To think taking books/phone into the toilet is grim

[scarednoob]

(But sometimes to do it anyway and then disgust myself in a frenzy of middle class angst gone wrong)??

It probably is but you walk into the toilet your hands are in state A.
You read your phone/book on the toilet while you do your business. Your hands are still in state A.

You put your phone/book down, wipe yourself and your hands are now in state B.

You (without touching your book/phone) wash your hands, they are now in state A* and cleaner than ever.

You pick up your phone/book and leave the loo.

So all is well. Obviously if you do all that it's ok. If you are a child/idiotic adult who can't follow the steps correctly it is not ok.

HTH op.

It is grim. I use to work with a guy who would pick up a book we all used at work and take it off to the toilet with him
I guess he must have put it on the pissy floor while he wiped? No other surfaces in the cubicles.

Unless you have explosive diarrhoea which splatters your book / phone, I don't see the problem.

And I certainly don't see why this would cause 'middle class angst', I'm pretty sure working class people shit and think about hygiene too.

Yeah your example Oyster is a bit grim, to be fair

I don't like it. It's not a place I'd choose to sit and relax.

I'm an in and out pooer though. I don't waste time on the jobby.

I think it is a fairly middle class thing to keep a selection of light reading in the lavatory in any case. I always appreciate this when detained in crimping out a particularly difficult length of cable.

I think it's more that it's an acknowledgment that you're going to be in there a while and that then creates images that you don't want... There is a guy where I work who strides merrily off to the gents with the FT under his arm and I just think urrrrrgh! I trust people to wash their hands!

It's a well-documented fact* that queuing for the loo now takes longer because everyone's checking their phones. So whatever the issues, most folk are at it.

• Okay, I've not seen it documented, but have definitely noticed it!

brian what are you doing when you are wiping your arse? I'm assuming you use toilet paper not your bare hands? How does the "state" of them change??

""I guess he must have put it on the pissy floor while he wiped? No other surfaces in the cubicles.""

Surely you'd balance it on your knee, whilst you wiped.

Personally, I only use one hand, for any toilet need.

I don't take long enough to read anything, whilst in the toilet, but I have taken the opportunity to txt, in a non busy public toilet.

I don't believe that the gadget is polluted by being exposed to, toilet air, anymore than the rest of me and my handbag.

The one thing that I do hate is there not being a hook to hang my bag on, though.

Some of us do need time or get constipated or get piles.

And get bored.

It's OK to take your own reading material into the loo at home, I find if I get settled down with something to read I go very quickly, then I'm annoyed because I was looking forward to a bit of uninterrupted reading.
I once had a boss who used to come into the office at 10am every morning on the dot and take a colleague's copy of The Sun into trap 2. She would then read it at lunch...yuk.

Also, a book or newspaper can easily be held under one arm while the other handles the wiping.

Brian but by the time you've sat down on the loo, you've already touched the toilet door and the lock which has been touched by everybody on their way out of the cubicle. So your hands are already 'contaminated' at that point.

I have to read. Book, phone, back of shampoo bottle, anything. I can't imagine just sitting down and staring at the wall.

We have a a shelf of old football programmes and old magazines in the bathroom, and we all take either a book or tablet or phone to the loo. Where do you think I'm writing this? (only kidding!)

A home loo - fine. There is a long tradition of this.

A public/work loo - not so fine.

I'm on the toilet right now.

If you're worried about poo particles, then avoid cash...

Sitting on the loo checking into MN can sometimes be much longed for 'me time'

BrianBlowsBubbles, I agree with you.

We actually have a little toilet library. some magazines (about sports, history, nature etc), and a few books. I only read on the toilet on veeery lazy Sundays. But I know that my DH loves toilet reading...

My colleague has a fear of getting germs from work toilets, so he uses his clam-shell style wallet as a sort of mitt to open/close/lock the door.
But then he must have a pooey wallet instead? I've heard people come into the cubicle next to me & practically sprint out so that they can't be identified as a non-handwasher.
At home Ds2 always takes his phone with him, & I will sometimes settle down with my Kindle, but I know that the door handle & other surfaces will always be in state A.

If you're worried about poo particles, then avoid cash
And public transport and public toilets.

And never ever brush your teeth in the same room you poo in. Oh, wait.