# Why do people do this in public restrooms **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 11, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221 "2017-04-11T04:11:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/1 "2017-04-11T04:11:54Z")
As long as decades ago, I noticed that stalls in public restrooms were assembled using security screws. I always wondered why. Do people with nothing better to do as they do their business fiddle with the screws? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/2 "2017-04-11T04:15:08Z")
It’s not average folks using the john, it’s kids who want to cause mischief. ---
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/3 "2017-04-11T04:24:05Z")
Good point. I had never thought of that. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/4 "2017-04-11T04:28:48Z")
It’s been a while but we’ve done this before. > **[Why security screws in bathrooms?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=104762)** > > Does anyone know why bathroom stalls are assembled with security screws? Security screws have a special head design which allows them to only be screwed in. If you try to unscrew it, the screwdriver cannot grip it. I can’t figure out why anyone... ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/5 "2017-04-11T04:32:49Z")
I read the OP title and thought it was about shit bombs being detonated in the stalls. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/6 "2017-04-11T04:57:05Z")
I read the OP title, and wondered which of dozens of activities would be the topic. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/7 "2017-04-11T13:01:32Z")
I’m just glad it’s not another thread about those inconsiderate people who use public restrooms to poop _while other people are in the restrooms too!_ :eek: [sub]Imagine! Defecating in a defecatorium![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/8 "2017-04-11T13:11:58Z")
My money was on blowjobs. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/9 "2017-04-11T14:13:01Z")
^ Mine too, when I was younger. ---
**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 11, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/10 "2017-04-11T16:38:30Z")
All I can say is, interesting title/username combo. ---
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/11 "2017-04-11T20:00:06Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I read the OP title, and wondered which of dozens of activities would be the topic. Caught your attention. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/12 "2017-04-11T20:12:16Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > All I can say is, interesting title/username combo. LOL! No, not THAT bottom. THIS bottom is what is at the end of a downward spiral of a society which has systematic problems insoluble under the current setup. The race is about everyone trying to survive by positioning oneself closer to the bottom than everyone else, to sell oneself at a cheaper price. For the vast majority, it is how one survives. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/13 "2017-04-11T20:23:02Z")
A real downer. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/14 "2017-04-11T23:38:35Z")
A Downer, yes, but except for climate change, most of humanity has been here before. Most of Europe and much of Asia was occupied by fascists who murdered millions. Our worst experience was the Civil War, which has now been so mythologized to the extent that its meaning is obscure to most people. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/15 "2017-04-12T00:11:46Z")
Hey, quit hijacking your own thread. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/16 "2017-04-12T00:26:26Z")
That … escalated quickly? 😕 ---
**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 12, 2017, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/17 "2017-04-12T01:32:59Z")
Maybe if I unscrew these partitions the thread will fall back into line. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/18 "2017-04-12T02:19:45Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > All I can say is, interesting title/username combo. I get the feeling he’s been waiting a long time for someone to say that. ---
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this-in-public-restrooms/784221/19 "2017-04-12T22:35:06Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Hey, quit hijacking your own thread. Sorry. Sometimes I get out of control. :smack: