which to dispose of used feminine hygiene products. Now that the words have meaning, let me assure you that the item in question also does, because without the itsy bitsy trashcan, public restrooms would be even more disgusting, as impossible as that may seem. ---
**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 20, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/62 "2008-06-20T14:10:39Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] Next time I’m in a fancy restaurant I’ll look for those on the specials menu. 😉 [/QUOTE] In a really fancy restaurant, the waiter tells you the specials. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/63 "2008-06-20T15:06:34Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] So if you were meeting me for the first time you wouldn’t have any qualms about shaking my foot? [/QUOTE] I get that some people are weirded out by feet, I’ve just never been particularly weirded out by feet. It’s not exactly the same scenario, though. Freakelette is weirded out by feet touching faucets/counters that she is going to touch. My argument was, but I’m going to wash my hands anyway because everything in a bathroom is yucky (in my opinion, a foot touching a faucet is no grosser than a hand that was just in a bathroom stall touching a faucet). If I were able to wash my hands immediately after shaking your foot, it would be a similar situation and I would have no problems with it. I probably couldn’t resist tickling it though, just a little bit. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/64 "2008-06-20T15:18:40Z")
[QUOTE=Glory] I probably couldn’t resist tickling it though, just a little bit. [/QUOTE] HEY! watch it. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/65 "2008-06-20T15:28:00Z")
[QUOTE=MadPansy64] Public potties in the United States and Canada for girls, actually. Take a peek into a stall in the ladies room sometime. 😉 Upthread, **Norinew** called them “those little “feminine product disposal bins” in lady’s rooms.” They are little metal boxes, roughly 3" x 6" x 6", bolted to the wall of the stall, usually lined with a bag, in which to dispose of used feminine hygiene products. Now that the words have meaning, let me assure you that the item in question also does, because without the itsy bitsy trashcan, public restrooms would be even more disgusting, as impossible as that may seem. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I would assume that men’s rooms don’t have such things. No need, really. And I really _do_ appreciate them in lady’s rooms (it’s bad enough that I’ve occasionally had to leave the stall with blood on my hands to wash up in front of everyone-ewwwwww-without having to carry out the actual “product” for everyone to see). It just pisses me off when they’re overflowing and no one’s bothered to empty them. Or when they’re clean, mostly empty, available, and some pig just opts not to use them! ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/66 "2008-06-20T15:48:45Z")
Nevermind, it was explained in posts I hadn’t read before replying. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/67 "2008-06-20T16:50:05Z")
[QUOTE=MadPansy64] If it makes you feel any better, until this thread, I assumed they were only in the women’s stalls, because my husband didn’t know what the hell I was babbling about when I whined to him about a certain potty shelf with what must be a fucking Camaro suspension spring, because the damn thing flings my 17 pound purse (no exaggeration. My doc weighed the thing, had a hissy and then called me a dumbass. I love my doc.) halfway across the stall. [/QUOTE] I’ve seen these in mens rooms also, in your better airport terminals and hotels. My problem is that the bag I use for carryon doesn’t work well with them. In California there is either a law or custom that every bathroom has toilet seat covers. This does help. Actually, though, I’ve found the general state of restrooms to have improved over the past 20 years, as remodeled terminals/buildings have much better ones than before. I’m not a fan of self-flushing toilets (that flush on the way in or out) and especially not of the rotating automatic toilet seat covers I’ve seen in O’Hare. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/68 "2008-06-20T18:12:34Z")
[QUOTE=Rascal’s Mom] Surprisingly, to me anyway, the absolutely most gut wrenchingly disgusting public bathroom I have used lately (or more accurately, turned around and walked right out of) was one of the bathrooms at the mall on the east side of Madison. Out of five or six toilets, only two were working, there had been overflow with standing water, wastebaskets were full, and the SMELL! I haven’t been able to go near that one since. Strangely, the newer bathrooms (with the motion sensors) at each end of the mall are immaculate. [/QUOTE] Just come out and say it East Town Mall. I haven’t used their toilets for a couple years. They don’t have doors on them any longer. They have like 6 to 8 motion sensor sinks, and at times not even one of them are functional. They’re super filthy, and the smell of piss makes you want to leave and sterilize your shoes. I think pissing in the bushes at the entrance is preferable to using their toilets. You would think the stores that rent space in the mall would insist on clean public toilets. ---
**Author:** ![Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a698b9/32.png) [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/69 "2008-06-20T18:41:03Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] Just come out and say it East Town Mall. I haven’t used their toilets for a couple years. They don’t have doors on them any longer. They have like 6 to 8 motion sensor sinks, and at times not even one of them are functional. They’re super filthy, and the smell of piss makes you want to leave and sterilize your shoes. I think pissing in the bushes at the entrance is preferable to using their toilets. You would think the stores that rent space in the mall would insist on clean public toilets. [/QUOTE] Eloquently phrased. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/70 "2008-06-20T18:53:07Z")
[QUOTE=freekalette] **Glory** I’ve got no beef with you. It bugs me about the feet, and it doesn’t bug you, I can live with that. Everybody’s different, after all. [/QUOTE] Maybe I misread you. I could have sworn you suggested (to management) that nobody should be allowed to wash their feet in the sink, and that they should have to go outside and do it with a bottle of water. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/71 "2008-06-20T18:59:02Z")
I hate when a place has two single-toilet bathrooms, and one is the men’s room and the other the women’s room. If only one person uses them at a time, why the hell do they have to designate which sex can use them? ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/72 "2008-06-20T19:06:57Z")
