# Would you take an open beverage container into the bathroom? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 22, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446 "2006-03-22T16:38:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/21 "2006-03-22T17:57:29Z")
What’s the big deal? It’s not like I’m setting my sandwich on the edge of the urinal. I set my food or drink on a shelf that is on the opposite wall from the sinks. I’m not making two trips to the break room / restroom area when I can do it in one. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/22 "2006-03-22T17:58:01Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] \ Said vessel typically rests on the small shelf above the sink while its owner makes his deposit a few feet away; whether filled with the bitter velvet of americano or the ticklish citrus syrup of Mountain Dew, the beverage sits in the open air, uncovered, unprotected, collecting on its smooth surface any and all corpuscular effluence that happens to [waft its way](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990416.html). The unconcerned owner, having finished his eliminations, then retrieves the potable and saunters back into the world, apparently indifferent to the potential indignities impressed upon his refreshment. [/QUOTE] This is poetry, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/23 "2006-03-22T17:59:31Z")
[QUOTE=Renob] I had a roommate who would eat popcorn on the shitter. [/QUOTE] I have been known to drink beer/eat a bowl of chili/play guitar/talk on the phone/sleep while on said shitter. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/24 "2006-03-22T18:12:33Z")
I’ve probably taken an open can of soda into the bathroom once or twice, but I make an effort not to. I’ve more often, though not frequently, taken unopened cans of soda into the bathroom when I’m stopping on the way back from the kitchen. In either case, said soda waits for the duration on the sinks, and do not accompany me to any variety of elimination porcelain. Generally, though, I try not to take food or beverages into the bathroom, because I don’t enjoy associating the smell of other people’s shit and piss with stuff I plan to eat, whether or not actual shit or piss molecules attach themselves to my consumables. Yick. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/25 "2006-03-22T18:23:40Z")
[QUOTE=Indygrrl] No way. I wouldn’t take anything in there that I planned to put in my mouth. [/QUOTE] Where do you go to brush your teeth? ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/26 "2006-03-22T18:42:42Z")
I’m an obsessive freak who bathes/showers 3 or 4 times daily. Food in the bathroom? I can’t do it. My toothbrushes are in a container and in the medicine cabinet. I’m a 'phobe. I came close, once, in my own home. I had a bottle of Guinness in my left hand, and I had to retrieve something from the bathroom counter. My husband laughed at me as I stuck my right hand in… and held the bottle in my left hand, stretched out as far away as I could get it from the bathroom door. He still teases me about it. Yes, I’m certain there are a million filthy things I likely do each day. It’s my own weird hangup. Bathrooms = place people go to dispel waste. Beverage = drinkey goodness. My stubborn mind doesn’t like to meld drinkey goodness with waste dispelling room. I know my drinkey goodness will eventually wind up there naturally. I just don’t want to take it there until it’s ready. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/27 "2006-03-22T18:50:35Z")
[QUOTE=kelly5078] So, **Cervaise** , do you compulsively and repeatedly wash your hands, and only touch the faucets with a paper towel? [/QUOTE] You wound me, sir. I wash my hands only as much as is reasonable and prudent: after visiting the WC, and before cooking or eating. No more, and no less. I am far from a new incarnation of Adrian Monk. My only irrational compulsion in life is that when climbing or descending a staircase I mentally count the steps and feel a strange satisfaction if the number is even versus a vague unease if the number is odd. Oh, and I make sure to chew each bite of food an equal number of times on each side of my mouth. … Okay, I will concede perhaps I am a little Monk-y. Er, that didn’t come out right. Point is, I’m no germophobe. It’s just that comestibles in the toilet are _yucky._ ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/28 "2006-03-22T19:01:44Z")
Yeah, it kinda goes in hand with the bathroom sprays. You’ll find them in _Forest Pine, Powder_ and _Meadow Mist_. Less frequently will you find a bathroom freshner scented _Bacon._ ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/29 "2006-03-22T19:10:05Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] Yeah, it kinda goes in hand with the bathroom sprays. You’ll find them in _Forest Pine, Powder_ and _Meadow Mist_. Less frequently will you find a bathroom freshner scented _Bacon._ [/QUOTE] But if I ever did, I’d buy a _case_ of it. Nothing smells as good as bacon. Nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/30 "2006-03-22T19:37:18Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] Yeah, it kinda goes in hand with the bathroom sprays. You’ll find them in _Forest Pine, Powder_ and _Meadow Mist_. Less frequently will you find a bathroom freshner scented _Bacon._ [/QUOTE] Really? I thought [Push Button, Receive Bacon](http://www.all-encompassingly.com/archives/dryer_instruction.jpg) was standard in bathrooms now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/31 "2006-03-22T19:45:13Z")
