My work colleague is bonkers, isn’t she!?

[LalaSarah]

My long term and close colleague told me today she sometimes makes a 40 minute round trip home on lunch to avoid having to ‘do the deed’ using the only loo in our office. Is this not the most ridiculous thing ever 😂

Edited to say I’m not the P troll before anyone says haha

Sorry but I’m with your colleague! Luckily my bowel habits mean that I use the loo before/after work and rarely need it during! I once had to mad dash to the loo but had eaten something dodgy!!

Yeah, me too!

YABU

We have 1 toilet for at least 20 staff and 95% of us can only go during set breaks.
Theres always at least 2 people waiting in the queue during the breaks.

When I had surgery i needed to spend a long time on the toilet and then needed to use a bottle to wash etc and there’s no way I could have done all that with multiple people waiting outside.

She may have something that causes her to need to take her time and so I can completely see why she’d choose to do it at home.

I work in a school.
Staff toilet is in the middle of busy staffroom. Does feel a little exposed.
No problem with number ones in there, but if I ever need a number 2 at work I prefer to go into the kids toilets. 😅

I once worked somewhere where most toilets were in the usual place but there was one unisex cubicle tucked away... and my office was right next to it (it wasn't my personal toilet). It was where everyone went to shit. I do honestly think it was because it was the most secluded toilet rather than because they all hated me...

I totally get it, I would come home too as it's only a 10 minute drive in the middle of the day. I used to regularly hold it all day (meaning an 8 hr shift) as it would come on just as i was starting work. I would feel pretty rotten by the time I got home. In a bit more of a routine now thankfully.

Just to add i once had a weekend away with a new bf and the loo was separate to the bathroom after 3cdays I was ready to explode! Couldn't get home quick enough 😓

Tbf I would do this if I could. I hate public loos. Doesn’t everyone?

Lovely.

Im glad to hear your phobias are rational.

Many aren't

Im afraid of cotton wool. Terrified. Vomit if I touch it. Sweat if I see it.

Its ridiculous... but its my phobia.

I have very lose bowel on my period, but thankfully I work for a massive organisation, if I need to poo I go to a different block of toilets on the next floor , so it's not the nearest loos that my team use.

I used to do this if I needed to go.
Was about 15 mins each way.
I was Incredibly shy and the idea of someone knowing I had POOED at work was completely unacceptable.

I'm in my forties now and I'm not sure I'd care if I was still in an office.

That's uncalled for and unkind.
It's obviously a phobia for some people. Some phobias have an explanation, some don't, but it doesn't change the fact they are real. Someone I know has a fear of baked beans 🤷‍♀️ do I get it? No. Does that make the person "bonkers/ridiculous"? No. It's not like it's something they enjoy.
I've got OCD and would love to just unclench and get on with life, but sadly it's not as easy as just saying it. Quite like telling someone with a problem "just don't worry about it" life isn't always that simplistic. Wish it was.

I found camping in the jungle, digging my own long drop and watching the dung battles move in before I'd even finished got me over most hang-ups. I don't think I ever pooed at school though.

These days, I don't care. But my bowel seems to wake about half an hour after I do, so I'm usually done before I go to work. I'm in a male-dominated role, so I quite often am the only one using the ladies anyway.

I've never understood how some people have such cooperative bowels that can be trained to release a regular daily shit in the narrow window between getting up and leaving the house for work.

I have what appears to be a healthy digestive system (not too loose, not too solid, not too often but often enough) but I'm usually up for several hours before I need to go, so often go at work because that's when I need to go.

I don't think my employer would take kindly to me arriving at 11 am so I could ensure that my daily shit is out of the way before I arrive at work.

And I'm not sure if I could 'just wait until I get home' even if I wanted to, when I need to go, I usually need to go fairly quickly, plus it's not healthy to hold it in when it wants to come out.

Actually, that was OP’s response after I shared that I have bathroom troubles as a result of childhood abuse, in addition to her comments about phobias being “bonkers” and “ridiculous.” Says it all, no?

I don’t think I could ever poo at work, thankfully my bowels are like clockwork, so they never need to shift during office hours 🤣

Op you sound vile. It's quite unusual to respond in such a nasty way when someone mentions childhood trauma.

The woman in your story sounds relatively sensible now compared to you.

@NooNakedJacuzziness @Bunnycat101 @Bjorkdidit training as in, adjusting your diet to encourage evacuation at a convenient time. Eating fibre at different times will shift the window. As will caffeine/OJ/smoking/eating fat.

If I can’t go at home in the morning it makes for a long uncomfortable day, so I have two strong coffees first thing.

When staying with DM, she doesn’t give me a moment’s peace so I never relax, so find myself making multiple inadequate visits to the loo. Getting home is a relief is so many ways.

I'm like this, and I think it's bonkers too! Some kind of mental block though.

I don't think I've ever appreciated my psyche as much as I do reading this thread. If I need a poo and there's a loo handy then it's getting pooed in, whether at work, at home, at Buckingham Palace shortly before meeting the King, whatever. 'Training' your guts, faffing about changing your diet, and holding it in for days at a time? Forget it, not for me thank you.

Forcing yourself to have a poo before work when you might not necessarily need a poo is unhealthy. You’re going to rupture something.

Holding all your poo in for an extended period because you don’t want to go at work is also unhealthy. Similarly, something is going to burst at some point.

Not going for a poo when you need to go, when theirs is a perfectly serviceable toilet, in a private place, that you can use, is truly, profoundly, odd. I’m amazed it’s so common.

Pooing in public is the WORST.

That's some dedication, bless her 😂

If it was in surprise that humans need to poo regularly and often it smells quite bad, the problem is all theirs. What were they actually expecting to find in a public toilet in a shopping centre: the Chelsea Flower Show?!

If the very worst thing that anybody can find to criticise you for is that you frequently poo in purpose-designed toilets and that it sometimes pongs, I would actually count that as quite the moral victory!

Shitbreak

• had a photo of the guy from American Pie but couldn't attach.

I don't think it an unusual conversation. Have discussed it with different friends before.