Train journey CFs

[GreenestValley]

On a train and go to the loo - someone is in it

Wait three, four, five minutes. I have a tactic of trying the door handle several times at intervals so as to hopefully embarrass anyone who thinks they can stay in there as long as they like, into emerging

In this instance even with trying the door and eventually knocking, no movement at all. Clearly someone who wants to avoid the ticket inspector for the full 3 hour length of this journey

I obviously just went to another loo but it really pisses me off - when you’ve got carriages of people who have paid sixty quid for a ticket 👿

AIBU or does this really grind the gears for anyone else?!

I agree - if they'd had an IBS accident or similar they would need a bit of time and wouldn't want to come out with irate door handle shaker there - they probably wanted to slip out descreetly and waited until you gone.

most people are honest/travel on routes where you need a ticket to get through the platform barriers

Barriers don't stop fare dodging! All the person has to do is buy two local tickets online, one to the next station from their departure point and another between their destination point and the closest station. That will get them through the barriers at each end. On a long distance journey, that would save them literally hundreds of pounds - as long as they could avoid the ticket being checked en route.

ShamefulBlanket Fri 28-Feb-20 21:48:58
Honestly, WTF. Someone shuts themselves in the train toilet for the duration, almost definitely to fare dodge, and everyone on MN piously asks ‘but what if they have a digestive problem’.

I find it astonishing that MNers can never accept that the OP might actually be right and find increasingly absurd reasons to disagree and make the OP look bad

She may be right but there also may be someone unwell in there so since op didn't and couldn't know for sure - the decent thing to do, is to use another loo rather than shake the door handle.

Christ! So we not only have to put up with people spending ages making the only train loo smell awful, we are now required to stand back, clear the vestibule, look in the opposite direction and pretend we don’t need to use the loo so that the smell-creators can slink away unseen?

It is possible to lock a train loo from the outside (although the OP heard somebody inside, so this can’t be what happened).

I witnessed this happening last year. Some bloody idiot had chosen to sit in one of the seats next to the loo on a Northern train and when somebody emerged from it she reached in and pressed the ‘close’ button. The only loo on the train, naturally. Impossible to open from the outside. When challenged by a man nearby she said, “I don’t like sitting near a toilet”. Then don’t choose the seat next to the loo, you fecking selfish idiot!

Well, people do hide in toilets to avoid fares. And trying the handle after five minutes seems fine to me. The toilet might be unoccupied but the sign unclear/incorrect. There have been lots of stories of people needing to take their time in there and of having difficulties. This makes fare Dodgers all the worse for denying others those facilities (if indeed there are fare Dodgers in there).

Please don't do that. If you need to knock once or try the handle once then fine but knocking and trying the handle once is just rude. I have IBS and am also a woman who has had heavy periods and both these conditions mean that I can sometimes be a long time in the toilet. I can't help it and I have had people do what you do and it is just stressful and annoying. Please don't assume everyone can be quick using the loo.

And waiting in the loo to avoid the ticket inspector doesn't work any more. They just wait outside until you come out!

Aarrgh, Wombat. I wonder if the driver would be able to override that (without resetting the whole train). I do have an acquaintance who is a train driver but not sure I know them well enough to ask that question.

Many people carry "Just Can't Wait"cards. People like me being treated or recovering from cancer in that area. It's SO incredibly hard trying to get on with life with debilitating symptoms without having some impatient toilet monitor rattling the door every 2 seconds. Like it's not embarrassing enough already! OP - get a grip and maybe try a little compassion (or a walk to another carriage). I'm on boards for people with bladder and bowel issues and it's people like you that shame people like us into becoming hermits.

@BoomBoomsCousin omg. I hope they were suitably apologetic! How embarrassing for you!

People like you OP are the reason my disabled dad refuses to get the train anywhere.

I have a tactic of trying the door handle several times at intervals so as to hopefully embarrass anyone who thinks they can stay in there as long as they like

This is an awful thing to do

Please, don't. I have a disability which means it takes me longer than normal to co ordinate the simple act of going to the loo, particularly when it's a tiny cramped train toilet. I have to do everything that little bit slower. I would be really upset by what you do. Trying to embarrass people? How horrible.

Tbf I once had a really bad bout of IBS on my way to my grandmothers funeral in a train toilet. Please just try using another one instead of making me panic about shutting myself or having to go home and miss the funeral.

I also get train sickness and have been in there throwing up.

Not everyone is a CF.

I find it astonishing that MNers can never accept that the OP might actually be right and find increasingly absurd reasons to disagree and make the OP look bad.

