Toilet habits

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When I was younger I can't recall being as uncomfortable in a men's room, even with trough style fixtures. First time I noticed an issue was well into adulthood, at church of all places. For some reason it just creeps me out to have anybody right next to me. I can do what I need to do if I hyperfocus on it.

The thing I have always noticed though is if anyone is defecating I will want to turn around and walk out. I tough it out if the person is in the far stall but the smells are torture. At home I swear I cannot bathe, groom or put in my contact lens, never mind tend to my bowels for at least a half hour after anyone's used it. I can do so out of the house if it is secluded. But home or away I will wipe down the porcelain and 'rest' on that. Also I tend to flush with my foot

When I was a child and to some extent still when a teen, I felt very uncomfortable using public restrooms. I eventually got over the worst of it. I have IBS. Sometimes diarrhea, and sometimes constipation, so I spend a long time on the john. If I have to go, then I have no choice in the matter, so I eventually got more used to it. Some months ago, however, I was really creeped out by one public restroom. It was a different Walmart from the one I usually go to. This one had an open doorway with no door into a short cross hall. One side of the hall led down and turned a corner to the men's room, and the other side of the hall led down and turned a corner to the ladie's room. However, at no point along the way was there a DOOR! Any one of any gender could easily wander into either side! The lack of gender privacy was horrible. I had to go, so I was stuck in there for a while. Several people came and went while I was sitting there. I kept thinking, "How odd. The people who use this bathroom are terrible about not washing their hands." When I finally finished on the toilet I found out why they weren't washing their hands. There was a trough sink with several faucets down the length of it. The faucets were almost on the floor of the sink, so you couldn't really get your hands under them to get wet and wash up. Also, it was almost impossible to get the sensors that turned the water on to come on, and when they came on, they turned off almost immediately. So you couldn't really properly wash your hands. This is such an unsanitary set-up! I don't plan on going to this Walmart again! The one I usually use has a better set up, and is closer. It's just I was shopping at another store nearby this one time, so I went to this Walmart to compare prices.

I have had other problems with bathrooms in the past. My father, older brother, and I went on a sort of camping trip once. I don't remember the occasion. We slept in the station wagon--no tent, at a camp ground where a number of other people were for one or two nights. There was an old, single seat out house by where we had parked. Inside it was covered with cob webs and spiders. I was a young child and couldn't handle being around all those creepy webs and spiders. I only tinkled when I absolutely had to. Because my IBS usually makes me need to spend a lot of time on the toilet when I need to poop, I held the poop in until we got home. This led to a bad case of constipation.

I do always wipe down the toilets in public restrooms, before using them. I live alone, but will do the same at home if a visitor has used the seat. I always wipe after I have used the seat, as well, for the sake of the next user.

My biggest problem though, is my IBS.

Now that you've made me think about it, I'll probably be afflicted with this as well.

I don't mind using public toilets, but one's I've never been to before make me feel anxious because of my severe object blindness I can never find where the sinks are, even if they are right in front of me. I'm all right if there isn't loads of other people in there, but when there is, I worry that everyone's watching me come out and will laugh at me if I am hunting around for the sinks when they are right in front of me. So before I go in, I usually look at where the sinks are then remember it for when I finish with the toilet.

Also I worry that the door might have not locked properly, so I stand there for ages repeatively checking that the door is locked properly, because of the fear that someone might open it while I'm sitting on the toilet.

By the way, just a question, how do men manage to pee in the urinals in public toilets? Doesn't it feel embarrassing when other men come in, or is it something that you men don't judge eachother against? What if a group of obnoxious teenage boys came in while you were peeing in the urinal?

Just wondering.

There's a code. Stare straight ahead and don't talk. Even the most obnoxious teenagers abide by it. I've heard of, but never in my entire life encountered a violation (there is an exception to the code - you can carry on a conversation you were having beforehand - but even that's a bit rude if there's any third party around).

I actually have a business idea related to this. The company would design small plexiglass billboards in which you could insert a flyer or ad, to be placed over urinals (I've thought about small flatscreens but there are some problems there). They would pay the washroom's owner a small rental fee to install the ads, and then charge advertisers for the ad space. But I've got no capital to develop the idea and don't have the skills to go about starting up and running a company, so I give the idea away freely. Partially out of self-interest. It sure would be nice to have something to read. If you get rich doing it, consider giving me a cushy job.

