# Mothers, please teach your daughters... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 2, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472 "2011-05-02T13:51:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/141 "2011-05-06T04:12:29Z")
I do credit one of the earlier threads for raising my awareness. It just didn’t cross my mind I might be inconveniencing or worse someone that needed the stall. i used to use the handicapped stall at work 'cause I like the space and it’s against the wall. I don’t do that any more for what that’s worth. Put me in the camp though for handicapped accessible. Eg, I’ve got an autistic 6 year old daughter, and we do use the handicapped stall if I have to take her to the bathroom and there’s no family bathroom available. And to the earlier poster, handicapped parking spaces are not exactly like stalls. Most places handicapped parking spaces require a handicap permit and it’s illegal to park if you don’t have one. Heck, it’s even illegal to park if you don’t have a handicapped permit and the handicapped person either picking up or dropping off (for your own non-handicapped self). ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/142 "2011-05-06T04:19:47Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > Correct me if I’m being whooshed, but you do know that “dropping the kids off at the pool” is a euphemism for taking a dump, yeah? :smack: And it serves me right for posting when I am exceptionally pissed off. Apologies **Autolycus**. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/143 "2011-05-06T05:42:43Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > Correct me if I’m being whooshed, but you do know that “dropping the kids off at the pool” is a euphemism for taking a dump, yeah? I didn’t think of it that way, especially with the “wade into the deep end” part. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/144 "2011-05-06T05:44:00Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I’m surprised that people don’t consider an arm in a cast a legitimate handicap. If you saw a one armed person, would you give them the stall? Probably. Yet the one armed person has probably had more time to get use to doing things one armed, and isn’t encumbered with the weight of a cast and the awkwardness of having an arm in a sling. It’s not that I don’t consider an arm in a cast to be a problem, just that (as \*\*Sarahfeena \*\*said) I would never have thought that someone with their arm in a cast - or someone with one arm - would need the bigger stall. I’m not doubting that you did, but I have also had my arm in a cast going above the elbow, and the size of the bathroom stall was not an issue (although oh, so many other things were). So it’s not a universal thing, and it would honestly never have occurred to me to offer the bigger stall to someone I saw with a cast. So the smack in the mouth would come as quite a surprise to me! Having said that, I’m not sure that I’ve ever encountered either someone with a large cast or someone with one arm in a multi-stall bathroom, so I can’t say the situation has ever really crossed my mind. Also, I actually dislike using the handicapped stall in general, both because I feel guilty and because it’s too open and weird to me and I have a strange fear of someone opening the door, so it’s unlikely to come up. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/145 "2011-05-06T05:46:52Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > If I’m taking some kids to the pool in a very low population-density neighborhood, I have been known to wade into the deep end, so to speak, but to do so with a crowded pool and risk depriving somebody of swimming is just too risky. \*\*Taking some kids to the pool \*\*= taking a dump \*\*low population-density neighbourhood \*\*= when not many people are around \*\*wade into the deep end so to speak \*\*= use the large stall, the disability accessible one \*\*to do so with a crowded pool and risk depriving somebody of swimming \*\*= to waltz on in there when the bathroom is busy, and he may cause inconvenience to someone who actually needs the stall I mean, really “wade into the deep end, so to speak” how much more of a hint do you want that he was speaking euphemistically? ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/146 "2011-05-06T05:56:29Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Since the handicapped stalls are the ones with the rails to help you stand back up, that would include: arthritis in the knees, MS, conjestive heart failure, unsteady gait, etc. Basically anything that causes unsteadyness, loss of balance, fatigue . . . Thank you. Yes, this is one of my biggest pet peeves, just because the person’s disability isn’t obvious to YOU, doesn’t mean they don’t need a little extra assistance from things like HA bathroom stalls, HA buttons on doors etc. Don’t just assume that because a person isn’t in a wheelchair that they’re perfectly whole. They may not want to go through an explanation of what is wrong with them and why it makes mobility difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/147 "2011-05-06T06:02:27Z")
People should not use the handicapped accessible stalls unless they are handicapped or every stall is full. There really isn’t any argument to this. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/148 "2011-05-06T06:17:25Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > \*\*Taking some kids to the pool \*\*= taking a dump > \*\*low population-density neighbourhood \*\*= when not many people are around > \*\*wade into the deep end so to speak \*\*= use the large stall, the disability accessible one > \*\*to do so with a crowded pool and risk depriving somebody of swimming \*\*= to waltz on in there when the bathroom is busy, and he may cause inconvenience to someone who actually needs the stall > > **I mean, really “wade into the deep end, so to speak” how much more of a hint do you want that he was speaking euphemistically?** Oh come on, to be unhip to the lingo is one thing. But those are the stupidest, tackiest, most poor taste metaphors _ever_. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/149 "2011-05-06T06:28:37Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > \*\*Taking some kids to the pool \*\*= taking a dump > \*\*low population-density neighbourhood \*\*= when not many people are around > \*\*wade into the deep end so to speak \*\*= use the large stall, the disability accessible one > \*\*to do so with a crowded pool and risk depriving somebody of swimming \*\*= to waltz on in there when the bathroom is busy, and he may cause inconvenience to someone who actually needs the stall > > I mean, really “wade into the deep end, so to speak” how much more of a hint do you want that he was speaking euphemistically? Now that you explained, it makes sense (kinda) but it’s a case of “explaining the joke ruins the joke”. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/150 "2011-05-06T06:37:31Z")
