Loudly complaining about smell in public loo

[Okokokokoh]

Suddenly needed to use the toilet (ibs) in M&S, a lady walked in and kept saying. "Oh god it stinks in here!" Over and over again to everyone in the queue.
aibu or is that a bit mean!? It's a toilet after all. I ended up having to stay in the cubicle for ages because then i was too embarrassed to walk out after she'd been telling everyone over and over again that it stinks.
i did flush multiple times to try and avoid too much smell but I'm not sure what else I could have done.

I did that once year’s ago and my then boyfriend asked why I’d lit a match in his loo 😭🤦‍♀️🫣

Also I’d be worried people could hear me striking a match from their cubicle next to mine.

I hate public toilets because someone is always having a poo and stinking the place out, but thats human and what we all do. You cant help that you needed the toilet, she cant help noticing the smell but she was nasty to be saying it out loud like that. I dont blame you for staying in the cubicle.

I think you should stay at home with no access to the internet.

My local M&S loo is bad at the best of times but the other day I walked in then straight back out it was so rank. As pp suggested I think it's something to do with ventilation or not using strong cleaning products.

That woman sounds like an idiot . It’s a toilet & yes shit stinks . Some people may have any number of conditions that they are trying to manage , eg Inflammatory bowel etc . If she’s that bothered then get the perfume out etc . I always have perfume in my bag .

I remember seeing a post from another Mumsnetter who said that she experiences a tremendous thrill when doing a hideous-smelling shit which prompts others to comment on it. It was in a thread about what the etiquette is when having a poo in someone's house. For me there is no etiquette applicable, as I simply wouldn't have a poo in aomeone else's house in any circumstances. I'm a very shy and reluctant poo-er except when I'm in my own home.

Adding perfume to the mix makes it worse. Better to light a match!

Although in a public loo that might set the smoke alarms off...

Yes this is a mystery of life. Why do so many women leave loo roll all over the floor?

This.

She probably thought the toilet hadn't been cleaned in a long time and that's what she was complaining about.

@BunnyLake I'm so sorry, but reading that made me laugh for the first time today.

And then your second point made me laugh even more.

😂

I used to clean loos in offices.
So many ladies loos had tissue on the ceiling. They would have had to grab a wad, wet it, and throw it upwards. WHY?

Please dont spray perfume over poo! 🤮

When I worked for a big FM company that did shopping centre cleaning/security they had a situation where somebody was leaving a turd on the toilet lid every single morning. No paper etc so they must've deliberately crapped on the lid and then gone into next cubicle to wipe.

Security started monitoring through the cameras and had somebody checking after people had gone in. Turns out it was a woman that worked at the centre as a store manager!

Our M&S stinks, all through the day. freshly cleaned, busy or quiet. I think it's the soap they supply, smells of vomit.

OP, could you have loudly reminded her that she who smelled it, dealt it?

https://www.facebook.com/share/1KCyWhdbap/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Laventurd 😂
so accurate

Yes that's exactly the smell.

I don’t eat red meat or processed meats .
The fat I consume is mainly olive oil , avocado oil , avocados that sort of thing along with fish ( mainly salmon ) and chicken plus plenty of fruit and veg .
Stress triggers my IBS or hormones , change in temperature, change in drinking water , or if I have something that has a lot of onions , lentils that sort of thing .
i deliberately don’t have a lot of dairy or wheat .
We don’t all eat a rubbish diet

What do you mean by emergency? My normal bowel frequency is 2 or 3 times a day so if I am out of the home I fairly often have to go in public toilets. I wouldn't count that as a emergency any more than I'd count needing a wee in a public toilet as an emergency.

I’m so sorry that this happened to you, it feels awful. It happened to me once (I also have IBS) when I had to rush to an Asda toilet. I hate using public toilets as it is but it was unavoidable. There were only 3 cubicles, toilets were empty when I arrived but literally seconds later two girls arrived (they sounded late teens - I never ventured out to view them in person) and started to proclaim loudly that ‘this stinks in here!’ Loudly and repeatedly. I flushed repeatedly while sitting and waiting for them to leave, feeling absolutely ashamed. It’s a horrible feeling. I still think about it sometimes and get embarrassed all over again. I hope you’re okay.

So again, if you need to shit, you need to shit. That's what public toilets are for, shitting and peeing when you're out in public.

So that's that.

So did she give a reason as to why she did it? Some people are just weirdly "fascinating"

OP don't feel embarrassed. Public toilets smell. Either of turd or laventurd. That's why they are generally not considered nice meeting places. I would have probably just rolled my eyes a her daft comments.

Coping mechanisms to deal with a very strong sense of smell and a gag reflex? Yeah, okay! What would you suggest? Like stomach problems, you have no idea how uncomfortable it is for people who struggle with this. We all have different issues.

There are plenty of products out there that don’t set off harmful reactions. You can get drops like Oh da loo. People have reactions to people’s perfumes, but you can’t police that, and I’d still prefer that to throwing up.