Tradespeople using the loo

[JeanneDoe]

Want to canvas opinions here.
We had a man over to service our burglar alarm.
It’s an annual service provided by the alarm company.
I’m WFH and my home office is above the downstairs loo.
Heard the alarm guy walking around checking out the alarm points around the house. Then heard him in the bathroom. Didn’t think there was a motion sensor in there.
He was in there for quite a while and then I heard a toilet flush.
Turns out a rather pungent bowel movement was had.
I am a bit pissed off. I know I’m unreasonable (and a bit precious) that I hate people that don’t live in my house taking a dump in my house.
But AIBU that he should have at least asked me if he could use our bathroom?

If only to ask which towel to use
Please ma'am can oi be so lucky as to borrow your lavvy? Very kind ma'am, and which of your magical towels should I use to dry my clean yet common hands on? Very kind of you

'Only poo' but poo which could contain viruses (like Norovirus), pathogenic bacteria etc.- it's not about being precious, just about not wanting a potential source of infection in your house!

Doesn't your toilet have a flush function, connected to the sewers?

People fart in public, too, which is effectively doing a poo in tiny little instalments, and people in general survive.

YABU and silly.

@twinkletwankle

If you were WFH maybe he didn't want to disturb you. He wasn't to know you weren't on a cneference call or something... imagine that. His head popping up on your Teams Meeting saying 'excuse me miss can I use your loo?'

That was my immediate thought. Another one of those things where you just can't win.

@iamtheoneandonlyyy

If only to ask which towel to use Please ma'am can oi be so lucky as to borrow your lavvy? Very kind ma'am, and which of your magical towels should I use to dry my clean yet common hands on? Very kind of you

Is your poo nicer than his? A toilet is designed for people to poo in. I personally don't think I would particularly want him to flag up his intentions to me beforehand.

I think he should have asked but at the same time I've been there and where else was he supposed to go really.
With covid it can be hard to find a public toilet that's actually open to the public now as well.

Please ma'am can oi be so lucky as to borrow your lavvy? Very kind ma'am, and which of your magical towels should I use to dry my clean yet common hands on? Very kind of you

He sounds like an extremely well-trained member of the lower classes - most of them would just chuck a flying pasty over next door's fence

Do your poos smell like Chanel no5 op?
Totally get he should’ve asked if that was ok, but you said it would be so I’m not sure of the issue??

Remember that there are people with bowel and bladder problems and sometimes you can’t wait and no you don’t always want to go broadcasting it to people. I have crohns and sometimes I do need to just go and avoid so many places so waiting to go to the nearest supermarket isn’t really an option for some people. Not all but if you need to go you need to go, what else are toilets for? we don’t shit in holes in the ground or have to bury it outside. It flushes away you wash your hands open the window and move on ffs, folk are very uptight about toileting in this country.

When I was young my mum had a loft conversion and there were about 5 blokes using our toilet everyday. It was irritating and gross. But when you work on site what choice do you have? Unless the homeowners pay for a portaloo there’s not much you can do about it.

My husband works at peoples houses sometimes and although he says it’s not ideal to have to use someone else’s loo for bowel movement, the alternative is much worse. He does always ask to use toilets beforehand, though, out of courtesy.

On the whole, YABU. It’s a non issue.

FFS using a toilet should be a human right! Only on MN would people allow tradesman to shit their pants lest they deliver a 'bowel movement' into a TOILET!!!

What do you use your toilet for, a plant pot?

@BarbaraofSeville

Does that only apply to people from outside your own household emily?

Are we somehow immune to the viruses and bacteria in the poos of our immediate family?

After all, we're in the vicinity of all their poos every day of the year, but somehow this single extra tradesman poo puts us all at dire risk.

If that's a genuine question then

• Everyone shares a lot of the faecal bacteria that they have with family members.

• We'd know if a family member had had something like Norovirus recently, whereas you have no clue with strangers/tradesmen. Obviously you're not immune to viruses from family but if a family member had a virus you'd likely catch them anyway and not necessarily from their poo whereas a tradesperson using the toilet would increase the risk unnecessarily.

Anyway I'm glad most people are happy to have strangers shit in their houses because hopefully that makes them less likely to need to one in mine!

His head popping up on your Teams Meeting

Not his newly-dispatched turtle-head, I do hope

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

'Only poo' but poo which could contain viruses (like Norovirus), pathogenic bacteria etc.- it's not about being precious, just about not wanting a potential source of infection in your house!

Doesn't your toilet have a flush function, connected to the sewers?

People fart in public, too, which is effectively doing a poo in tiny little instalments, and people in general survive.

Agree, people who are afraid of poos need a diagnosis for health anxiety, it isn't normal

The faecal matter with all it’s microbes was ejected into the wc,as is correct
If he’d taken a shite in the food preparation area by all means be alarmed
Otherwise can’t see the issue
The transmission of microbes from his faeces to self or op would be faecal-oral transmission. For example He’d need to prepare a sandwich with his unwashed hands.

Get a life OP. If that's the worst that you have to deal with you have an easy life. If someone is working in your house what do you expect them to do? Do you ask them to bring there own oxygen to avoid stealing yours?

@EspressoDoubleShot

Well he used the wc, could have been worse. He could have had a shite in your kettle

I'm lying in bed resting my broken ankle, laptop on my stomach with my leg elevated and you nearly broke my laptop as I had such a belly laugh at that that my laptop took off. My reactions were quite good though and I caught it before any harm was done.

This topic rears its ugly head again!

What was the alternative to him using your loo OP? Should he have gone in the garden or shat in his pants? Or abandoned your job half finished and driven off to find a public toilet?

What difference would it have made if he had asked? Would it have reduced the germ count or made his shit smell better?

He isn't a small child who can't be trusted. He doesn't have to put up his hand and ask the munificent householder 'Please may I use the loo Miss".

Like a PP I have worked (as a counsellor) with someone with severe IBS. His fear of being caught out and unable to access the loo and the shame around how stinky they could be had completely ruined his life. He couldn't work or socialise and often missed our sessions because of the fear and panic around this. I'm not suggesting that this is the case with your alarm fitter but just be aware that sometimes when someone has to go it's a matter of urgency for them. It can't be held back for a more convenient moment. Be kind.

I aim to please! @ancientgran
Ouch at the broken ankle hope you make a good recovery

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

Please ma'am can oi be so lucky as to borrow your lavvy? Very kind ma'am, and which of your magical towels should I use to dry my clean yet common hands on? Very kind of you

He sounds like an extremely well-trained member of the lower classes - most of them would just chuck a flying pasty over next door's fence

Well another laugh and nearly lost the laptop again. I think I'm going to have to find a sad thread as this is too entertaining when lying flat with your leg in the air.

@EspressoDoubleShot

I aim to please! *@ancientgran* Ouch at the broken ankle hope you make a good recovery

Thanks for the laugh, honestly it has been a grim week and I've laughed more on this thread than I have all week. With special thanks to you and @WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll.

@iamtheoneandonlyyy

If only to ask which towel to use Please ma'am can oi be so lucky as to borrow your lavvy? Very kind ma'am, and which of your magical towels should I use to dry my clean yet common hands on? Very kind of you

Brilliant 😁

You were WFH and could have been in a meeting for all he knew. It's a toilet and there to be used. Unless he smeared his name on the wall in his own excrement, YABU.

Why is your husband cleaning it? Unless he left marks which would be very rude.

These threads present Mumsnet members in such a snooty and unhinged light that I like to take a charitable stance and assume that the OP and some of the more deranged follow-ups are ironic or just made up for a laugh!