Pooing in public loos - yes or no?

[samarrange]

Inspired by about half of the posts in this thread (which is basically on a different topic, but its OP mentioned public loos and things kept, er, moving).

It seems that MN is totally split on whether having a poo in a public loo (or, presumably, a pub, the library, the office, anywhere that isn't your home or your hotel) is either "the worst thing imaginable", or "completely normal, what's all the fuss about?".

that I know isn’t good

I will say what I said on that thread - if you weren't supposed to poo in them there would be a notice advising of that.

I find it mind boggling that people are so ridiculous about things like this.

I’m a “never in a million years” person, genuinely don’t think I ever have barring illness, but DH still can’t fathom how I can “need to go” without “needing to go now” so presumably we’re all different. 😅

It's not an 'illness' to have bowels that don't operate on a regular schedule that can be conveniently timed in the narrow time slot between waking and leaving the house in the morning, it's a normal healthy digestive system.

Nor is it abnormal to not be able to wait for hours or even days until you get home, again it's totally normal.

It's those of you who can't or won't go anywhere else other than your own toilet that have the issue. It's explained in this book that these threads always remind me of.

I've heard the author talk about it on a couple of podcasts. Some people do have 'shy bowels' meaning they can't go in unfamiliar surroundings. That's not the same as those of us that don't have this problem being disgusting, weird or ill because our bowels operate as they're supposed to.

Yup, but I don’t poo around people I know. I usually try to find an empty bathroom where I can hide in a stall and really… let it go like Elsa 🥴

Obviously always wash my hands. The worst is when you get those stabbing pains and you have to runnnnn to the bathroom or else…

Luckily I don’t get those pains often.

Wasn’t trying to “police” the thread. I was just warning OP because it’s annoying when your thread gets deleted because you linked to another thread.

I have this when staying at my IL because they have no concept of privacy no locks on either of their toilet doors and a full length mirrored cupboard directly in front of the loo. Both of these seem to act as a deterrent, and I don't ever go there.

If I need to go in public toilets (with locks) then mostly I would

First child for me!

This. As I said on the other thread even Royalty use public toilets.

It's a normal bodily function. Public toilets are there to use - yes sadly sone are "grim" because not all people who use them leave them nicely but they are intended to be used by people. When I went out to London two weeks ago I left home at 9am and got back at 23:15- I had both breakfast and dinner out, and yes I used public toilets for both a wee and a poo & I unlike sone people on the other thread I don't find that strange or rude or bad manners.

I have a lot of anxiety about public toilets I’m trying to overcome, like I’ve had a few experiences where I’ve needed to poo and just been too frightened to- has led to some retrospectively funny stories but equally I just wish I could poo in public toilets, would make life so much easier with IBS

Fully agree, toilets have an intended use and for those that suffer going all day without using one for either a wee or a poo or suffering needlessly

@GiddyGreyFinch I’m sorry to hear that you are going through that, have you tried counselling?

When you have to go, you have to go. I do not like going in anywhere public, but I am not going to risk a bad accident or making myself ill by waiting.

The post from PP WTDress reminded me of someone in an office I used to work in, he used to come onto our floor and use our toilet to poo in. Thing is, he used to manage to break the toilet seat quite often. He was caught sneaking in a few times to use ours! It was supposed to be the female toilets, so my place of work ended up having to make a complaint.

I’m an at home pooer , but not through choice. It just happens. Fucking pain in the arse and other places when you actually need to go and you get those painful cramps/movements but nothing happens. Or a lovely bout of constipation during holidays. Even on Orlistat it wasn’t exactly a free for all , but I did “branch” out a bit.

Yes - and if you were only meant to wee in public loos, why would the gents have cubicles rather than just urinals? Or is it just ladies who are supposed to suppress a perfectly normal bodily function?

Bizarre thread. No shame in going to public toilets to use them as intended.

I can only imagine I was making a joke and poo doesn’t actually fly out of anuses…

I haven’t I think for me I just seem to take a lot longer to do my business than others seem to. Like I can spend upwards of 25 mins whereas other people seem to be able to poo in minutes 😰

Shopping does the same to me, especially IKEA…

You were asking why people can't just wait until they get home?

I think there must be a big range of 'normal' - sounds like some people can just decide when and where to poo and other people experience more urgency.

I don’t use a public or work loo unless I absolutely have to. It’s not a germ thing, it’s a people thing and it stems from being bullied in school, in the toilets, where people used to bang on the doors and then tell everyone that you were a stinky bitch, so and sos having a shit urgghhhhhh. (Not just me, and even just doing a wee)

so i will seek out a work loo if there’s no one in there, i will wait until people have gone if someone comes in after me, so no one sees me.

public loos are the same, got no problem using them, would just prefer no one sees me lol

@thevassal when I said “only when needed”, I meant when it couldn’t wait until I got home.

I don't get the whole "waiting to you get home thing". As someone who could easily have any of the seven stages of the Bristol Stool Chart in any combination on any given day, holding on until I got home is simply not an option. Likewise the whole morning routine cannot be halted.

I wouldn't say that "poo flies out my arse", to quote a PP, but 9 times out of 10 it's a pretty rapid process.

I remember a few years ago whilst suffering from crippling anxiety, I went to London for a work meeting, and had to "go" eight times betwixt 6am and 11am. Each time was a significant outcome too, I was left wondering where it all came from. Needing to "go" has always been a side effect of my anxiety, never more so than when the doctor put me on Sertraline to help with the anxiety...I only had one tablet and I was practically having to walk around with a shovel. As I now know, it can raise the anxiety significantly before it improves it...I only ever had two tablets. Never again, they weren't for me.

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