# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/41 "2010-11-25T19:39:38Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > There’s no name, which breaks one of the cardinal rules of journalism. I call fake. I agree. Every source I found for this story was essentially the same. Usually word-for-word. Real journalism would involve a little digging into the story. No interview with the old lady or the firemen who rescued her, or the neighbours who made the strange decision to start a petition about the noise. It smells like a story that would go away if a little bit of fact-checking was done. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/42 "2010-11-25T20:29:22Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > If I shower with the door open my smoke detectors go off. Damn, how hot is your water? ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/43 "2010-11-25T20:42:38Z")
> [@](#): > > she tapped on pipes during the night, hoping to alert her neighbours. > > They thought the noise was DIY work and started a petition to have it stopped. Is this (specific detail of the story) funny? Am I allowed to laugh at this? Because, just between you and me, I think this is a little bit funny. Terrible thing to happen, glad she’s okay, poor lady etc. but… ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/44 "2010-11-30T07:29:21Z")
Where is **lieu** when you need him? But coming soon to a theater near you, from the director of Das Boot, Betty White in _480 HOURS_. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/45 "2010-11-30T15:41:12Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I doubt an elderly lady would have any chance of bashing through walls or a door. In case one does, I certainly wouldn’t want to be the one insulting her on a message board. 😉 > [@multimediac17](#): > > Is this (specific detail of the story) funny? Am I allowed to laugh at this? Because, just between you and me, I think this is a little bit funny. > > Terrible thing to happen, glad she’s okay, poor lady etc. but… …twice on the pipes means ‘No’ ? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/46 "2010-11-30T16:22:56Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > The SOS code is long -short - long, right? But how are you going to do that banging on pipes? > [@Leaffan](#): > > 3 short > 3 long > 3 short > > dot dot dot > dash dash dash > dot dot dot To clarify, when banging on something like a pipe, you distinguish between shorts and longs by varying the pauses between bangs: BANG BANG BANG (three times rapidly) \ BANG…BANG…BANG (three times slowly) \ BANG BANG BANG (three times rapidly) However, I wouldn’t be surprised if nobody ever responded, even to this. Most people are incurious idiots. After a day or so, (assuming I couldn’t break down a door or wall) I’d also try the flooding idea. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/47 "2010-11-30T16:23:20Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > …twice on the pipes means ‘No’ ? 😃 Nice. I was actually thinking that too. > [@aceplace57](#): > > I have a bigger question. Who in the h\*ll shuts the bathroom door when they live alone??? 😕 😕 > > Are the mice going to watch you poop? > > I’m glad she’s ok. But, closing a door in an empty apartment is taking modesty a bit too far. The article says the lock jammed. Maybe the mice learned how to open the door. (I guess she might not have locked it herself, but it’s more funny if you pretend she did). ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/48 "2010-11-30T21:01:55Z")
> [@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. “In came old Mrs Mason, She was in a hurry so she used the basin. The same basin that I wash me face in, And nobody knew she was there.” ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/49 "2010-11-30T22:06:09Z")
Yeah, I’d find a way out of that room, one way or another. As for bashing through drywall, if it was an old building, it might be more of a plaster-and-lath situation. Still doable, but a PITA without a pry bar. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/50 "2010-11-30T22:26:52Z")
Or it could be a bricks-and-mortar situation, in which case, no chance. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/51 "2010-11-30T22:43:31Z")
Yeah, good luck breaking through brick with a toilet seat! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784/52 "2010-11-30T23:34:42Z")
I removed excess lyrics from **Moonlitherial** ’s post to stay in line with copyright protection. If you can provide a link to where you found these, please feel free to share that link. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-lady-woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-20-days-edited-title/561784.md?page=2)