Honestly I was posting and just felt I’d see how far I could take the metaphor. It was not my intention to compare swimming in a pool to handicapped men and women crapping their pants. Next time I shall insert copious smileys, or, perhaps better still, I shall refrain from using any humor at all in such deadly serious discussions. Stupid, tacky, and in poor taste… I don’t know whether to be insulted or proud. ---
**Author:** ![Amasia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Amasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amasia)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/151 "2011-05-06T08:14:01Z")
This is an interesting topic, as I am an avid handicapped stall user- with limits. I work in a hospital, so there are usually multiple handicapped stalls in bathrooms, and never a line, and I just tend to prefer them. However, it never occurred to me that other people might be viewing my stall choice as rude. There are some situations where handicapped stalls are almost necessary: for instance, the extremely poorly designed stalls in part of O’Hare where you literally cannot get your carryon in the stall and still have room to turn around. Of course, O’Hare also seems like the place where people with disabilities would be most likely to urgently need to use a restroom. Finally, even as a perfectly healthy person, I have had times where I’ve had to use a stall. Sometimes when I’ve switched workouts or started a new type of exercise, my legs are so sore that I have to have a bar or something similar to hold onto to pull myself off of the toilet. Otherwise, I literally cannot get up. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/152 "2011-05-06T10:09:42Z")
For all those folks who say that they just take a [minute](http://icanhascheezburger.com/2011/05/05/funny-pictures-how-long-a-minute-is/). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/153 "2011-05-06T12:19:56Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > Correct me if I’m being whooshed, but you do know that “dropping the kids off at the pool” is a euphemism for taking a dump, yeah? I have honestly never heard that particular euphemism before. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/154 "2011-05-06T12:22:55Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > I mean, really “wade into the deep end, so to speak” how much more of a hint do you want that he was speaking euphemistically? See, this is why too much euphemism is a bad thing - it leads to misunderstanding. Seriously, he just couldn’t out and say what he meant without all the circumlocution? ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/155 "2011-05-06T12:58:22Z")
You’re right, Broomstick. None of us should ever color our posts with humor or euphemisms or sarcasm or any such thing. Our posts should be robotic and mechanical, absent of any **googles circumlocution** circumlocution. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/156 "2011-05-06T13:03:27Z")
Way to totally misunderstand and exaggerate, **Nzinga** , really. If your euphemism is obscure enough and convoluted enough that no one gets it, it’s a failure in communication. All the cues that occur in speaking face to face that would help tip someone off to it being a euphemism or humor like tone of voice and body language are absent in text. Yes, you have to be a little more careful when joking about subjects people feel strongly about when you’re doing it in writing. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/157 "2011-05-06T14:09:28Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > People should not use the handicapped accessible stalls unless they are handicapped or every stall is full. There really isn’t any argument to this. Exactly. I am shocked this is not the general consensus. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/158 "2011-05-06T14:46:35Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > Exactly. I am shocked this is not the general consensus. It pretty much is. What is murky is when there’s a wait. ---
**Author:** ![markm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@markm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/159 "2011-05-06T15:04:49Z")
[QUOTE=Broomstick] …If your euphemism is obscure enough and convoluted enough that no one gets it, it’s a failure in communication… [/quote] Except, most people did get it, or appear to have gotten it. Only three people seemed to have not gotten, actually. “Dropping the kids off at the pool” is actually a very common euphemism. However, in the spirit of preventing further wooshes in this thread should a euphemism be used, I’ll list some of the more common ones for using the restroom (this list is by no means exhaustive, nor is it in any sort of order): Dropping the kids off at the pool Punching a grumpy Taking the Browns to the Super Bowl Stocking the pound with brown trout Pinching a loaf Baking bread (or baking a loaf) Growing a tail Answering nature’s call/Taking the one call that can’t be sent to voicemail Catching up on some reading/heading to the reading room/going to do some heavy thinking Going to see a man about a horse (usually just for pissing) Peeling paint/Peeling wallpaper Launching a torpedo/launching a brown torpedo Dropping a bomb/deuce/log/load Planting dingleberries Making room for \/making room for another beer Breaking the seal (first piss of a night of drinking) Testing the plumbing Fighting brown snakes ---
**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:** [May 6, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472/160 "2011-05-06T15:37:36Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > If I’m taking some kids to the pool in a very low population-density neighborhood, I have been known to wade into the deep end, so to speak, but to do so with a crowded pool and risk depriving somebody of swimming is just too risky. I found the metaphor to be a bit of a strain, but it all came out okay in the end. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-please-teach-your-daughters/580472.md?page=9)