I have issues with using toilets. I'm especially sensitive to noise while I'm trying to defecate and/or urinate. If I can hear music/singing or loud voices I tend to not be able to do either at all - its like my bowels/bladder just freeze. It's actually kind of scary if I need to go really badly and this happens. I have a habit now that if there are people in the house, or if I'm using a public restroom, I just put my fingers into my ears to block the noise. Also I only use stalls.

At home, someone occasionally smokes in the bathroom, which I can't tolerate at all. Often, the bathroom will smell strongly of aftershave, which I can barely tolerate (and have to get out as fast as possible). When in public, some hand dryers and some toilets make sounds that are often immediately overloading. I am fairly hypervigilant about automatic toilets because the sound was like a spike directly into my brain.

Other smells aren't particularly pleasant, but they aren't as harsh or overloading to me as the chemical smells.

I hate public toilets. And any toilet that is not my toilet.( my house has four. I'm used to only two of them.)

I'm sure for me it's an extension of the external 'alpha dog NT' thing, I don't need to be reminded how 'inferior' I am everywhere I go. But on a conscious level, it drives me nuts to think about someone coming in and start trying to talk to me. I feel a bit more at ease when the urinals are in cubicles

Questor that Wallyworld bathroom sounds horrible! In my part of town their sinks also have that godawful automatic faucet as well as that nasty foam soap; separate rant on cheap bathrooms in general. The floor is always flooded and the paper dispenser never works, never mind the baby changing ironing board is often in use

@jamieevren I've had dreams about houses with at least 4 bathrooms, leaves me wondering where it fits

My house is quite...oblong, with five stories.
First floor: kitchen
Second: living room
Third: my study and the bedroom and bath I share with my grandmother
Fourth: my mothers study and my parents bedroom(bath)
Fifth: my fathers study and the spare room(bath)

I smoke and for some reason the smell of it in the bathroom bothers me really bad. It smells different in there for some reason.

Public bathrooms don't bother me at all, but I do hate it when I have to go really bad and I don't have a chance to check to see if there is toilet paper before I sit down, and there isn't any. Then I have to wait until someone else comes in and ask them to hand me some, and it's usually never enough so I have to ask them for even more. Usually we both get a laugh out of it because I'll make a joke.

I hover over public toilets. No way in any expletitive will I sit on them, even wiping them down is not enough for me.
I have sometimes sat on the toilet at work after careful wiping... and felt gross afterwards.
I also wipe after visitors in my house.

Maybe you won't see the connection, but I also don't order sugar in my tea at fast food restaurants / I have too often seen them use the sturring spoon in refil cups... cross contagion anyone?

ps - the idea of putting ad space above urinals has been in effect for at least 7 years in my area.

I was glad to discover this code as a transgender person, when I made the switch from female bathrooms to male bathrooms. I was worried I would be outed immediately, or that I'd be harassed in the washroom, but I've been passing as male for a year and no one has ever given me a second (or really even a first) glance in the men's washroom. I much prefer being able to go in, do my business, and get out without people looking at me or smiling at me or saying "hi". No eye contact, no social niceties... it's an Aspie's dream.

The only thing I dislike about men's washrooms rather than women's washrooms is that there is usually more pee on the floor in men's washrooms.

I've only ever seen one complete breach of this code in a men's room. I guy was stood outside the stall having a conversation with his colleague who was in a stall completing some sit down business. Very very odd behaviour in a work bathroom.

Jason

Was at the urinal once, at work. My supervisor came in, went into a stall, sat down and started talking to me about the route I'd be driving that day. As is usual for me, I only realized how weird it was upon later reflection.

I have a million questions for you, and I hope they aren't too intrusive. If they are, know that I don't mean to be nosey and feel free to tell me to mind my own business.

Have you had the surgery yet and if so does it feel wierd now?

If not, do you use the urinals, and if you do, how do you do it without the external plumbing?

If you don't use the urinals, do you flush or something while you pee so that if people are in there they won't hear you peeing in the stall and wonder why you are peeing in there instead of the urinal?

How do you deal with your periods in the mens room, (if you haven't had the surgery yet) because I wouldn't think they have the garbage cans in each stall like in the girl's bathroom?

I have a bunch more questions not related to peeing, but I don't know if it's intrusive to ask or not. I'm just curious.