# You took a dump in a public toilet. Why didn't you flush? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 13, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640 "2012-03-13T13:09:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/21 "2012-03-14T15:54:48Z")
I can top all y’all. One day at our high school my friend walked into a ladies room stall and walked right back out. She said “Juicy, don’t go in there. Just don’t.” Apparently someone (well, obviously a high-school girl), had a soiled “feminine napkin.” (I’m trying to be as delicate as I can here.) Instead of, you know, folding it up into multiple layers of TP and depositing it into the receptacle for such things like a normal human being, she opened it wide up and stuck it to the back of the stall door. I can’t make this stuff up, people. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/22 "2012-03-14T16:05:49Z")
Those automatic-flush jobs are common enough that some people assume they don’t need to worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/23 "2012-03-14T16:43:00Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > When I see this at work there’s often a half roll’s worth of TP in the toilet, so I’m guessing tried to flush and it didn’t go down. WTF is up with that?? Why do people have to use such huge wads of TP? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/24 "2012-03-14T16:59:59Z")
Every automatic flush toilet I have ever seen also has a manual flush or a way to trigger it if it doesn’t work on it’s own. Sometimes it’s just waving your hand in front of the wall sensor, sometimes it’s a button or knob on the plumbing (smaller than a typical handle, but works the same damn way). Use a couple of brain cells and figure it out - it’s not that hard to do. I never leave a stall without ensuring that the toilet has flushed (though I admit to abandoning one after 2-3 flushes and the damn pressure simply isn’t high enough to succeed…at that point, it’s not my problem). ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/25 "2012-03-14T17:09:32Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > You’ve got a coworker who shits in his cubicle? Doesn’t everybody? ---
**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:** [March 14, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/26 "2012-03-14T17:18:12Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > You’ve got a coworker who shits in his cubicle? Ah. Terminology. In case anyone is confused, cubicle is what we call rest room stalls in th UK. there’s little scope for conflation with an office cubicle because cube farms aren’t very common here. Most offices are open plan or have half height or occasional partitions. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/27 "2012-03-14T18:21:02Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > WTF is up with that?? Why do people have to use such huge wads of TP? If you accidentally touch your butt with your hand, you get Hand Leprosy. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/28 "2012-03-14T18:55:22Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > (We’ve got one at work - won’t even touch the cubicle door when he’s taking a dump - so he sits there with it wide open. On the way out of the room, he waits for someone else to open the door, then barges through so he doesn’t have to touch the handle. Frickin idiot.) This is where you organize the people in your office - as soon as he enters the bathroom, everyone else stays out. Everyone else uses a different bathroom, or the coffeeshop down the street if they have to, whatever. See how long he’s stuck in there before he decides to open the door himself, or starts calling for help. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/29 "2012-03-14T21:06:05Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > This is where you organize the people in your office - as soon as he enters the bathroom, everyone else stays out. Everyone else uses a different bathroom, or the coffeeshop down the street if they have to, whatever. See how long he’s stuck in there before he decides to open the door himself, or starts calling for help. or, since he leaves the cubicle/stall door open, have everybody come into the bathroom and stare at him while he’s “downloading.” ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/30 "2012-03-14T21:19:03Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > WTF is up with that?? Why do people have to use such huge wads of TP? I once had a roommate who would go through, at minimum, one roll of toilet paper a day in her private bathroom. Sometimes two a day. I have no fucking clue what she was doing, because to this day, I maybe go through a roll every week or two-- and that’s with guests! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/31 "2012-03-14T21:50:30Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > \ > > Oh, and that rule about no loud grunting and groaning they have at gyms? Let’s apply that to bathrooms also please. The other day I swear the guy in the stall next to me was having a baby. At least you were in a bathroom - this happened to me the other day in a changeroom - the lady next to me sounded like she was trying to give birth. I think she was trying on bathing suits - hey, maybe you need to go up a size! > [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > I once had a roommate who would go through, at minimum, one roll of toilet paper a day in her private bathroom. Sometimes two a day. I have no fucking clue what she was doing, because to this day, I maybe go through a roll every week or two-- and that’s with guests! That’s a whole lotta wiping! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/32 "2012-03-14T22:11:35Z")
I can’t resist posting a link to this thread about flushing, from 2003 > **[Ere you left the stall...](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=218793)** > > This is directed towards those numerous nasty jerks who evidently can’t be bothered with being sanitary in public; i.e, those who refuse to flush the commode when finished. \*Ere you left the stall a moment past Did you think to flush? In the name... ---
**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:** [March 15, 2012, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/33 "2012-03-15T08:24:59Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > or, since he leaves the cubicle/stall door open, have everybody come into the bathroom and stare at him while he’s “downloading.” Or just close it for him I guess. He’ll be stuck in there forever. ---
**Author:** ![BaconAndEggs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@BaconAndEggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaconAndEggs)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/34 "2012-03-15T14:31:33Z")
If I go somewhere with automatic flushers, why is there poop/blood/piss still in the toilet? I know when I get in the bathroom, the sensor flushes that thing at least 3 times when I’m in the stall. How do other pople get away from the sensor? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/35 "2012-03-15T16:19:56Z")
Clearly, they have no souls. ---
**Author:** ![AndyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AndyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyLee)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/36 "2012-03-15T17:35:44Z")
Low flush toliets seem to be the rage in Chicago and you can spend hours flushing before anything goes down. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/37 "2012-03-15T18:21:37Z")
> [@BaconAndEggs](#): > > How do other pople get away from the sensor? I’ve seen pieces of paper stuck over sensors to prevent them from triggering. I’m guessing someone had a bad experience with an over-anxious sensor giving them repeated butt-sprays (I know I have, although I’ve never gone so far as to block the sensor). ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/38 "2012-03-15T18:53:12Z")
A word to all the crap left behind apologists. Yeah, there may be “technical” issues in these modern times butt even back before we walked on the moon and toilets flushed with such ferocitiy that saftey handles were provided to help keep the flushie from being sucked in themselves there were a plenty a number of turds a left a floatin. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/39 "2012-03-15T21:36:00Z")
I think it is those people that make an art form of being obnoxious. Yes, the handle may have germs. Your hand may even add to them. As was pointed out, there is a sink, soap, and water. Oh, and please use them. Since I see so many that don’t, I avoid touching the door if I can. If I must touch it, I often use a paper towel. Note, filthy restrooms are bad enough by myself, but I hate taking my dog in them. I wear shoes. I don’t lay down on the floor for rest. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640/40 "2012-03-15T22:14:05Z")
I saw a magazine article lately that caused an aha\* moment for me on this subject: apparently people are afraid of the aerosolized poop and pee that they just don’t flush. Unbefuckinglievable, but there you go. \*Where “aha” = “total disgust and utter disdain” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-took-a-dump-in-a-public-toilet-why-didnt-you-flush/615640.md?page=3)