The OP doesn't need any help to make themselves look bad.
"tactic" to "embarrass" someone? A fare dodger won't be embarrassed by someone trying to open the door. Someone who does need the loo will.
The OP's is very up to their own behind the way things have been written.

I'm on boards for people with bladder and bowel issues and it's people like you that shame people like us into becoming hermits.

I think you are harsh to thrust all the blame onto the OP. I say this as someone who had moderately severe bowel issues, now thankfully corrected by surgery. It is far worse to have the only operational loo on a train locked for hours on end, than it is to have someone knock on the door because you are in it for longer than might be usual.

Yes, there is a possibility that someone might be in the toilet for three hours for genuine ill-health reasons. There is a stronger possibility that they are fare dodging, in my opinion.

Potentially, with a little more patience, you might have got to use the toilet and they could have been spared an embarrassed three hours of confinement in a filthy stinky bog.

What, so the OP could have the pleasure of the filthy stinky bog instead?

OP seemed very keen to use it without any guarantees. Imagine the utter disappointment after two hours of three-minutely handle rattling if success had finally been achieved but the pong and the devastation to be found in the now-vacant cludgie then caused you to change your mind about using it after all.

It wasn't the only operating loo. OP stated having used a different one with no problem.

How long is the right amount of time to be in a loo before the bog-police show up and rattle the door handle, anyway? What's the longest any of you have spent sitting on a toilet? What would you do if you had food poisoning and didn't dare step away from the cubicle? Would you like it if someone was rattling the door handle and knocking?

Yes, there is a possibility that someone might be in the toilet for three hours for genuine ill-health reasons. There is a stronger possibility that they are fare dodging, in my opinion.

no one said that the loo was occupied for 3 hours. After 5 minutes of huffin and puffin the OP went to use another loo. For all you know, the person inside hearing that the huffin and puffin had stopped left swiftly.

The OP might be able to ask for the CCTV recording of that emotional time, would that help them fuel their righteous indignation?

Why don't you go to the loo before boarding the train, and you won't need them for the short 3 hours journey.

I lived in Austria for a while, and the toilets at Vienna station cost the equivalent of 30p to use - cash only, to be paid to the very stern-faced toilet attendant/enforcer lady. Bearing in mind that, as well as people wanting to save their money, loads of foreigners passed through and it was before the Euro, so they wouldn't have had any local currency with which to pay.

The toilets on the trains were free to use, so they were in very high demand for that reason, especially at the beginning and end of journeys. Anybody who would hog the bog for too long in the last 15 minutes before arriving at the station was NOT popular.

Maybe it was a couple having sex and they needed another 5-10 minutes to finish?

Oops, posted accidentally too soon.

People like you OP are the reason my disabled dad refuses to get the train anywhere.

A bit harsh don't you think? Are there not other reasons why he might not wish to travel by train? I should imagine that traveling whilst being disabled on public transport would be fairly difficult/off putting in the first place (esp using a toilet on a fast moving train). It would be even worse if you couldn't guarantee using a toilet because someone was fare dodging. It does happen frequently. Of course, there is a possibility that someone disabled may be in the toilet who needs extra time, but equally it could be someone skipping fares or just taking their time. I just find it a bit harsh to blame your father's refusal to travel on trains solely down to the OP trying the toilet handle. It's not uncommon for several people to walk past a train door and try the handle before walking on to try another one. When you're in the cubicle, it's pretty hard to determine if it is one person trying the handle multiple times or several different people.

No one owes you an explanation for how long they take in the bathroom

Yes they bloody do. If there is one loo on the train and other people need to use it - including those people who carry ‘just can’t wait’ cards, or are disabled, or who have IBS - then yes, they deserve an explanation of why they cannot use the only train loo because somebody else has decided that they need it more for a long period of time.

People like you OP are the reason my disabled dad refuses to get the train anywhere.

Actually, I’d have said that people who hog the only available train loo for the entire journey and won’t explain why are much more likely to put off disabled people from travelling.

The Memory Lingers - I think you'll find that the OP said she waited 3, 4 or 5 minutes with some handle rattling going on. You've also said about it being "longer than might be usual". This is unreasonable behaviour,. I'm genuinely pleased that your 'moderately severe' bowel issues have been resolved. For some of us it's a life long issue that makes us consider every journey and quite frankly - we don't need door rattlers at 3, 4 5 or even 15 minutes.

The OP might be able to ask for the CCTV recording of that emotional time, would that help them fuel their righteous indignation