little poll about public restrooms.

[fluffernutter]

Some friends and I were talking about this at dinner tonight. Seems there might be a difference in stall/urinal choices between men and women, so I thought I'd check with you all.

If you are in a public restroom, and there are 3 stalls (all empty when you get there) which one do you choose? And why?

[imenja]

1. What's the psychology behind this?

I try to pick the one that looks the cleanest and least used, and that has TP of course.

[fluffernutter]

2. can you spare a square?

no psychology, just the usual drunken curiousity ;)

[medeak]

studies show

that furthest stall has least amount of bacteria

[imenja]

7. that's what I figure

I never pick the closest one for that reason. I hate public restrooms, but the worst I ever saw were in Yugoslavia in the mid-1980s. Brazilian ones aren't very pleasant either. As you might guess, the Swiss bathrooms are immaculate.

[Dr.Phool]

10. Watch BULLSHIT! by Penn and Teller on Showtime

They completely debunked all this bathroom bacteria, toilet-seat contamination etc. on their show

[petronius]

19. Based on the results of this poll

it looks like the closest stall is likeliest to be cleanest, since it seems to get the least use.

[Mojambo]

3. Unless it is an EXTREME emergency

I won't use public restrooms. And even if I do, I'm so filled with anxiety that I don't spend much time considering.

[tjdee]

4. I pick the cleanest, or the one farthest away from the entrance.

I'm right thrown off by handicapped stalls!

And also, women and men shouldn't have equal amount of stalls in their bathrooms. Women's lines are so long at public venues because women take longer to get their business going--with the sitting and the pantyhose and the pulling down and pulling up... so they should construct greater numbers of stalls for women. They won't.

So at a show or game, all the women can continue to stand on line the ENTIRE LENGTH of intermission/halftime, and the men get pop in and out (do they even wash their hands?). Just for kicks.

[fluffernutter]

9. I agree about lines at big events.

we definitely need more stalls and/or restrooms.

[Radical Activist]

5. stall vs. urinal BIG difference

Urinals are an entirely different question from stalls because you have to take into account whether another person is already at one of the other urinals. That largely determines where you go. With stalls, that isn't much of an issue.

[Dr.Phool]

6. WTF

You're having dinner and talking about public restrooms?

I could write all night on this, but I'll pass.

Couldn't you think of something important to discuss, like beer, or the state of horse stalls?

[fluffernutter]

11. that wasn't the only topic of discussion.

just one of the many that floated throughout the table :)

check out the poll so far, it matches our table talk - the girls mostly picked the middle stall, and the guys never did.

[Wapsie B]

8. The cleanest one

with paper. No wet floor. Gotta have a clean bathroom. I'm pretty anal about that.

[medeak]

12. best friend was in bed for 4 months after using public restroom

sort of made me paranoid about them. She picked up rare form of virus similar to mono that is passed through urine. Dr. thinks she touched doorknob after someone didn't wash hands..

Now am compulsive about having paper towel over doorknobs.

[njdemocrat106]

13. Men's restroom etiquette

http://www.intap.net/~drw/restroom.html/

If the restroom has those stupid bowl-shaped urinals I head for the stalls instead.

[realisticphish]

16. god i hate those

you might as well just whip it out and pee on the floor in a big circle, for all the privacy you get

edit: that link forgot one vital piece: you must imagine burning a hole in the wall directly in front of you by concentrating your eyes... if your lucky, there will be a small tile, or tile junction to aid your concentration

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[Book Lover]

14. The one for the disabled

Because it's the biggest.

[jdots]

15. use the sink,then wash your genitals

people are impressed when you do this in a fancy resteraunt.

[realisticphish]

17. if possible

straddle sink while doing so, to get 'em REAL clean


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[Baja Margie]

18. If I absolutely have to use a public restroom

I go in the last stall because I'm shy.

[donheld]

20. I go in the stall firthest from the door

I'm not sure why. It is my hope then that anyone who comes in after me, will then go to the one closest to the door leaving an empty stall in the middle.
Urinals are a bit different. If there are three, i take one on either end, it doesn't matter which. The next guy should then take the one on the other end. All these rules go by the way side in a gay bar's bathroom.