Talking in the men’s room is strictly forbidden here (Athens, Georgia) as far as my experience has shown. The only exception I’ve seen is the occasional group of angry students having just gotten out of a test congregating around the sinks to compare responses, but this is only after everyone has taken care of their business.
Only in a college bar, if every ones wasted. Or in the middle of a Packer game just to harass opposing jersey wearers (it’s fanatical here). It is never OK to touch anyone for any reason though.
You have a gift for aural imagery that is most gratifying.
Reminds me of that fake commercial from…I think it was TLC:
Man with black eye: “Thanks to the Learning Channel, I know that not everyone wants to see my new baby pictures.”
Cut to the same guy standing at a urinal, pre-black eye. Another man comes up to the next stand.
First Man: “Hey, you wanna see something awesome?”
Wish I knew where I could find the rest of them, they were damn funny.
Here are the restroom talking rules as I’ve observed.
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Keep it to a minimum if possible.
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If you must talk, you may only speak to a man engaged in the same activity as you.
So if Guy A and Guy B are both using the urinal, or both washing their hands then small talk is allowed. However if you are washing your hands and another guy steps up to the urinal neither of you should talk until he is finished and washing up.
If you both start using the urinal together and start talking and Guy A finishes first and starts to wash up then he should avoid pro-actively continuing the conversation until Guy B finishes his business.
It really just get more complicated from here…
Raleigh, eh? My son lives there – loves it. Bee-yoo-tee-full country there.
I’ve never heard of a ban on restroom conversations. Here in Colorado, people chat all the time, especially us older guys – helps pass the time, since we have trouble passing anything else. Several years ago, one of the guys I worked with had a standard joke. If anyone walked up to a urinal next to him, he’d stand there quietly for a moment, then say, “Water’s cold today.” It took me a little while the first time I heard him say it, but when I caught on, it was hilarious. We often had breaks at the same time (we worked in a call center) so we frequently found ourselves staring at the same wall together. I’d always try to say, “Yeah, and deep,” but I always cracked up before I could get it said.
So anyway, I don’t think I’d want to work in a place where you couldn’t crack a joke or do a little guy bitching in the men’s room.
I usually say, “So, this must be where all the dicks hang out.”
There are always guys talking in the men’s room where I work in Rockville Maryland. It’s okay with me though, I’m usually one of the guys talking.
I do my best 
Relevant Youtube video courtesy of a friend. Apparently talking in the men’s room leads to the breakdown of civilization as we know it.