# Weird work bathroom behaviors? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913 "2015-04-17T14:57:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/41 "2015-04-18T06:31:46Z")
Not workplace, necessarily (though it happened with coworkers when I was working, too), but I have noticed a lot of black women being vocal in the bathroom. Not even kidding. Like responding to a preacher in a charismatic church. “Oh, Lord.” _grunt, poot…_ “Hoo, Jesus. Help me now.” I’m not trying to be weird, but this is definitely a thing. I don’t even do a #2 in public if I can help it, but I can’t imagine announcing it to everyone in the vicinity. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/42 "2015-04-18T07:04:52Z")
> [@Lowdown](#): > > One guy used to take his shoes and pants off, and set them in a neat little pile on the floor of the stall when dumping. He’d just chill out on the throne with his bare ass legs and socks. [QUOTE= How to Survive in Federal Prison] This may sound weird and uncomfortable, but could be life-saving: If you are concerned about getting attacked, sit when you go to the bathroom, and take your pants off completely. Since many attacks happen when you are using the toilet, it’s easier to defend yourself without your pants around your ankles, so you would not trip. [/QUOTE] from [How to Survive in Federal Prison](http://www.wikihow.com/Survive-in-Federal-Prison) The **Lowdown** indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/43 "2015-04-18T15:36:10Z")
> [@bump](#): > > What’s weird isn’t that he sits to pee, or that he uses a toilet instead of a urinal. What’s weird is that in 7 years of working together, I’ve NEVER seen him do anything but sit down. That’s what I find odd. I’d have thought in some 1800-odd workdays, I’d have seen him use a urinal at least once. But nope. After the first year or two, I noticed the thing, and since then, it’s been more of a “Where’s Waldo?” type thing to see if he ever actually uses a urinal or even stands to pee or not. Off the top of my head I can come up with the following: 1. He has a psychological issue with pissing in front of others sufficient that he essentially can’t piss in front of others. Using a stall affords him sufficient privacy that he can actually piss. 2. He suffers from some sort of malformation/injury of the penis that makes standing up to piss difficult or impossible. Hypospadias has been mentioned, but it’s not the only reason someone could have “junk problems”. 3. He suffers from some sort of urological problem that requires a catheter. I’m pretty sure most people would prefer not to see someone standing at a urinal threading a catheter up his penis in order to piss, or doing maintenance work on a supra-public catheter. It’s not that it’s gory or gross, but it’s not normal either. That’s just off the top of my head, I’m sure there could be other reasons. They all seem to be both good reasons and not something I’d expect a person to share with co-workers. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/44 "2015-04-18T15:55:37Z")
Isnt he just allowed to prefer to pee sitting down? Why isn’t that the simplest explanation? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/45 "2015-04-18T16:17:47Z")
Most men in our society seem to think standing while pissing is important. Therefore, I think it more likely he has an “issue” rather than a simple preference. But yeah, maybe he just prefers to sit. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/46 "2015-04-18T17:31:13Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I used to react to this when I read about it in earlier threads. Not because it lowers one’s masculinity score (although surely it does 😉 ) But because I have never heard of such a thing, or even considered the possibility. Peeing is done from the standing position. Period. Ignorance has been fought, and I now am much more mellow about the whole thing. I had an ex-boyfriend. Big, burly guy (6’5", 260 pounds), who would only pee sitting down. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/47 "2015-04-18T18:30:57Z")
At my old work, the owner would use the men’s room (one person at a time style room) and apparently lift the toilet seat to piss. Except the toilet was right next to a urinal. You had to walk past the urinal to use the toilet. I know he did this because if I walked in after him, the seat would still be up. Why did he use the toilet and not the urinal to urinate? Beats me. He wasn’t sitting down since he lifted the seat but… eh, who knows. His bathroom, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/48 "2015-04-18T19:45:24Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Most men in our society seem to think standing while pissing is important. Therefore, I think it more likely he has an “issue” rather than a simple preference. > > But yeah, maybe he just prefers to sit. Some Europeans are pushing the sitting thing.:rolleyes: But my issue with it is that a urinal uses hwaaaay less water per flush than a regular toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/49 "2015-04-18T20:15:44Z")
> [@Lowdown](#): > > Whatever. You probably have a storage locker full of poop diaries/logbooks. Seek professional help, you fascist. Let’s dial back the insulting tone in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/50 "2015-04-19T00:10:34Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > One of the most annoying things I encountered some years back - one of my coworkers would wash her cereal bowl in the bathroom sink, rinsing her Froot Loops down the drain. So when I’d go in later and wash my hands, colorful cereal rings would float out of the drain! Seriously? You can’t use a paper towel to wipe the solids into the trash before rinsing your bowl?? Made me wonder what her Drano budget was. We have several people in my building who do this. Male and female. I once went on a tear about it on the office internal forum (because dirty coffee cups had been soaking in the ladies bathroom sink), and immediately deleted it. The next day I found out that you could elect to have all post sent to your email so half the agency knew. One woman started an email dialog with me justifying her decision to use the bathroom sink in the ladies this way. I just ended up saying “The next time we have to call the plumber to unblock the bathroom sink I’ll know who to point the finger at for the expense.” It’s so bad in the men’s room that I was told that there’s a sign saying “Do not wash your dishes in the bathroom.” ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/51 "2015-04-19T06:46:19Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Also, **learn to use the God damned paper towel dispenser correctly people. Grab with both hands and pull down, like the little pictorial instruction says to do.** That way what’s left is about a four inch piece, with nice serrated edges, for the next person: me! If you rip the paper towel off then after I wash my hands I need to fiddle with the side rotational thingy, and God knows who else has been fiddling with it all day. [Like this!](http://www.madmagazine.com/blog/2014/04/18/don-martin-alone-in-a-washroom-for-the-first-time) (“Alone In A Washroom For The First Time” by Don Martin.) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/52 "2015-04-19T15:17:41Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > The thing is, it sooooo damned quiet in the washroom. I mean pin-drop quiet. I wish they would pipe in muzak or something, anything. Seconded. We have white noise piped into our building - everywhere **but** the bathrooms, which is the absolute first place I’d want it. > [@cwthree](#): > > So that when someone else comes into the restroom to use the toilet and sees the door hanging partway open the way it usually does when it’s not in use, they don’t assume the stall is empty, fling the door open, and smack you in the ass, sending you face-first into the wall above the toilet. This bugs the hell out of me at places like airports, where there are a whole bunch of stalls along one wall, and a fairly narrow passage going past them all. You start to go into the first open stall, or at least you thought it was open because the door was hanging partway open. Instead, it’s occupied by someone standing up to pee into the toilet (which is fine with me, so long as they lift the seat first) but for whatever reason, left the damn door open, making it look like the stall was empty (which it wasn’t). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/53 "2015-04-19T16:06:49Z")
Folks who get walked in on under those circumstances have no one to blame but themselves. So don’t feel bad for falling into the trap they set. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/54 "2015-04-19T16:34:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Folks who get walked in on under those circumstances have no one to blame but themselves. So don’t feel bad for falling into the trap they set. Oh, I don’t feel bad - just annoyed. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/55 "2015-04-19T21:23:01Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Maybe if you cut down on the secret drinking you wouldn’t spend so much time in the mens room???🙂 Actually, it’s all the fun and games that come with hydrochlorothiazide (diuretic, part of the blood pressure medication I’m on). ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/56 "2015-04-19T22:01:07Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Some Europeans are pushing the sitting thing.:rolleyes: But my issue with it is that a urinal uses hwaaaay less water per flush than a regular toilet. Actually, I believe the European campaign is against standing up to pee into a toilet (since men habitually miss the target at least some of the time). Not against using urinals, when they are available. My contribution to this thread is the guy I used to work with who would wash his hands first, pee at the urinal, and then walk out without washing again. I mean, that’s just rude. You don’t want anything possibly noxious to touch your precious penis (which is understandable), but you don’t mind spreading your own second-hand pee around the office. Thanks, dude. No, sorry, I can’t shake your hand, I have a rash. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/57 "2015-04-20T13:52:28Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Let’s dial back the insulting tone in this forum. Sorry! That was (apparently not obvious )sarcasm. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/58 "2015-04-20T14:00:29Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Actually, I believe the European campaign is against standing up to pee into a toilet (since men habitually miss the target at least some of the time). Not against using urinals, when they are available. > > My contribution to this thread is the guy I used to work with who would wash his hands first, pee at the urinal, and then walk out without washing again. I mean, that’s just rude. You don’t want anything possibly noxious to touch your precious penis (which is understandable), but you don’t mind spreading your own second-hand pee around the office. Thanks, dude. No, sorry, I can’t shake your hand, I have a rash. Order of operations does appear to confuse some people. Another incorrect order is to urinate, wash your hands, and then stand in front of the paper towel dispenser blowing your nose repeatedly, and then leave. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/59 "2015-04-20T14:02:31Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I worked with a guy whose feet were pointed at about the 2:00 position every time he took a crap. What up with that? Side saddle? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913/60 "2015-04-20T17:07:45Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > My contribution to this thread is the guy I used to work with who would wash his hands first, pee at the urinal, and then walk out without washing again. I mean, that’s just rude. You don’t want anything possibly noxious to touch your precious penis (which is understandable), but you don’t mind spreading your own second-hand pee around the office. Thanks, dude. No, sorry, I can’t shake your hand, I have a rash. > **[Why are men supposed to wash their hands after urination? Plus: urine therapy!](https://www.straightdope.com/21342195/why-are-men-supposed-to-wash-their-hands-after-urination-plus-urine-therapy)** \*A Harvard man and a Yale man are at the urinal. They finish and zip up. The Harvard man proceeds to the sink to wash his hands, while the Yale man immediately makes for the exit. The Harvard man says, “At Hah-vahd they teach us to wash our hands after we urinate.” The Yale man replies, “At Yale they teach us not to piss on our hands.”\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-work-bathroom-behaviors/717913.md?page=4)