Upon rereading, **ntucker** , I can see how you got that from what I wrote. (Sometimes I tend to forget that people who don’t know exactly what I mean oftentimes have NO clue what I mean. See: previous Pit threads.) To further clarify, the exact suggestion I gave to management was - for lack of a more eloquent way to describe it - that they ask these women to kindly respect those of us who had to share that bathroom by keeping their feet in the bowl of the sink while washing up. I wouldn’t dare to suggest that they should have to go outside to wash; I was just curious as to why they didn’t, and kept those sentiments to myself (until this thread.) I have to admit, though, that I did wish that the handful of inconsiderate - to my mind - women would just go outside to do it. If that makes me an asshole, then so be it. Also, for what it’s worth, I do know that my writing skills are someimes pretty lacking, and so I hereby retract the insults I hurled your way. Sometimes, the Pit grabs hold of me, and I tend to fight fire with fire. For that, I apologize. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/73 "2008-06-20T19:07:23Z")
I agree with the part about the stalls being toooooo small. I’m 6’4" 210 and the ass wipe at work here is mounted thigh high right next to the toilet on the right side of the stall. With a plastic splash guard cover mounted over the rolls. It’s actually easier to reach the end of the paper roll with your left hand. If my right arm had a second elbow or articulating wrist it might not be a problem. And you almost have to unroll it so the end touches the floor just to get enough for a satisfactory pass. I hate these restrooms. And you can hear a pin drop in these too…you can hear the guy wiping five stalls down. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/74 "2008-06-20T19:31:09Z")
[QUOTE=freekalette] If that makes me an asshole, then so be it. [/quote] For what it’s worth, I don’t think that makes you an asshole, now that you’ve clarified. I still think you’re overreacting about the foot thing, unrelated to any cultural issues, since foot sweat is really minor on the scale of gross things you’ll encounter in a bathroom, but whatever. Apology accepted. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/75 "2008-06-21T08:45:27Z")
I’ve quit going to one movie theater that in every other way is comfortable and affordable, because the stalls in the ladies’ room have the inward-opening door about 16" from the front of the commode. This means that I have to just about stand on the toilet to open it when I’m finished with business. You could just about throw a cotillion in the center part of this restroom, but could they extend the stalls out at least another foot?..noooooo! Could they make the doors open outward?..nooooooo! This same theater has more than the usual number of disabled / baby changing stalls, but they are always in use because of the poor design of the regular ones. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/76 "2008-06-21T09:06:05Z")
[QUOTE=BubbaDog] Soap dispenser has some kind of manual button that EVERY USER has to push (ok, CFM may have touched it and I’m washing my hands anyway even if do pick up a few germs) Water faucet that requires touching to turn it off (great, CFM probably used these to turn the water on to wet down his comb. No choice but to try to turn it off with my pinkies) Towel dispenser has a manual lever. (Shit CFM probably fucked with this and now I have to use my “wet” fingers to get a towel, I’ll once again sacrifice the little fingers on the lever/button/gear/wheel/whatever. Time to leave. Oh for fuck’s sake, the door has a doorknob that requires the grip of a gorilla to open. CFM probably didn’t clean off his shit stained hands in the restroom but you can bet he put a hearty grip on that doorknob. [/QUOTE] You could save yourself a couple of these if you do what I do if I think it’s really going to be THAT dirty: don’t turn off the water at first after washing hands. Get the paper towel (hopefully in a dispenser with a downward-sliding lever so you can use your forearm to work it), wipe your hands, and use the wet paper towel to both turn off the faucet and open the door. There’s often a garbage can right next to the door you can then toss the paper towel into while keeping the door propped open; if not, there’s no harm in just tossing it in the nearest wastebasket afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/77 "2008-06-21T18:23:39Z")
[QUOTE=Ponch8] I hate when a place has two single-toilet bathrooms, and one is the men’s room and the other the women’s room. If only one person uses them at a time, why the hell do they have to designate which sex can use them? [/QUOTE] Yeah, I hate that. I sent my boyfriend into the “ladies” of one of those once when the men’s was closed with my assurance that it was okay and I’d stand watch over the door so nobody thought he was a pervert. He came out and said “Okay, it WASN’T ME who peed on the toilet sink. Some other guy must have gone in there and done that.” He was shocked and disillusioned to hear about the “hoverers”. “Why? And how?” ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/78 "2008-06-21T22:21:43Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] He was shocked and disillusioned to hear about the “hoverers”. “Why? And how?” [/QUOTE] My mother and I have had a running argument for YEARS about hovering - I think that it’s gross, and having worked retail for years I am all too aware that these hoverers – who are presumably very concerned about hygiene! – never, ever wipe up their own piss droplets. My mother thinks that hovering is “efficient” and “tidy”. She has several weird bathroom habits, including leaving the stall with her pants completely undone when there is a line. She says that people appreciate not having to wait for her to zip up, I say that people would appreciate not having to stare at her ratty old underwear more. :smack: Either way, I’ve found that people can get very worked up about defending their bathroom etiquette choices. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/79 "2008-06-21T23:28:35Z")
Well, it isn’t very tidy if you pee on the goddamned seat. You tell her that? I don’t care what you do in the bathroom as long as you don’t leave any of it for me. People think they’re too good to let their ass touch public toilet seat, but that I don’t deserve better than to sit in their urine. ---
**Author:** ![threnodyangelfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@threnodyangelfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threnodyangelfire)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489/80 "2008-06-21T23:51:12Z")
\*\*Tom Tildrum \*\* you rock! Thanks for the laugh. Now I want to go and play text-based games! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-public-restrooms/453489.md?page=5)