[QUOTE=Anastasaeon] I had a bottle of Guinness in my left hand, and I had to retrieve something from the bathroom counter. My husband laughed at me as I stuck my right hand in… and held the bottle in my left hand, stretched out as far away as I could get it from the bathroom door. He still teases me about it. [/QUOTE] Why? Doesn’t he know how hard it is to set down a Guinness? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/32 "2006-03-22T19:52:38Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] Where do you go to brush your teeth? [/QUOTE] Last week in the men’s room at work, I saw a guy brushing his teeth while using the urinal. One hand on the brush, other hand guiding the stream. Shock and awe indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/33 "2006-03-22T19:55:26Z")
So, I guess that Gloryhole action is out for a lot of you? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/34 "2006-03-22T20:43:28Z")
Not only that, but I drink the hot water that comes out of my pipes! I’m mad! Mad, I tells ya! ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/35 "2006-03-22T20:51:57Z")
My insanity has mellowed over the years. I do not remember visiting the restrooms during my school years. I can now use any facilities present and I rejoice in my maleness that allows me to have no contact whatsoever with the porcelain when necessary. I unconsciously avoid bringing any food or drinks into restrooms. I believe I would not abandon a comestible, but I would keep it with me at all times and never leave it on the sink or even a nearby shelf. I still make a cursory wipe of the toilet seat before sitting, though practically it’s only a psychological guard against any germs. Conversely, in the toilet, flatulence is as tolerable as it is unavoidable. Bodily smells have been with us since birth, and a toilet is a common getaway from the constant struggles of the day, so the familiarity has usually never bothered me and can sometimes be comforting. _However, if we meet in person, please **do not** try to make me feel more comfortable!_ A recent thread asked if you would close the door on your own restroom against your wife. I didn’t answer there - We rarely do. I’m sharing every other trust, scrape, scratch, boil, and fluid with my wife so there’s nothing left to hide. **Anne Neville** , I too remember the _Myth Busters_ episode when they tested germ spreading in a restroom and found that the control down the hall had just as much bacteria. Germs are with us everywhere. It’s just prudent to minimize instead of eliminate them. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/36 "2006-03-22T21:15:28Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] My only irrational compulsion in life is that when climbing or descending a staircase I mentally count the steps and feel a strange satisfaction if the number is even versus a vague unease if the number is odd. [/QUOTE] slight hijack, a shrink once mentioned that the counting thing meant something about you, but never said what it was. (seemed to be something besides OCD because he specifically was talking about the counting thing) I’ve always wanted to know cause I do that too. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/37 "2006-03-22T21:26:02Z")
I drink beer in the shower, and take a cup of coffee into the john here at work (it’s a really low traffic restroom). I’ve taken beer into bathrooms at bars and casinos. I’m breathing the same air that’s in contact with my beverage, and if my mouth happens to open while I’m in there, I get that air in my mouth, too. As long as I don’t get too carried away while using the facilities, I figure I’m OK. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/38 "2006-03-22T21:34:09Z")
I occationally eat while I’m taking a bath, does that count? Of course, I’m at home in the tub, not bathing in the urinal at work. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/39 "2006-03-22T21:37:53Z")
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat] I’ve taken beer into bathrooms at bars and casinos. [/QUOTE] The only time I’ve taken a beer into a bathroom in a bar is at a seedy place downtown that does that weird “urinals are ice-buckets” thing. I was drunk enough that I thought it’d be a wheeze to leave an unopened beer “chilling” in there. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446/40 "2006-03-22T21:42:25Z")
Can’t remember where it was I saw ice in the urinals… some bar or restaurant. Never occured to me to put a beer in there! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-an-open-beverage-container-into-the-bathroom/349446.md?page=3)