I can't go to the bathroom when you're on the phone in there!

[sweedetobee]

I work in a large company and we have a very large ladies room that has about 7-10 stalls in it and a row of sinks.

Today I went in to the ladies room to "go" to the bathroom and there was someone in a stall on their cell phone obviously having a conversation they didn't want to have at their desk.

Now, I appreciate the fact that this person did not use their work phone for a private call, but the bathroom just struck me as a really odd place to talk on the phone. I mean there are people flushing toilets, washing hands, talking to each other somtimes, and making all sorts of bodily function noises that happen in the bathroom!

And I could HEAR every word of her end of the conversation! So could anyone else that came in to use the bathroom. So it isn't even really private.

It really weirded me out and made me uncomfortable but I had to "go" so I did. When I was washing my hands another woman came in and we started chatting about what we each did for New Year's Eve. Phone lady must have been bothered by the talking cause she walked out of her stall and left the ladies room, still talking on the cell phone.

When I finished my converation I left and cell phone lady was still on the cell phone but now talking outside the ladies room, which also happens to be right outside the men's room (they are next door to each other) and outside the elevator bank for our floor / reception area.

So again, not a very private place! And to top it off she doesn't even work on our floor! I know everyone on my floor.

Today is a nice sunny day in NYC and I think the high is supposed to be near 50! So take your darn personal call out of my bathroom/lobby area back to your own floor or outside!!!!

(FYI - I make personal calls at work - from my cube. If the conversation is very, very private I take my cell phone outside and walk around the block).

So cell phone calls in a public restroom: is that a breach of cell phone etiquette -  is there cell phone etiquette?  - thoughts???

[FoxPaws]

Gosh! Does anyone else ever wonder how people managed to get through the day when the only phones available were attached to desks/walls and they had to save the personal calls for after hours? 

[Verruca]

Miss Manners had a querent with the same problem!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/09/AR2006050901657.html

For those who don't want to register for the Post: "Miss Manners assures you that etiquette is contextual. What you did was not improper in a restroom; what the other person did was."

[sweedetobee]

Thanks Verruca. It really did make me hesitate using the restroom for a minute!

I was also thinking about if the person on the other end of the phone could hear the flushing.

I don't think the woman was actually "going" to the bathroom while she was on the phone, but I would be really grossed out if I was talking to someone and I knew they were in an active restroom (unless hiding from their ILs in a private bathroom or some scenario like that).

[Lisbeth]

Listening to other people's cell phone conversations always makes me feel like I'm intruding.

I'd especially hate to intrude when I can't go elsewhere (like in the bathroom).

[Venus193]

This topic comes up with alarming frequency.  The worst offender I ever encountered was an account executive with my last company actually who took a client's phone call in the ladies' room.

Most of the time I say that this operates on a case by case basis.  If you and your best friend are comfortable talking from your bathrooms, no problem.  However, if the person on the other end isn't, it's rude.  If others in the restroom are uncomfortable, it's also rude.

In the final analysis, among the half dozen users of a restroom at any typical time there is very likely to be at least one person who is icked out by this, so therefore using a cell phone in a public restroom is rude.

[ButterflieRJ]

I was in a similar situation last week!

I went to the washroom to go and, well, couldn't!  There was someone on their cell yappin' away like nothing was going on.  And she was *otherwise occupied*!!  She flushed and everything, even pausing for a quick hand-dampening on the way out!  I waited until she left to go... I have issues with public restrooms anyway so that made it harder.

My building is a public building though, and technically the restroom on the floor I have to go to (one above mine) is public, so really anyone can use it if they have the code to get in.  I have no idea who the lady was, but I was just beside myself!

If a phone call's THAT important where you have to pee while having a conversation, I'd think one could either hold it or put the caller on hold (or at least mute)!

[Sharnita]

I have bashful bladder issues so these things kill me. i hate the idea of some stranger hearing me go to the bathroom. When I have to give urine samples for physicals or for hiring in the past, I always wish I can just give blood samples - I would find it less stressful.

[Morty'sCleaningLady]

I reported a woman at my office for this!  (I know I'm mean.)  My company does bring clients to our office.  If a client needs to use the facilities, they use the same one the employees do.  It's kept very clean. Well, the second time I walked in on a janitorial employee having the a screaming conversation that could be heard outside the Ladies Room, I took note of her name and called building management.  She could have used an empty conference room, a stairwell or the cafeteria.  There is also a heated loading dock and the janitors have a locker room.  The building has 32 floors and some are empty right now.  The last place that woman should have been holding that conversation was my bathroom!

[sweedetobee]

I don't think I'm coordinated enough to talk, go, wipe, wash hands, etc. while holding a phone!

[Clara Bow]

How would you like to be on the phone with someone who was using the loo? Ick!
I have to admit to having made a quick pee on the phone at home with like, my mom (who doesn't care) but I don't do it at work, or school or public in general. Who wants to feel like the whole world is listening to them make wee?

[magicdomino]

What's worse in when you come into the restroom, sit down, then someone in another stall says something like "How are you doing?"  Fortunately, before I could recover and answer, she said something else, and I figured out that she was on a cell phone. 

[taralee]

I have bashful bladder issues so these things kill me. i hate the idea of some stranger hearing me go to the bathroom. When I have to give urine samples for physicals or for hiring in the past, I always wish I can just give blood samples - I would find it less stressful.

I hate when people are in the bathroom with me (if it's small; if it's very large and noisy, then I'm all right), and it would be agonizing for me to have someone chatting on the phone in the stall next to me. If there's anyone in the bathroom when I'm going, I usually have to abort my mission, and go later anyway.

[StuckInCube]

This topic is SO appropriate because something strange happened to me today in the lady's room at work. I went in to do my business and while in the stall I hear a strange rustling noise from the stall next to me. Then, I hear some chomping/chewing noises. Yes, folks, someone was eating while going to the bathroom at work! I was half appalled and half tempted to start laughing hysterically. But, it made me shake my head and remember, almost fondly, the good ole days when the only "unnatural" sound coming from the stall next to me was the occasional crinkle of a newspaper.

[Venus193]

Yes, folks, someone was eating while going to the bathroom at work!

That is truly bizarre.