# Is passing gas while using a urinal considered acceptable in your neck of the woods? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 6, 2020, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983 "2020-03-06T00:02:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2020, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/61 "2020-03-07T02:31:49Z")
> [@Just\_Passing\_Through](#): > > Meh, if my boss/coworker and I share a fart we giggle like schoolboys. Great username/post ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2020, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/62 "2020-03-07T05:54:28Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I should think that the more direct example would be Pythagoras, no? Interesting theorem. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2020, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/63 "2020-03-07T06:17:48Z")
Here I sit On the pooper Giving birth to A state trooper. -Traditional ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/64 "2020-03-07T19:34:47Z")
If not there, where? I vote with this crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/65 "2020-03-07T20:56:54Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > The story goes that Tycho Brahe died because he was at a banquet and needed to urinate. He did not excuse himself due to manners or something and later died when the resulting bladder infection led it to burst. Okay thanks for that. It sort of reminds me of a thread from a few years back where somebody said you should put your foot in the toilet and piss down your leg rather than let the urine hitting the water make too much noise. ETA: Here is that thread - [Embarrassing urinary noise](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=801941). ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/66 "2020-03-08T03:08:31Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > My daughter actually bought some stuff you spray in the toilet before you go, to protect other folks from the scent of her poo. šŸ˜• > You raise your kids the best you can, but in the end they just become their own personā€¦ I know that you have no sense of smell, so itā€™s possible you donā€™t know just how bad poo can smell. I live alone and I have that toilet spray in my own bathroom for myself. Thatā€™s how bad the smell can be sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/67 "2020-03-08T04:37:15Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > I know that you have no sense of smell, so itā€™s possible you donā€™t know just how bad poo can smell. > > I live alone and I have that toilet spray in my own bathroom for myself. Thatā€™s how bad the smell can be sometimes. Funny thing is that bathrooms have a fan _in the ceiling_, so if your excretia comes out genuinely vile, you can turn the fan on so it can draw the smell to the ceiling, as in, all the way through the room. Why the hell do they not sell a fan venting through the toilet seat, so the smell stays in the bowl area? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/68 "2020-03-08T09:38:14Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Over the decades here at the SDMB, weā€™ve had multiple threads begun by folks who seem to think that using a multi-stall public restroom while others are present in it is somehow a horrible violation. One poster in particular was quite upset about another man entering a vacant stall in the restroom and defecating while he busy at a urinal. He insisted the proper thing for the guy to do would have been for him to wait until the poster finished urinating and left. Take a seat if he must, but do NOT start the process of elimination until the OP had left the chamber! > > Others have bemoaned the fact that some people make _noise_ when they evacuate, and find that particularly troublesome and a violation of social mores. Some have been appalled that anyone would ever use the facility to have a bowel movement, rather than just urinate. And others insist we must break wind silently, as if volume and pitch is under voluntary control. > > Iā€™m all for being discreet and thoughtful when attending to such needs, but basic biology dictates that there will be sounds and odors that will frequently be non-discretionary, and that includes breaking wind during micturition. God, I love the way you write. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/69 "2020-03-08T11:15:35Z")
Here we do all our urinating in the woods. So, yes itā€™s fine. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/70 "2020-03-08T12:24:41Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > God, I love the way you write. Thank you. My chief literary influences were Professor Tolkien, Hunter S. Thompson, and Dr. Seuss. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/71 "2020-03-08T14:22:31Z")
