# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/81 "2020-03-09T07:07:11Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > Personally, I either give them a “Well Done” or applaud, depending on volume. This is kind of what Franz Kafka shows in his novel “Amerika”, where he mentions defecation rituals in the United States. I find it ironical that the OP should mention this happening in the Czech Republic since Franz Kafka was born and lived in Prague, the capital of the aforementioned republic. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/82 "2020-03-09T08:01:11Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > If you’re not supposed to fart in the bathroom, where the hell are you supposed to fart? Simple. Highly refined and considerate people excuse themselves, exit the establishment and fart in the comfort of their limo’s trunk. I thought everyone knew that. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/83 "2020-03-09T11:24:43Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > 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? Japan to the rescue. Many of Toto’s “Washlet” seats (the ones that are famous for spraying water to clean your butt) include a fan that draws air from the bowl, passes it through a charcoal filter, and expels odorless air to the side (click [here,](https://washlet.totousa.com/how-it-works) then select “deodorizer” from the feature list). It’s not a massive flow rate - it’s not like you feel a tornadic downdraft sucking your ass into the bowl - but it’s enough to prevent noxious odors from diffusing out into the room. The fan is triggered when you sit down, and a timer keeps it on for a minute or two after you get up. I have one of these at home, and it works really well, far better than the fan in the bathroom ceiling. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/84 "2020-03-09T17:06:07Z")
I had a friend (no longer with us sadly) whose greatest joy seemed to be public flatulence just to gauge folks’ reactions. There was this glass walled, lengthy hallway with great acoustics that was the entrance to a local shopping mall. Oone time my friend thunderously blasted away as soon as we got into the hall. There was a couple at the mall end who burst into laughter. He did this at LaGuardia airport too. In a tale I once mentioned in another thread, he blasted away, without breaking stride, by a couple of pilots waiting for their gate to open. They turned to each other and just fell down laughing. My friend wouldn’t have thought twice about tooting at a urinal. That’d be a warmup. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/85 "2020-03-09T18:03:07Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > 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. This [Valsalva maneuver](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valsalva_maneuver)? I had no idea it had so many uses. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/86 "2020-03-09T19:35:20Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > This [Valsalva maneuver](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valsalva_maneuver)? I had no idea it had so many uses. Particularly as described in the third paragraph: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > A modified version is done by expiring against a closed glottis. This will elicit the cardiovascular responses described below but will not force air into the Eustachian tubes. ---
**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, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/87 "2020-03-09T20:24:46Z")
oh no, not the dreaded ear farts ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/88 "2020-03-09T20:26:10Z")
Not that you’ll see it anywhere in the collected works of Emily Post, but around here it’s not uncommon to fart while you pee in a public place. I usually murmur “Excuse me” when I do, but most guys don’t from what I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/89 "2020-03-09T20:28:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > …Never fart in elevators. Obligatory _Liar Liar_ excerpt (the Jim Carrey character has to tell the truth in every situation): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a43kowi2ncI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a43kowi2ncI) ---
**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 9, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/90 "2020-03-09T21:59:43Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Maybe because I’m a woman, or because I have anxiety, but I don’t know how men even have enough courage to use urinals. I wouldn’t want someone to see me while I’m peeing, even if they don’t see the actual action. > I also used to be embarrassed to use public washrooms. Having recently developed a digestive condition, I’ve had to overcome that. I understand that people fart, and poop, and change pads/tampons, etc. in washrooms, and I’m not ashamed of being human and having a body. (And sometimes it’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 I’m weird. If it makes ya feel any better, I’m pretty much the same way. I can’t poop if anyone I know can hear me, because I’ll never be able to look them in the eye again. Currently crashing in a house with three other people, and only one bathroom. I may legit wind up constipated or get a bladder infection, and it would be entirely my own damn, dumb stubborn fault. Oooh, two just left for work, and one is I think taking a nap. Gotta run, I can finally poop in peace! ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/91 "2020-03-10T06:40:24Z")
I naturally recall the line from the 1970’s OPEC oil crisis: **FART IN A JAR! AMERICA NEEDS THE GAS!** And cartoons of drivers with garden hoses linking butt to gas filler. But those were pretty quiet laughs and there’s a petroleum glut now. Earlier were jokes that China could attack western USA by having their entire population jump from two-meter (80-inch) ladders simultaneously, triggering Pacific Rim seismic events. Which raises (not begs) the obvious: If all Chinese explosively farted together, how many megadecibels would result? Would Earth’s biosphere collapse? Old Dopers may remember the sad plaint of pay-toilet days: Here I sit, broken-hearted Paid to shit but only farted A biography of the French performer [Le Pétomane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane) occupies my bookshelf. I’d better avoid it right now. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/92 "2020-03-10T16:27:51Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Not that you’ll see it anywhere in the collected works of Emily Post, but around here it’s not uncommon to fart while you pee in a public place. I usually murmur “Excuse me” when I do, but most guys don’t from what I’ve seen. You nod politely to the person next to you and say, “Your turn!” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/93 "2020-03-10T18:05:00Z")
Not something I aim to do, though I’m sure I’ve done it a couple times in my life. I certainly wouldn’t fault someone from doing it. Much rather they do it there than in the middle of the restaurant. I don’t expect bathrooms to smell that great. ---
**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 11, 2020, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/94 "2020-03-11T02:25:33Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Not something I aim to do, though I’m sure I’ve done it a couple times in my life. I certainly wouldn’t fault someone from doing it. Much rather they do it there than in the middle of the restaurant. I don’t expect bathrooms to smell that great. Yeah. People who don’t want anyone to ever make noises or smells in the bathroom are unrealistic at best. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/95 "2020-03-11T14:13:51Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > On the escalator with a crowd behind you. The down escalator is best because of the air flow. How about an elevator, right before you step off for your floor? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-passing-gas-while-using-a-urinal-considered-acceptable-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/848983/97 "2020-04-04T22:59:53Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > 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. I learn, I enjoy, and I applaud your every post. Nice! [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=4)