Every time that I go into the bathroom at my workplace, I’m greeted by the sounds of rustling newspaper from at least one or more of the stalls. Is the toilet THAT comfortable of a reading place? Do people know that they’ll be looked at as goofing off if they sat at their desks and read the paper, so they head into the bathroom to do it? Perhaps privacy is being sought, but surely there are better places to get some privacy than in a bathroom stall.
If you’re one of these people who think of the bathroom as a library, please explain the allure of it to me, because I just don’t get it.
Because, frankly, doing your business in the stall is BORING!!
It’s just something to keep our minds occupied whilst we’re “stocking the lake with brown trout”.
/slight hijack/
Our bathrooms at work are outfitted with motion sensors that will turn out the lights 10 minutes after the last movement <pardon the pun> is made.
So, read the funnies quickly and finish up, or one will be “left in the dark”, literally.
/here endeth the slight hijack/
Speaking as a former secretary/receptionist, there were times when I would go hide in the bathroom, just to get away from the desk for 15 minutes without having to make conversation in the coffee room.
As a non-smoker, it’s my equivalent of a cigarette break (although occurring a lot less often, obviously). Nobody can wander up and hit me with ‘ah, if you’re not too busy at the moment…’. The phone doesn’t ring. No new emails are popping up.
I used to eat lunch at my desk, until I realised that it made it open season as far as the ‘everybody’s at lunch … hang on, there’s Matt’ brigade went. This is a similar situation.
Persephone, BunnyGirl, MrBlue92, Shadowfox, Juniper200, and Brynda have seen the bathrooms at my office. They can testify to the fact that in addition to newspapers, we have back issues of women’s magazines, TV Guides, and several novels. I remember one of my coworkers complaining because someone removed one of the books she was ever-so-slowly working her way through in the john.
I’ve been thinking about why I always go in there and read the paper…and I can’t explain it. I guess it’s kinda relaxing.
As for the rustling, that’s for the benefit of the guy that doesn’t know I’m in there, so he talks to himself, farts, or is otherwise embarrased when he realizes he’s not alone. Rustling the paper right away lets him know I’m around.
As for leaving it in there, selie b - I love it when I find the sports page waiting for me. I pick it up and read it without thinking anything is wrong with that, and I’ll leave what I’ve finished reading for the next guy.
I once had words with a fella that had a habit of taking the company supplied paper out of the cafeteria into the john, doing his business, and then returning the damned thing. It’s a little unsettling to be munching on a tuna-salad sandwich and wondering “Hmmmm… I wonder if this paper’s been in the stall with Ron? On his naked lap… While a few scant inches below…” [Shudder.]
i always head to the stall about 10am and go through at least two sections of the l.a. times. it’s an easy way to goof off without anyone’s knowledge. you can’t see me in the stall and i wait until the bathroom’s empty before i exit. that’s a free 30 minute break!