Public Bathroom Etiquette

Usually, in a public bathroom, you don’t talk to anybody. Just do your business, turn around, and get out.

Most of the time, your business is pretty quick, quiet, and not incredibly stanky.

TMI alert.

These last few weeks, I’ve been having a bit of trouble with my bowel movements. They’re a bit out of my control–pretty much the opposite of the “perfect poop.”

Long, loud, and smelly.

What I always wonder is this: if there’s another person in the bathroom already, is it okay to call out a preemptive “Sorry in advance”?

Because I think it would be weird. You don’t really acknowledge people in the bathroom.

On the other hand, though, it feels rude to drop a gas bomb on a poor, unsuspecting non-chronic-disease-having person three stalls over who just wants to pee in peace.

I’ve always been acutely aware of being the person who messes up a peaceful bathroom, and I’ve trained myself to not worry about it too much, but I still think about how my personal bowel issues impact everyone else who uses that bathroom.

I hate making everyone else’s air stink. But I also refuse to apologize for having a disease that I didn’t choose and do my best to control.

Also, it’s just weird.

Maybe there’s a balance between trying to make other people feel comfortable and just doing my business.

What do you think?

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