# Private pooping **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 14, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985 "2015-03-14T13:28:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/21 "2015-03-15T20:06:59Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > I prefer privacy, but if you gotta poop… > > That said, I HATE when people try to have conversations with you through the bathroom door. I’m in here for privacy! Go away! I had to make my mom stop that when we shared a house for a few years. I don’t want conversation unless the place is on fire. LOL. My private nightmare. Taking a relaxing constitution - only to discover the whole place is burning to the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/22 "2015-03-15T23:59:22Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > In need, I do fine either way. But am happy that where I work there are private locking bathrooms. Not stalls. But a bathroom to yourself with a full on locking door. Down the hall, in an ‘alcove’ about 150 feet from my desk. There are two of them actually, used by ~ about a dozen people. A place I worked at moved into a brand new, efficient/green building. It had a standard common bathroom, but each stall was it’s own closet. Floor to ceiling walls & door. Very private. However, because it was a green building, there were motion sensors in the bathroom ‘common area’; if they didn’t sense motion for 5 minutes, they’d turn out the lights… **all** the lights. :smack: Since you were in your own little closet, you couldn’t even wave your arm to activate them. You’re choice was to open the door & go out into the common area to trip the sensor, or sit there & hope someone came in soon. Hopefully, they just peed & got out quickly so that you could finish & get out w/o anyone realizing that you got stuck. :o ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/23 "2015-03-16T02:26:46Z")
I had a friend who told me she’d lay a sheet of toilet paper on the water in the bowl, so people couldn’t hear her peeing. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/24 "2015-03-16T03:08:06Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > This is a big reason why so many able-bodied people use the handicap bathroom stall when there is a non-handicap accessible stall available. There will be one person using the first stall, no one in the middle stall, then the handicap stall. Since no one wants to take a shit while sitting next to someone else doing to the same, they take the nice, roomy stall at the very end. Then I come in, staring at the empty toilet I cannot use. I used to use it because the regular stalls barely had room to turn around when I used to change my kid, a few modern places are getting family rooms for this purposwe. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/25 "2015-03-16T03:33:31Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Privacy is much more important after a spicy meal when you’re subject to the Michael Bay Rule. > Whoa. You can get super simple doors from Lowes for $25. Add in another ten to fifteen for some hardware and you’re all set. Even if you’re in a landlord situation you can do it with minimal impact. Post to GQ and you’ll get lots of great advice on how to do it easily and inexpensively! It’s a non-standard width, and it’s not squared. Curtains are the best option for now. Some day I will be able to get it solved more permanently. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/26 "2015-03-16T04:48:59Z")
I hate public stalls because the space between the door and stall is large enough that other people can see you doing your business. (My guess is they’re designed that way for security purposes.) I usually manage to poop at home so I don’t have to in public. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/27 "2015-03-16T14:37:57Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > I prefer privacy, but if you gotta poop… > > That said, I HATE when people try to have conversations with you through the bathroom door. I’m in here for privacy! Go away! I had to make my mom stop that when we shared a house for a few years. I don’t want conversation unless the place is on fire. it even worse when they have a dry marker and start doing equations on the outside of the stall door while taking about the problem they are asking about. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/28 "2015-03-16T14:51:24Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > it even worse when they have a dry marker and start doing equations on the outside of the stall door while taking about the problem they are asking about. I work with people where that could happen. Now I have something new to worry about. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/29 "2015-03-16T14:54:37Z")
When I was hiking at Philmont, there were two kinds of (wilderness) toilets. There was the much loved pilot/bombardier, where you say back to back with the other person taking a dump if there was one. Then there was the awkward inducing pilot/co-pilot, where you sat side by side. Lets just say there are no strangers in the woods when the toilets are 5 miles apart. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/30 "2015-03-16T15:46:01Z")
I’m a very private pooper, I can probably count on two hands the number of times I’ve #2’d in a public restroom. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/31 "2015-03-16T15:52:01Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned [this](http://www.poopourri.com/)yet. There are guy scents, too, because god forbid your poop cover-up spray not be manly! ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/32 "2015-03-16T16:03:10Z")
