# PLEASE tell me I'm not wrong to be horrified by this... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 16, 2000, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-im-not-wrong-to-be-horrified-by-this/37146 "2000-10-16T18:08:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-im-not-wrong-to-be-horrified-by-this/37146/21 "2000-10-17T06:55:26Z")
I would guess you are all hypocrites… I am usually asked to put a telephone jack in the bathroom, new construction or old. It’s just another way to stay connected. Now, whom among you refuse to have a telephone in the “private room”? ---
**Author:** ![Shadowfox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Shadowfox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfox)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-im-not-wrong-to-be-horrified-by-this/37146/22 "2000-10-17T13:30:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bare \* > \*\*I would guess you are all hypocrites… I am usually asked to put a telephone jack in the bathroom, new construction or old. It’s just another way to stay connected. > > Now, whom among you refuse to have a telephone in the “private room”? \*\* Well that explains why there is a telephone jack in my downstairs bathroom (it was there when we moved in). I thought it was some kind of a anomaly. I had never seen a telephone jack in a bathroom before until then. ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-im-not-wrong-to-be-horrified-by-this/37146/23 "2000-10-17T13:49:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stoidela \* > \*\*I think “horrified” is a little strong. I use the telephone while on the loo all the time. Usually just for a tinkle, and I don’t flush or make other give-away noises unless it’s a very good friend. > > I think grunting, groaning, plopping, and announcing what your’e doing is pretty disgusting. But sneaking it it ok. > > stoid\*\* Re-read the OP. I was horrified because this troglodyte was conducting what appeared to be a **business call** on a cell phone while in a loud, echoing **public bathroom environment** rich with VERY loud pissing and flushing sounds that could not possibly have gone unheard by the other party. **Bare:** I would not refuse to have a phone jack in the bathroom at home, because there are legitimate reasons for it to be there - “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” emergencies, for example, or so one can talk on the phone while in the bathtub - but that doesn’t mean I’m going to call someone while I’m pinching off a loaf. And certainly not while I’m doing something that sounds like I’m pouring a whole pitcher of water onto a flat rock. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-im-not-wrong-to-be-horrified-by-this/37146/24 "2000-10-17T13:54:58Z")
Of course there are good reasons for having a phone in the bathroom! How else are you to lounge in your bubble bath and talk about your affair with Norma Shearer’s husband while Ros Russell perches on the edge of the tub and makes wisecracks? ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-im-not-wrong-to-be-horrified-by-this/37146/25 "2000-10-17T14:05:45Z")
I did find it slightly odd when I phoned my best friend (male, totally platonic) and he answered from the bathtub, drinking a Martini and lemonade. I’m not an easily grossed out sort of person, but I did get a slight touch of the eeeews when he said ‘oh, I’m in the bath’ halfway through the conversation, and I imagined him naked, sudsy and clutching a Martini. Same friend called me on my cellphone just as I was going into a public toilet. I answered because I abhor a ringing phone. I can understand that the etiquette is to not make calls while on the loo, but what about receiving calls? ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-im-not-wrong-to-be-horrified-by-this/37146/26 "2000-10-17T14:56:08Z")
I have a cordless headset at work, and quite often move from office to printer to server on the phone. And, occasionally, I sneak into the restroom when I feel I have to continue to listen to an ongoing conversation, but don’t anticipate having anything to say for a few minutes. And, yes, I have a mute switch, and yes, I do use it. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-im-not-wrong-to-be-horrified-by-this/37146/27 "2000-10-17T15:30:21Z")
I have used a cell phone in a public restroom, but only when talking to my husband and only when no one else was in there. Otherwise, eeeewwwww. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-im-not-wrong-to-be-horrified-by-this/37146/28 "2000-10-17T16:07:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bare \* > \*\*I would guess you are all hypocrites… I am usually asked to put a telephone jack in the bathroom, new construction or old. It’s just another way to stay connected. > > \*\* You know, now that I think of it, I’ve been in several hotels that have phones in the bathroom…still, i don’t generally call people from there. Iadmit carrying the cordless in there during an informal conversation - not business, not someone I know only casually. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-im-not-wrong-to-be-horrified-by-this/37146/29 "2000-10-17T19:00:11Z")
I grew up in an apartment that had a bathroom phone. Of course, my dad is a phone-aholic–we had **six** phones in a **5** -room apartment and there was no phone in the living room. How’d that work? 1. Downstairs in the vestibule (garden apartment, second floor, entrance at ground level) so you didn’t have to run upstairs to answer the phone if you were outside. 2. My bedroom 3. The kitchen 4. The bathroom 5. My parents’ room 6. My sisters’ room Before the days of the answering machine, if I was the only person in the house, I would answer the phone in the bathroom (located conveniently on the wall above the toilet, within easy reach). I know my father certainly did. He has a phone in the bathroom in his current place too. BTW, business calls in the bathroom–ewwwww. ---
**Author:** ![RonA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@RonA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RonA)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-im-not-wrong-to-be-horrified-by-this/37146/30 "2000-10-17T19:19:46Z")
All this talk about going to the bathroom…I, uh…ummm, excuse me while I… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-im-not-wrong-to-be-horrified-by-this/37146.md?page=1)