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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to not want a workman to poo in my toilet?

652 replies

CreamolaFoamless · 14/10/2011 14:00

Earlier today I was having my boiler serviced and two men came to do it.

The older man said 'can I use your toilet' , I said 'yes of course' and directed him to the bathroom. Thinking he just needed to pass water

But he had a poo in it! He was in there a good 10 minutes and has colleague was looking embarressed as we chatted.

It stank ! Really stank ...why do people think it's ok to poo in someone elses house

Would it be unreasonable to refuse workmen toilet access in future [hshock]

I'm using the term workmen because I don't know what else to call them

OP posts:
pigletmania · 15/10/2011 12:05

MeBlooms please do not pass your issues to your dd, she is still very young and impressionable.

pigletmania · 15/10/2011 12:06

And can pick up signals from you, like children do when their mum/dad obsessed with weight etc.

TheBrideofFrankenstein · 15/10/2011 12:13

Toilets are for shitting in. End of. I really couldn't give a damn who shits in my loo. It's not like I'm going to eat my dinner off it.

lesley33 · 15/10/2011 12:27

I don't understand people having an issue with this. Yes poo smells and so that isn't nice...but really! And if you work in people's houses all day are you really supposed to hold it in all day? I know I would be in quite a bit of pain at the end of the day if I did this - and sometimes I just wouldn't be able to.Yabvvu

lesley33 · 15/10/2011 12:37

I don't have any medical problem, but I also don't poo at a set time each day. It kind of depends what I have been eating and drinking and how active I have been. And I sometimes poo 2 or 3 times a day - i eat lots of vegetables and pulses. If I was working in someones house for more than a few hours and they refused to let me use the toilet to do a poo, I would just walk off the job and refuse to go back to their hopuse.

Just ask yourself what the reaction would be if your boss sent round a memo telling staff they couldn't poo in the toilet at work anymore? Or if the school sent home a letter saying your child couldn't poo in the toilet at school any more. They would quite rightly be outrage.

Your house is the work mans place of work.

MumblingAndBloodyRagDoll · 15/10/2011 12:40

No Lesley you are meant to use public toilets. In a cafe or on the street. If you work in people's HOMES al day then you are in a car...so can get to a public toilet and leave your shit there.

BrideofFrank well yes...of course they are for shitting in, but that doesn't mean everyone is happy to share. I would rather my toilet was kept for family shit only. After all...I am the one who cleans it therefore I get to choose.

If someone like a workman shat in my toilet I wouldn't be happy. People are able to hold it....unless they have a disease of course in which case of course it would not be bad...but an adult can hold a shit in until they get to a public toilet. I dont want to wipe toilets with the shit of a stranger down the side.

MumblingAndBloodyRagDoll · 15/10/2011 12:42

It's not the same as an office Lesley you are in someones home and have to respect that. Builders are taught to clean up their dust and debris....so why let them shit in your loo and leave their germs?

lesley33 · 15/10/2011 12:45

Are you serious! There are very very few public toilets these days. And cafes rightly don't let adults use toilets if they aren't buying food/drink. So if I worked in your house every time I needed a pooo I would need to go to a cafe and get a drink/food to do a poo?

Yesterday I would have left your house 3 times - and no I wouldn't have been able to hold it in for 3 hours! I don't have a medical complaint either. I just eat a very healthy diet.

lesley33 · 15/10/2011 12:47

Yes you have to respect someone's home - although actually you should respect an office as well. And it is the same as an office in that it is their place of work.

But you know if I was your builder I would just quote the law at you. If I employ builders that I send out to peoples homes then legally I need to make sure they have access to toilet facilities. So if the job is going to take longer than 2 hours, then you will have to pay for a porta loo to be put in your garden.

MumblingAndBloodyRagDoll · 15/10/2011 12:48

Lesley if you worked in my house all day I would give you a potty.

pigletmania · 15/10/2011 12:52

mumbling are you serious Shock. If thats the case mumbling, if you expect workmen to work in your house YOU then have to provide appropriate alternative toilet facilities for them, its health and safety and the law. No in certain circumstances people cannot hold it, dont be silly ffs your not a medical expert.

