At my office, there is a men’s room and a women’s room. Both are non-stalled, meaning only one person is supposed to use it at a time. We don’t have a ton of people working in this building, but sometimes, when I’m in a hurry and someone’s in the women’s room, I just use the men’s. I really didn’t think anyone would care and nobody’s ever mentioned it to me, but there was a letter in Ann Lander’s today from a woman complaining about a man using the women’s room.
Is this bad office etiquette? Would you care if you were a guy in my office?
It wouldn’t bug me unless the guy peed on the floor and didn’t put the seat down. Or worse, peed on the seat.
Is there the possibility of changing the signs to make them unisex bathrooms?
Would it bother women if men used their bathroom? I’ve asked classes this sometimes, and most women answer “yes.” So, even with the appalling lack sometimes of women’s bathrooms, I would say that the whole “sauce for the goose” bit applies and you shouldn’t do it.
Personally, it would bother me, regardless of how big the bathroom is. My hangup, maybe.
Bucky
Oh, well. We can always make more killbots.
I don’t think any man would care beyond his vague sexual arousal at the idea of a woman in the men’s room. Men in the women’s room? hmm… Some people might not like that. It has sexual discomfort in the office written all over it (yes, we live in a hypocritical world).
This happened to me at a carnival once…the line for the men’s room was backed up around the corner, so me and a few friends decided to use the woman’s room…(single occupant type)…when I came out, this lady standing there gave me this look from hell and asked primly “I hope you didn’t pee on the seat”, to which I replied, “No ma’am, I have manners, I lift the seat, but I didn’t see the need in waiting 15 minutes for the men’s room”…shrug…seems stupid to me to wait when there is a place available…
No problem. Just be sure to leave the seat up when you’re done.
Wouldn’t bother me. The reason I always heard for sex-specific one-seater restrooms was that men would get scared if there was a tampon dispenser in the bathroom. You see, we men are weak, delicate creatures who can’t stand the thought of blood or anything that might touch it.
The reason women aren’t supposed to go in the man’s one-seater is that there is a lot of reading material in there, and we wouldn’t want the women to know (a) who kicked the option pass to the defenseman past third pass, which one the U.S. open for the Australian boat, (b) which recycled pick-up lines are being touted as “sure-fire and totally original”, or © that we’re really reading women’s magazines cause we can’t get enough of Jennifer Love Hewitt photos.
Wouldnt bother me, bathroom is a bathroom. What difference does the sign on the door make?
Kinooning it up for 20 years and counting
It wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. Then again, in some of the clubs I used to frequent, everyone used the same bathrooms at the same time, which never bothered me. So I guess my opinion doesn’t hold much weight here. 
Whether you’re fat or slim bubble your ting.
Fellas if you need help, use ginseng.
–Wyclef Jean
I saw the letter that you’re referring to, and the bathroom that woman was speaking of had multiple stalls, unlike the added difficulty that you face with one commode for each restroom.
Since no one can walk into the kind of restroom that you have, I don’t see why it should make a difference.
The letter writer was wondering if the guy was up to no good since it was a multiple stall facility. What she doesn’t say is, why don’t you just ask HIM rather than write a letter to a stranger that doesn’t know him at all??
“Um, according to who? Nothing more than a high brow troll, though occasionally the bi polar personality swung in a constructive direction on innocuous topics.” Omniscient
Wouldn’t bother me in the case of the one-person bathroom; not a multiple stall room.
I saw that letter to Ann Landers. One respondent suggested that maybe some men prefer using the women’s because they’re cleaner. HA! In my experience, especially after being the building manager of my office building, women are worse than men.
Just the other day I was in the bathroom and some woman had left a bloody tampon dispenser
tube right on top in the trashcan. Yuck. And many women seem to think they can get a disease from toilets and stand when they pee - and spray the seat and don’t wipe it off.
::massive shrug::
What we’re talking about it is plumbing; not human: porcelain. It’s a receptacle with running water.
As long as there are privacy booths, who cares? (In cases of “multi-seaters”) In my very early college days, dorms were single sex, which meant that at least a quarter of the “floor” population were guys sleeping over.
Sleepy midnight visits with unmistakabley size 12 feet aiming the “wrong” direction in the stall nextdoor was no trauma. And what’s the deal with carefully fitted porecelain receptacles in “unisex” johns? If you’re anatomy don’t fit it, don’t use it.
(Anyone else remember the MAD magazine satire of the bar in “Star Wars”, w/ odd funnels, suction cones and drains sprouting out of the toilet walls?)
Sheesh! Lock the door, or close the stall and don’t pry into metabolic matters of others. Is there something complicated I’m missing here?
Veb
Reminds me of the restrooms at the White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia. They have four single-person bathrooms, marked:
Sitters
Pointers
Democrats
Republicans.
I’ll bet C3’s co-worker would spontaneously combust from indignation at this place.
Thanks, everyone, I won’t worry about doing this anymore. Like I said, nobody’s ever said anything to me, but I didn’t want to be the one people are talking about but are scared to approach and actually tell me I’m offending them.
Sycorax, I HATE when women pee on the seat! Blech. Some people are just disgusting.