I have recently moved (to Charlotte, North Carolina), and have been more-than-slightly-bemused to notice that the cultural more against chatting in the men’s room does not appear to exist here. I’ve ran into references to it previously (most notably in Asimov), and I saw none of men talking to each other in the men’s room in the area of Virginia I inhabited before I moved here.
So, is Charlotte an oasis of violation-of-a-cultural-norm, or is what I was raised to consider a general cultural norm simply incorrect? Do men talk in the restroom where you all are?
I live in southern PA and work in Baltimore. I can’t recall a stranger ever talking to me in the men’s room in either place. At work, though, it used to be that no one ever talked to anyone else in the men’s room, but that trend has completely reversed in recent years. Now it’s rare that someone doesn’t talk in the men’s room.
The most you do is a little grunt. If you run across a Chatty Kathy, that’s how you deal with 'em.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Work.”
“You see the Tigers game last night?”
“Uh huh.”
The closer you are to just washing hands at the sink, the more you can say. For example:
“Hey what’s going on?”
“It’s work. You know how it is.” or “Another day in paradise.”
“You see the Tigers game last night?”
“Yeah. Fuckin’ Rodney blew it again. Good game other than that, though.”
After washing hands in the sink, you’re pretty much back into normal culture. For example:
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Meh. I just talked to a customer that couldn’t tell his ass from…hey…want to make out?”
“Sure.”
(much kissing and groping ensues, with one member pinned against the wall)
Okay, maybe we had an overly friendly workplace. Seriously, though, there’s minimal talking in there.
Men may be in the men’s room. They may sometimes even use it (rather than urinating against, say, a tree). But they do not go into the room or out of it. That room is there only so the women feel less weird about actually going into and out of theirs.
I’m female, but when I see men crossing each other as one goes in and other out of the room no man ever goes into, they don’t acknowledge each other. It’s as if the need to pee turns them invisible. Questions to classmates, friends and relatives indicate that Spanish Men not only do never go into or out of the bathroom, but they absolutely do not talk in there (not even about fútbol or tits), because to do so would be to acknowledge the existence of another man who has also not walked into that room.
Makes about as much sense to me as women going in groups makes to a man, but then, I’m female.
And yes, I’ve heard a guy say “wait a minute, those two dudes were fucking in a bathroom? … wouldn’t that mean they, you know… talked in there?” He was completely squicked out by the notion of talking in a bathroom, nowhere near as much by Teh Gey.
At work, you can hardly shut guys up in the can. Yak, yak, yak. It’s horrible. I was once at a urinal when a colleague came in, said hello and asked for some software advice at the same time he was heading into a stall. Reluctantly, I gave him the advice, even as I heard the belt buckle open, the pants come down, etc. As I finished giving him the benefit of my knowledge, I heard Unnhh! <Plooosh!> Naw, I tried that already, didn’t work. Got any other ideas?
The guy shat while I was conversing with him. I left the can while he was still talking.
I experienced the previously foreign concept of someone talking on their cell phone while they attended to business the other day.
Note to all my friends, relatives, and, hell, the World in general:
Please do not call me when you’re taking a dump. Nothing is that important. Please concentrate on what you’re doing and call me when you’ve accomplished the task at hand.
(with no apology necessary to either Brownsville Station or Motley Crue):
Talking in the men’s room
Talking in the men’s room
Hey bud, don’t you chat me up with your blues
Everybody knows you can’t allow no talkin’ in the loo.
Anyone else think it odd that while talking in a restroom is strictly verboten it’s acceptable in a lockerroom? In a restroom at most we take our dicks out or pull down our pants in what’s usually a fully-enclosed stall and conversation is taboo, But in a lockerroom where everyone is in stages of undress ranging from fully clothed to fully nude nobody thinks anything odd of it?
Where do I get an application and how is housing in Detroit?
Guys in my office talk in the mens room all the time, it kind of wierds me out. Then again, I really don’t like public restrooms and have problems if anyone else is even in there, let alone trying to chat with me.
Only out their ass. Personally, I find conversation while I’m attempting to hold my breath somewhat problematic. There’s little that can’t wait until we’re back in an approved inhalation area.
Talking while we’re at the sink area, or coming in or out of the restroom, that’s ok. Where else can we make wisecracks about the boss? But talking while we’re relieving ourselves — no.
I like to catch my co-workers at the urinal. Then I can make comments such as “I see that rash has cleared up” or “You were right, the doctor did a nice job” or “Wow teeth marks, that must have hurt”.
I work retail, and I love my job. Really, I am good at it, appreciated for my talents and knowledge, have won many customer service awards, and look forward to future growth with the company I work for.
There are no “employee only” washrooms , however.
One day, I went into the men’s room, and was using one of the urinals. A customer saw my employee uniform and asked me where some item was in the store, while I was in “mid stream”.
I looked at him, smiled and said… “Would you like me to point?”
