# Poor Lady...! Woman stuck in bathroom for 20 days \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 24, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784 "2010-11-24T16:21:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/21 "2010-11-24T19:12:12Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Could have been worse. At least she had access to a toilet and potable water. True. Not long ago I saw a documentary about the guy who was stuck on an elevator for 40-some hours. Though bathroom lady was stuck longer, at least she had the basics. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/22 "2010-11-24T19:34:48Z")
If you have a sixty-nine year old woman who’s only surviving on tap water, she’s probably not alert enough to think about bashing her way out. ☹ (And maybe she closes the door out of habit. She might just be ultra modest and that’s how she was brought up or something like that) ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/23 "2010-11-24T20:35:08Z")
I’m assuming the neighbor’s quotes were spoken in French and translated for the story. Still, I couldn’t help adding a Parisian accent to _"We said: ‘They are going too far! They are preventing us from sleeping!’_" and chuckling a little in spite of myself. Even more so when I picture the speaker as an impeccably dressed Frenchman with slicked-back hair and a pencil-thin moustache. Yeah, I’m going to Hell; I know. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/24 "2010-11-24T20:51:50Z")
There’s no name, which breaks one of the cardinal rules of journalism. I call fake. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/25 "2010-11-24T21:03:18Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I’m assuming the neighbor’s quotes were spoken in French and translated for the story. Still, I couldn’t help adding a Parisian accent to _"We said: ‘They are going too far! They are preventing us from sleeping!’_" and chuckling a little in spite of myself. Even more so when I picture the speaker as an impeccably dressed Frenchman with slicked-back hair and a pencil-thin moustache. Not a beret and a string of onions draped around his neck? ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/26 "2010-11-24T21:03:44Z")
Anyone else read the thread title in Jerry Lewis’ voice? No? Just me then. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/27 "2010-11-24T22:26:26Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > sometimes I really think I AM alone on my own planet. _leaves a footprint on the beach outside **Inigo’s** grass hut_ That was the first thing that came to mind after I read the title. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/28 "2010-11-24T23:25:23Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I have a bigger question. Who in the h\*ll shuts the bathroom door when they live alone??? 😕 😕 I close the door when I’m riding the porcelain pony to prevent having a lapful of cat. She gets in the way of wiping. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/29 "2010-11-25T00:38:18Z")
I doubt an elderly lady would have any chance of bashing through walls or a door. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/30 "2010-11-25T01:27:21Z")
Hmmm…I’m sensing a money-making opportunity here. Some kind of bathroom-door equivalent of one of those “Life Hammer” tools they sell to use to [break out your car’s windows in the event you drive off a bridge](http://www.wikihow.com/Escape-from-a-Sinking-Car)–some kind of lockpick-prybar combo, optimized for use by little old ladies. Sell it via TV, infomercial-style, natch. It’ll make millions–_millions!_ Now if you’ll pardon me, I have to go find a patent attorney. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/31 "2010-11-25T01:40:24Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I shut the bathroom door when I shower so that the warm, humid air stays in there. Makes things physically more comfortable both during and after the shower. > > Using the toilet? Door stays open. I find the mirror gets fogged up if I close the door which sort of annoys me so I keep it open. I’m starting to feel grateful that my bathroom door doesn’t lock/barely even closes…😃 ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/32 "2010-11-25T04:03:11Z")
Love the way that, instead of someone stopping by to ask if she could keep the DIY noise down at night, they got together and decided the best solution was to start a petition. Which means knocking on everyone’s door and talking to everyone BUT her. And then who were they going to give the petition to? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/33 "2010-11-25T09:59:15Z")
The HOA or its manager, if they’re anything like my mother’s neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/34 "2010-11-25T14:35:50Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Oh dear! What can the matter be > Seven old ladies were locked in the lavatory > They were there from Monday to Saturday > Nobody knew they were there. > Anyone? Anyone? Beuller? [_sigh_](http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/drinkingsongs/html/categorized-by-song/with-music/s/old-ladies-stuck-in-the-lavatory.htm) sometimes I really think I AM alone on my own planet. :eek: You mean somebody other than an ex-boss of mine thought up those words, and there is more than one verse?? I really thought that was a creation of my ex-boss’s warped mind. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheField](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@LilyoftheField](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheField)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/35 "2010-11-25T15:38:35Z")
Not to go off on a tangent or anything - but since when does age 69 qualify as elderly??? Where exactly are the cutoff points where you go from being ‘middle-aged’ to ‘old’ to ‘elderly’? I sure didn’t think that you hit the ‘elderly’ wall while in your 60’s!! Now I’m scared! :eek: I’m over 60 myself and don’t think that I would have had any problem in removing door hinges, breaking through drywall, destroying the plumbing or whatever else seemed necessary to spare myself death by starvation! ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/36 "2010-11-25T15:46:22Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > :eek: You mean somebody other than an ex-boss of mine thought up those words, and there is more than one verse?? I really thought that was a creation of my ex-boss’s warped mind. There are many! > [@](#): > > The first old lady was Elizabeth Porter. > She was the deacon of Dorchester’s daughter. > She went to relieve a slight pressure of water > And nobody knew she was there. > Chorus > > The second old lady was Abigail Splatter > She went there 'cause something was surely the matter > But when she got there, it was only her bladder. > And nobody knew she was there. > Chorus > > [etc. etc. etc.] There are a few of the ones I could find - I remember some but most were new (and funny!) ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/37 "2010-11-25T16:10:17Z")
My dad only knew the first verse, then he made one up about a lady named Humphrey who sat down and couldn’t get her bum free. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/38 "2010-11-25T18:09:33Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > There’s no name, which breaks one of the cardinal rules of journalism. I call fake. That does not apply to all countries. There are a lot of reports in the French press (search for the term “enfermée dans sa salle de bains”). They do not mention a name or an exact address as is SOP, for privacy reasons, in a lot of European countries. For example [this](http://www.leparisien.fr/epinay-sous-senart-91860/une-vieille-dame-enfermee-dans-sa-salle-de-bains-pendant-vingt-jours-23-11-2010-1161921.php) report mentions a first name (which is stated to be ficticious), no last name, and the street (rue Anatole-France in Epinay-sous-Sénart). If, stepping out of my apartment house’s front door, I was to be be killed by a falling piano, the press reports here in Germany would only state my age, gender and the street name without house number. I’d be no less dead for that. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/39 "2010-11-25T18:19:52Z")
The SOS code is long -short - long, right? But how are you going to do that banging on pipes? I like the flooding idea. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/40 "2010-11-25T19:20:56Z")
3 short 3 long 3 short dot dot dot dash dash dash dot dot dot Memorized it when I was maybe 10? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784.md?page=3)