# Will the "Urinal Code" ever go away?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [September 24, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280 "2021-09-24T16:58:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/1 "2021-09-24T16:58:24Z")
To explain-the “Code” says that you cannot use the urinal next to another male (exceptions may be made if there’s a wall between you). If none are available, you must wait or use the stall. Do you think this will fade as generations pass? Or has it already?
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### Author:  [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/2 "2021-09-24T17:03:36Z")
Why would it ever fade? It’s a cultural privacy issue. And that was pre-Covid!
Back in the Ancient Roman period, you had to sit on a bench right next to someone else to “use the facilities”. Medieval times weren’t that much better.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/3 "2021-09-24T17:05:25Z")
That’s not the code. The code is not to use the urinal next to someone unless all the other urinals are occupied. You don’t see a bunch of men standing around waiting for three urinals in a row to open up so they can use the middle one.
Most men that I know prefer a little space, even with the old-fashioned trough urinals, so I doubt that will ever change.
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/4 "2021-09-24T17:06:56Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#):
>
> The code is not to use the urinal next to someone unless all the other urinals are occupied.
Yes, you’re quite right. I remembered it wrongly.
> [@Kimera757](#):
>
> Why would it ever fade? It’s a cultural privacy issue.
I was always told it was a result of homophobia.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/5 "2021-09-24T17:09:47Z")
Yeah, the code is skip a urinal until all are filled, then fill in the gaps.
And, yes, I do see it broken relatively often, but generally not when there’s a whole big wall full of empty urinals. When it’s getting close to being halfway filled, someone will often not be bothered to walk all the way to the end and just fill in a gap early. I’ve never seen it as a problem.
For me, it’s not an issue of homophobia so much as personal space, like not wanting somebody to sit next to me on an airplane when there’s plenty of other empty seats. That said, I’m sure homophobia may enter into it for many men.
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### Author:  [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/6 "2021-09-24T17:10:37Z")
I think you’re overthinking it. It’s a privacy and personal space issue. You get close to other people if you don’t have any choice, you give them some space if it’s easy to do so. This “code” exists all over the place. You’re going to come across as slightly off if you sit next to a stranger in a mostly empty bus or movie theater too.
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/7 "2021-09-24T17:17:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> That said, I’m sure homophobia may enter into it for many men.
On the heels of this I feel as if I should say that I’m not suggesting that all people who do this are homophobic. The suggestion that some like more room makes sense, and I myself prefer elbow room too.
> [@Driver8](#):
>
> think you’re overthinking it.
Blame a sleepy Friday afternoon. 😁
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### Author:  [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/8 "2021-09-24T17:24:31Z")
Why would this go away? This “code” is the same in many many situations, it’s for personal space/privacy, not homophobia. If you sat right next to me on an empty train or a movie theater with many empty rows, I’d think there was something wrong with you.
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### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/9 "2021-09-24T17:32:07Z")
What would you if faced with these situations?..
[https://whoapprovedthis.com/media/2015/10/too-close-corner-urinal1.jpg](https://whoapprovedthis.com/media/2015/10/too-close-corner-urinal1.jpg)
[ ](https://hooshmand.net/content/images/2020/07/Bain-hot-topics---urinals-too-close.jpg)
[https://whoapprovedthis.com/media/2015/10/bro-urinal-too-close.jpg](https://whoapprovedthis.com/media/2015/10/bro-urinal-too-close.jpg)
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/10 "2021-09-24T17:45:08Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#):
>
> I was always told it was a result of homophobia.
I’ve always assumed it was splash related. And yes, I follow the code precisely.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/11 "2021-09-24T17:47:06Z")
> [@Driver8](#):
>
> I think you’re overthinking it. It’s a privacy and personal space issue. You get close to other people if you don’t have any choice, you give them some space if it’s easy to do so. This “code” exists all over the place. You’re going to come across as slightly off if you sit next to a stranger in a mostly empty bus or movie theater too.
This, exactly.
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/12 "2021-09-24T17:51:09Z")
Or this one:
[ ](https://i.cbc.ca/1.5292914.1569114245!/cumulusImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_780/twin-urinal-heritage-hall-vancouver.jpg)
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### Author:  [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/13 "2021-09-24T17:51:10Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#):
>
> This “code” is the same in many many situations, it’s for personal space/privacy, not homophobia. If you sat right next to me on an empty train or a movie theater with many empty rows, I’d think there was something wrong with you.
It also appears to come naturally to most of us, as I’ve never been taught the “code”, but always abided by it long before I knew that it was a thing.
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### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/14 "2021-09-24T17:53:55Z")
Man, that one’s rough. The whole eye contact thing is a real possibility there.
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/15 "2021-09-24T17:56:48Z")
Not for nothing do they call it “the abominable snowman of toilets.”
> **[This Vancouver urinal has zero privacy and 100 years of history | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-twin-urinal-histry-1.5292912)**
>
> For more than a century, unsuspecting men have been blindsided by its design.
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/16 "2021-09-24T18:01:22Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#):
>
> > [@Kent\_Clark](#):
> >
> > The code is not to use the urinal next to someone unless all the other urinals are occupied.
>
> Yes, you’re quite right. I remembered it wrongly.
I was coming in to make that correction, but I see that the thread has moved along at a lively pace before I had a chance to do so. 😃
BTW, anyone who could possibly think that it’s _verboten_ to ever use an adjacent urinal has obviously never been to an NHL hockey game. Let me lay out the statistics: approximate number of attendees: about 18,000; approximate number of attendees drinking beer: about 18,000; approximate number of attendees rushing to the washrooms during between-period breaks: about 18,000; number of washrooms: Not nearly enough!
Of course many of the fans are female, and I don’t know what their washroom protocols are, but I suspect they’re equally focused on just getting the hell out of there ASAP.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/17 "2021-09-24T18:32:55Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#):
>
> I was always told it was a result of homophobia.
Not wishing to have a guy pissing right next to you checking out your junk isn’t “homophobia”.
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### Author:  [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/18 "2021-09-24T18:38:13Z")
> [@snowthx](#):
>
> What would you if faced with these situations?..
[ ](https://whoapprovedthis.com/media/2015/10/too-close-corner-urinal1.jpg)
You rip the middle one off the wall, take it with you while you track down the people who designed and built this monstrosity, and them beat them into a coma with their own urinal.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/19 "2021-09-24T18:41:59Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> Not wishing to have a guy pissing right next to you checking out your junk isn’t “homophobia”.
If you’re concerned someone is “checking out your junk,” it sounds like it might be.
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### Author:  [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2021, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-urinal-code-ever-go-away/951280/20 "2021-09-24T18:42:00Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#):
>
> Not for nothing do they call it “the abominable snowman of toilets.”
The only thing that bothers me about this one is, there was room for two of them! Who chickened out and only put in the one?
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