Washroom Etiquette

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So today I was at McDonald's and I was going to the washroom. There were no signs telling me not to enter the washroom (so I went in, as usual). Inside the washroom, there was a female (this may be of significance) custodian cleaning inside a stall. I only had to use the urinals (as opposed to the toilet bowl inside the stall) so I just went for it and was about to go pee, when the custodian said, "Excuse me, please wait outside, it will only be 5 seconds." I waited for a short time and then I was let in.

I'm a male and I was wondering if this was because 2 people of different genders were in the washroom at the same time, or would a male custodian also ask me to wait outside? Again, there were no signs saying I should wait outside and I thought that it wasn't all that weird to go to the washroom while a custodian was cleaning elsewhere in the same washroom. What do you think?

There is no standard etiquette for this situation. At one office I've worked in, only male janitors cleaned the men's room. At another office for the same company in a different city, not only did a female clean the men's room, she walked in to clean it without knocking! (Even worse (or better), she was cute.) At another company, women would clean the men's room, but they would knock first and inquire if it was in use. At another office, the custodian (a woman) would always prop open the door while it was being cleaned. If anything, that would be the standard protocol: a propped-open door signifies it is being cleaned.

I personally think if a female custodian is cleaning a mensroom, a man should wait to void bowels or bladder, regardless of a sign.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

If you've got to go, you've got to go.

I remember the same thing happening to me. I'm of the same opinion, especially now that I'm almost fifty. Sorry, I can't wait these days. If there's a problem with it, they should send a male in to clean the men's room.

I'm really baffled by this situation because I spent quite a few years cleaning public bathrooms, and learned some very confusing things in the process.

1 A lot of women do not care that a man is in the restroom cleaning it and will use it anyway while he's still in there.

2 For those of you who think the men's room is messier than the ladies room, I'm here to tell you right now that's bunk!

3 If there is a sign up on the door that says "Closed for cleaning," men are far more likely than women to NOT go in.

4 People are just weird.

I used to work in a retail job and there were multiple occasions when I was given the task of cleaning the ladies' restroom (In short, it got so bad that none of the female employees wanted to go in there and clean it). This was by no means a pleasant task, as this was the only restroom in a busy store, and this required making sure the restroom was empty and I did not want to prevent people from entering while I was waiting for others to finish. Once it was clear, I actually propped the door open and blocked it with the custodial cart and people would still go in there and take care of business.

At my current workplace, the mostly female custodial staff are courteous enough to knock before entering the guys' room and will simply prop the door open.

Kids are an exception. If they have an emergency, do not get in their way.

I get really freaked out when there is a male custodian cleaning the ladies washroom. I guess it makes sense in terms of practicality....it would be impractical NOT to clean the mens room until a male custodian was working a shift and visa versa. Nonetheless...I really wish they would do that....so that squeamish ppl like me can pee in peace. =)

she probably did not want see, hear, or smell what you were about to do. Also, if I was a woman I would feel uncomfortable with a man being in a situation where his geneitals are out and there are no other people around.

Now with that said, I will gross you out with two messed up urinal stall stories I have.

1) When I was fifteen a friend and I were both using the two urinals in the boys restroom in school. One of the male science teachers just walks in and starts washing his hands. I felt like I was being stared at so I peeked over my shoulder Just in time to catch the teacher staring at us by looking into the mirror in front of the sink so I nudged my friend with my elbow and he looked over and said shouldn't you be in the teacher's bathroom down the hall? He got flusterd and left quickly without drying his hands. My idiot friend ran past him and yelled I'm telling the science teacher actually chased him down the hall grabbing him with his cold wet hands. He explained to him he was checking to see if were smoking.

2) I was using the urinal at this mall's food court bathroom when some scum bag uses the urinal right next to me even though there is a third urinal he could use. When he finishes he shakes his antomy like it owed him money or something. He gets his urine droplets on my bare arm so I get pissed and grossed out so I wipe the urine on shirt and say shake in the toilet not my freaking arm dumbass. I zipped up and I turned to go to the sink to wash my hands he storms off then as I was drying my hands he comes in with the food court security guard. I tell the story to the guard while the sprayer is carrying on like a mental patient. The guard looks at the dummy and says shake it don't spray it. I told the guard he shook his junk so bad I thought there was going to be a murder. The guard while laughing told the guy to go shop and made sure we left into different directions.