One of my co-workers loves pushing the boundries of social norms. She turns potty time into her American Idol audition. Seriously. She sings. Loudly. Ala Mariah or Celine. She thinks we need to be freer and less up tight. I think she needs to pipe down. At the other end of the scale, I have a friend whose co-worker was angry because human resources didn’t back up her plan to have people clock out and go home if they had to poop. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/33 "2015-03-16T16:21:44Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > This is a big reason why so many able-bodied people use the handicap bathroom stall when there is a non-handicap accessible stall available. There will be one person using the first stall, no one in the middle stall, then the handicap stall. Since no one wants to take a shit while sitting next to someone else doing to the same, they take the nice, roomy stall at the very end. Then I come in, staring at the empty toilet I cannot use. I hate using ours at work; it makes me think of a prison shitter, because it’s on the wall by itself in the midst of this HUGE stall. I greatly prefer the much smaller stall next to it- not so capacious, but doesn’t give me this feeling of taking a dump while sitting on an exposed hilltop like the handicapped one tends to. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/34 "2015-03-16T17:39:07Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I hate using ours at work; it makes me think of a prison shitter, because it’s on the wall by itself in the midst of this HUGE stall. I greatly prefer the much smaller stall next to it- not so capacious, but doesn’t give me this feeling of taking a dump while sitting on an exposed hilltop like the handicapped one tends to. See, the reason I dislike the handicapped stall is the toilet is higher than the normal pots, so I don’t get the relaxed seated position, and instead feel like I’m balancing on something . I’d _almost_ be in favor of a japanese floor toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/35 "2015-03-16T17:54:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’ve said it before here … One of the things I enjoyed about life in the field with the Army was taking a dump on a big wooden box over a pit out in the open in camp with dozens of [del]folks[/de] guys (this was pre-women-in-combat) walking by & the wind ruffling what little hair we had. A dump outdoors is sooo much nicer than sitting in some stanky closet. And seeing your pals getting breakfast at the same time just adds to the ambience. > > Try it; you’ll like it. Reminds me of: > [@All Quiet on the Western Front](#): > > I well remembered how embarrassed we were as recruits in barracks when we had to use the general latrine. There were no doors and twenty men sat side by side as in a railway carriage, so that they could be reviewed all at one glance, for soldiers must always be under supervision. > > Since then we have learned better than to be shy about such trifling immodesties. In time things far worse than that came easy to us. > > Here in the open air though, the business is entirely a pleasure. I no longer understand why we should always have shied at these things before. They are, in fact, just as natural as eating and drinking. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/36 "2015-03-16T19:01:29Z")
We have two stalls in our ladies room at work, one regular and one wheelchair. The wheelchair one’s toilet doesn’t flush well. If I stroll into the bathroom and someone is using the “good” stall I do a 180 and stroll right back out. If I’m in there using the “good” one myself and someone comes in and uses the big one - welp, no pooping this trip. We have spray but there’s one person who leaves streaks in the bowl. I don’ t know about you guys but I’ll stand there for like 5 minutes flushing over and over until the bowl is clean if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/37 "2015-03-16T20:44:29Z")
I worked a lot of hours in the physics building of our university. Of course that meant the men’s room was pretty busy (and messy). I eventually figured out that if I wanted to conduct serious business, I would go down two buildings to the nursing department. The men’s restroom in there is pristine, usually unused since the cleaners came the day before. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/38 "2015-03-16T20:50:45Z")
> [@campp](#): > > The boss was never in the building about 80% of the time. Heh. That sentence hurt my brain. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/39 "2015-03-16T21:20:39Z")
When I have to take a shit, I don’t really give a shit where it is. That said, I do prefer poop multiplexes to single-occupancy bathrooms, because it seems like every time I need to use one for the King of All Dumps, there is someone knocking at the door a minute after I enter, and I feel unnecessarily hurried and somewhat self-conscious when I exit and see them waiting to enter my stench-filled toilet. With multi-stall bathroom, I can relax, surf the internet, and just take my time. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985/40 "2015-03-16T21:33:13Z")
I just need the seat to be cold, nothing more squicky than a warm toilet seat where the previous person’s cooties haven’t yet dissipated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/private-pooping/714985.md?page=3)