One other point about flatus and urinating: For older guys like myself, the prostate is no longer a great friend and ally. Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy is a barrier to quick and easy voiding. Oftentimes the process is made easier by standing (hence urinal use) plus bearing down more forcefully, using the classic _valsalva maneuver_ to enhance urinary elimination. This results in more involuntary gaseous emission from the nether regions. So if your public lavatory of choice is oft frequented by males of a _certain age_, you will tend to be exposed to more and louder reverse eructation phenomena. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/72 "2020-03-08T21:50:07Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Here we do all our urinating in the woods. So, yes itā€™s fine. But [over 1/5 of Ozā€™s woods recently burned down](https://phys.org/news/2020-02-bushfires-australia-forest.html) so youā€™re likely standing in burnt scrub looking innocent. Whereas our brushfires only approached within two miles / three klicks, so we can still water trees while watching for hostile wildlife. I found bear poop on my front steps last year. Didnā€™t hear a fart, though. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/73 "2020-03-09T00:31:26Z")
Maybe because Iā€™m a woman, or because I have anxiety, but I donā€™t know how men even have enough courage to use urinals. I wouldnā€™t want someone to see me while Iā€™m peeing, even if they donā€™t see the actual action. I also used to be embarrassed to use public washrooms. Having recently developed a digestive condition, Iā€™ve had to overcome that. I understand that people fart, and poop, and change pads/tampons, etc. in washrooms, and Iā€™m not ashamed of being human and having a body. (And sometimes itā€™s not possible to be quieter.) Though I still like to remain anonymous in public bathrooms, and feel nervous about anyone I know being in the washroom as well. And I also wish that washrooms were more private, but what can I do. Yes, I know Iā€™m weird. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/74 "2020-03-09T01:09:24Z")
> [@2Bits](#): > > Personally I make an effort to fart as quietly as possible when sharing a public restroom and wish others would do the same. Though a bit of a problem with this is that if someone farts loudly, you donā€™t know if they were blasting the volume completely on purpose, or if they were trying to be quiet and just couldnā€™t. And itā€™s probably impolite to ask them. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/75 "2020-03-09T01:15:42Z")
I doubt anyone noticed when I blasted a trouser trumpet whilst taking a leak at the urinal today. Stadium bathrooms tend to be noisy, though. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/76 "2020-03-09T01:25:34Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Though a bit of a problem with this is that if someone farts loudly, you donā€™t know if they were blasting the volume completely on purpose, or if they were trying to be quiet and just couldnā€™t. And itā€™s probably impolite to ask them. Personally, I either give them a ā€œWell Doneā€ or applaud, depending on volume. I am not sure Iā€™m weird, but several people have suggested that I might be. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/77 "2020-03-09T02:51:24Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > It is a bathroomā€¦ of course it ok to fart there. I donā€™t get these types of questionsā€¦ the Queen farts, the most glamorous man/woman you can imagine fartsā€¦ Not positive about Jesus, but I bet he did too. Yep, fart all you want in the bathroom. Never fart in elevators. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/78 "2020-03-09T03:23:05Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Maybe because Iā€™m a woman, or because I have anxiety, but I donā€™t know how men even have enough courage to use urinalsā€¦ It is sort of weird really. And at times it can lead to the inability to pee due to performance anxiety. I need to think about other things to get the flow going. TMI? ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/79 "2020-03-09T04:02:30Z")
In this, as in all matters of etiquette, let consideration for others be thy guide. Itā€™s certainly rude to deliberately sound a _fortissimo_ fanfare from your nether trumpet while someone is using the urinal next to you, as the poor fellow canā€™t immediately escape the blast radius. (Which is one reason for the unwritten but almost always obeyed Law of Urinal Choice: Never Go Middle!). However, we all understand that flatulence occurs, and the menā€™s room is the best place for it, so the social contract requires that one ignore the noises and odors encountered therein; in fact, in my experience the unspoken rule is that the existence of other men may only be acknowledged at the sinks or the door. The solo exception being a toilet paper emergency - itā€™s understood then that protocol may be breached to help a brother out. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/80 "2020-03-09T06:48:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Never fart in elevators. When your office is on the 83rd floor and the only way is elevator 9, which goes express through 70 floors, and you just had lunch at Miguelā€™s, the abrupt change in air pressure as the elevator shoots up toward your office will tax your ability to restrain yourself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983.md?page=5)