MrBloomsNursery · 15/10/2011 12:53

Well the BHS store in our city refuses to allow people to use their toilets unless you've bought something and have proof of a receipt. So you take your receipt to the cleaner outside the toilets and show him, and then he keys in a number in the lock to the toilets and lets you in!! It's because all the people from the library used to pop into BHS to use the toilets, as the library has no loos Shock. So BHS has basically banned the usage of their toilets.

pigletmania I don't make an issue of it. It's not like I go "wooooh! I'm not using the toilet because it's disgusting!!" Infront of DD. I am saying she will form her own views and opinions. Like I said, DH has no issues with pooing in public places, so I'm sure she'll learn something from him too.

MumblingAndBloodyRagDoll · 15/10/2011 12:55

I said piglet that those with conditions who have to go should go...but otherwise I think it's bad manners to dump in a strangers loo; I also accept that I am OCD....I can't help my feelings.

I hate poo.

MamaPizza · 15/10/2011 13:02

Eww, you are all disgusting! You poo? Really? I am a lady, a lady NEVER poos [hgrin]

seeker · 15/10/2011 13:07

Do you all hire a portal for the garden if you have overnight guests?

Rivenwithoutabingle · 15/10/2011 13:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

pigletmania · 15/10/2011 13:14

Thats good mrblooms its good to have a healthy and matter of fact approach to body functions. Its not bad manners mumbling the workman asked the op, she said yes and he used the loo for its intended purpose Hmm

2rebecca · 15/10/2011 13:16

When we had an extension there was a box to tick in the contract as to which facilities the workmen could use free of charge. The architect said that if we weren't keen for our toilet to be used then as there was no nearby public toilet we may be charged for a portaloo as the extension took several months. I know portaloos cost a fortune as have hired them for sporting events. I presume some of you must insist on a portaloo being provided and pay for this if you refuse access to your toilets.

exoticfruits · 15/10/2011 13:19

I saw this yesterday and didn't comment-surprised to see it still going. It must be a basic human right for a workman to go to the toilet at work-if you are going to deny him the use of your toilet I suggest that you find alternatives and drive them there-or pay for a taxi for the trip.
(All very strange Hmm)

exoticfruits · 15/10/2011 13:23

I am reading 'The Help' at the moment where white families in Jackson USA couldn't stand the thought of black maids using the family toilet-it was assumed that it was a dreadful attitude and I certainly thought so-however I see it is isn't in some parts in UK.

exoticfruits · 15/10/2011 13:24

Perhaps you give him a different mug too?!

Sleepglorioussleep · 15/10/2011 13:28

Exotic-as I read the op I was thinking "the help"!

Bunbaker · 15/10/2011 13:34

"I just don't think it's right coming in and shitting in someone elses toilet"

You are being VVVVVU. I assume that you and some of the posters on here have a bottom with a steel shutter that only opens when you are in your own house.

Asking a workman to use a public toilet is not on, especially where we live as the nearest one is 4 miles away. I have IBS and when I need to go I need to go now not in half an hour. You have no idea whether this guy has bowel problems or wasn't feeling well.

Stop being so utterly riduclous.

Oh, and hire a portaloo next time you have any workmen in.

Sleepglorioussleep · 15/10/2011 13:35

Another thread that gives me a window into people's lives. Can I ask if I am the only one who hadn't ever considered it bad manners to defecate in any loo the owner had pointed me to? And obviously leave it clean? I am guessing my mil is not the only one who never actually sits on a loo seat then? If you really were going to catch something from it would there not be government advice?

exoticfruits · 15/10/2011 14:05

In fact-thinking back to the start of 'The Help' Miss Leefolt is having her special maid's bathroom built. The elderly black workman asks for water and Aibileen has to give him water out of a child's paper party cup and then when he wants to go to the toilet she daren't let him use the one in the house, she has to tell him to use the bushes. As the reader you feel sorry for the poor man having to do this, or at least I thought you did-obviously Miss Hilly's Home Help Sanitation Initiative would have the full support of OP. Hmm
(If you haven't read it I would recommend).