I hate having awkward conversations in bathrooms at work.
Until now, I had never worked at a place with more than one bathroom stall in the workplace washrooms. I was blessed and I just didn’t know it, because now, there’s always the chance of bumping into a coworker in the bathroom and it happens more often than not.
It is WEIRD.
What is the conversation etiquette in work bathrooms? Do you say hi and assume small talk like you normally do in the work kitchen? What if one person is in the stall doing their business and the other isn’t? What if you’re both in (separate) stalls?
Having worked there for 3 months now, I still don’t understand the proper protocol – everyone seem to have a different take on it!
I have a hard enough time peeing in a public bathroom, I really do not need the added anxiety of deciding whether or not to have a conversation with my neighbour.
Some of my coworkers seem content with just saying hi ONLY IF you both walk in at the same time, but I also have a colleague (don’t even know her name) who commented on how big my bladder is. In actuality, I was just holding my pee so I didn’t have to go to the bathroom so often; thus avoiding awkward bathroom conversations. How that plan backfired on me.
So I don’t think I’ll ever resolve this mystery. I’ve contemplated using the other bathroom that has only one stall, but I always figured that’s the bathroom for poopers. It’s a lose-lose.
I guess the bright side is – I’m not a guy, because I think the men’s bathroom only has 2 urinals.
What do you do when you bump into a coworker in the bathroom?
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