# Reading on the can. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 18, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747 "2004-02-18T05:20:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747/41 "2004-02-19T17:17:31Z")
Usually it’s whatever book I’m working on at the moment – which could mean one of several on any given day, since I often have multiple books going. If I forget to take one in there, I have a bunch of my brother’s comic strip books (Dilbert, etc.) which also serve the purpose. Oh, I HATE sitting there with nothing to read, even if I’m only there for three minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747/42 "2004-02-19T21:34:20Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > My husband and I had a conversation on this very topic just the other day, after my husband asked why people read in the bathroom. Neither of us has ever read in the bathroom. We’re never in there long enough. We go in, do our business, and we’re out. It’s so simple really. I know when I have to go, and I don’t go into the bathroom unless I’m going to go within a few seconds. If I should, by chance, happen to not be able to go, I pull up my pants, wash my hands, and come back later when the time is right. What do the rest of you do, sit there and wait for it to come? I just don’t get it. I have had a bad digestive system as long as I can remember. It’s not a lack of fiber…I eat a couple of Metamucil wafers with water daily. It’s just something that runs in my family. If I’m stressed about something, I know that I WILL have digestive problems in the near future. I am also sensitive to some fairly common foodstuffs (black pepper, any sort of capsaicin bearing food, and any member of the onion family that is not thoroughly cooked). If I happen to eat anything that I’m sensitive to, I can count on having at least a couple of days’ worth of belly misery. I can also count on spending long periods of time on the porcelain throne. I will not go into excessive details, but let me just say that I believe that bowel movements should be solid, not liquid, and I am very distressed to have liquid BMs. I usually keep a few books on the bathroom windowsill. Some of them are short stories, some are novels, some are trivia books. Sometimes I will keep digest-sized magazines on the windowsill, too. The larger magazines won’t fit. I sometimes take a section of the daily newspaper in there with me. A helpful hint: Fold that sucker. Usually you don’t need to open it to its full spread. Fold it so that say, pages 2A and 3A are on the outside, then fold it along the horizontal fold, and you have something that is easy to hold and easy to read. Oh, and I’m female. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747/43 "2004-02-19T22:12:41Z")
Novels, mostly. I try to pick a shortish one, if I can. Currently it’s _Tom Sawyer_ by some American guy. Every trip to the head is like a little episode in serial fiction. I love it… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747/44 "2004-02-19T23:51:53Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > I have had a bad digestive system as long as I can remember. It’s not a lack of fiber…I eat a couple of Metamucil wafers with water daily. It’s just **something that runs** in my family. Heh. > [@Tenebras](#): > > **Cervaise** , I’m with you, bro. I thought it was crowded in here. Oh, and I meant to add to my post above: I don’t keep reading material in the bathroom. I find the humidity makes the paperback covers curl up, and I try to take good care of my books. Whatever I’m reading on the can, I brought in with me. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747/45 "2004-02-19T23:59:47Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > I prefer reading from books in this series – [http://www.bathroomreader.com/home.html](http://www.bathroomreader.com/home.html) > > After all, some of their books quote from Cecil and the Straight Dope! > > 😃 I was going to say the same thing! Great minds think alike! 😃 - Adam ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747/46 "2004-02-20T00:26:50Z")
I read anything and everything on the can: fiction, non-fiction, magazines, newspapers, leaflets, toilet paper wrappers, you name it. At any given time there are 3-5 books or magazines stacked on top of my toilet tank. ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747/47 "2004-02-20T00:51:20Z")
I read everywhere. When in the bathroom, I take along whatever I’m reading at the time, no matter how long I think I’ll be in there. I also can’t brush my teeth without a book or a magazine available. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747/48 "2004-02-20T00:54:34Z")
We need a head-shaking smiley for **lieu**. There’s a small stack of books on the edge of the bathtub. I think right now it’s some Calvin and Hobbes collections, an old copy of _Cannery Row_, \*The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook \* and _The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel_. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747/49 "2004-02-20T02:36:06Z")
I’m female and I’ll read any of the books that are currently in the bathroom. Right now, I think it’s _Shophalic Ties the Knot_, _Learn Calligraphy_, a big book of Victorian poetry, and _Death of a Salesman_. As you can see, there is no theme. I think my room mate thinks I’m kind of odd, though, as I’ve never seen her carry any reading material into the bathroom. Growing up, my family used to get into arguments over who took the Time magazine out of the bathroom or who misplaced the Al Franken book. I’m sure if I owned an Al Franken book or subscribed to Time, they’d both be in the littlest room. I also usually do my reading for class while in the tub. During finals I study while taking a bath in the wee hours of the morning. I think I’m happiest when naked, sitting in a tub of warm water. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747/50 "2004-02-20T02:57:11Z")
> [@lillalette](#): > > I’m female and I’ll read any of the books that are currently in the bathroom. Right now, I think it’s _Shophalic Ties the Knot_ . . . Um, that’s supposed to be Shopaholic, not ShoPhalic. ---
**Author:** ![Omnipresent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@Omnipresent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipresent)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747/51 "2004-02-20T02:59:12Z")
Did ya ever stay in there so long that your legs fall asleep? Then, even after you’re able to stand up, you have to wait until the circulation goes back into your legs before you can take a step. It’s a little distressing when someone’s pounding on the door because “they” have to get in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-on-the-can/229747.md?page=2)