So I was at Barnes and Nobles today and had to use the ladies room where I encountered the weirdest behavior. A short line was waiting for one of the 4 stalls to open up and we realized that a woman in one of the stalls was talking quite loudly on the phone. And it sounded like a business call!! She was clearly a real estate agent trying to set up someone's closing. But doing business in a public bathroom stall? It gets worse! There was a maladorous funk in the air which people were attributing to the talker. Clearly she didn't want to flush while she was on the phone but we were all subjected to her stench! It finally ended when a woman in the stall next to her banged on the wall and said, "Hey, you on the phone! Flush already! You're killing us all here!"
The bathroom got really quiet except for a few snickers that snuck out. We women on line bit our lips not to laugh. The line kept moving, but the talker had stopped talking. But for the sound of a flush, she was utterly still and silent. Even after I was done and I came out to wash my hands, she stayed put in her stall. All I could see were black shoes and hose, the kind that my mother would wear to work. She had sounded older, with a heavy accent I couldn't really place. I started feeling real bad for her. Humiliated by her own stupidity. Cause you have to admit, taking a business phone call in a public stall while you are doing your business has to be some kind of stupid. Yeah, she was loud and obnoxious, yeah she was rude and offensive. But now all I could think about was how mortified she must be. She never did come out for the ten minutes I hung around in the book shelves nearby. I'm sure she learned her lesson, but at what price?
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7 comments:
OMG.
That is too funny that someone actually told her to flush. Hahahaha! We have a gal at work that talks on her cell phone in the bathroom, too. Of course, everyone knows who it is since it's a small office!
But yeah - she must have been mortified. No wonder she stayed in there so long! (and I love that you were still in the book section next to the bathroom to see who it was!) ;-)
That is so weird! It is such an odd place to talk on the phone, the office bathroom of all places!! I would be so curious to find out why she does that. I think I would be really grossed out talking to someone and then hearing them flush the toilet or worse - actually hear them do their business? How odd is that?
Oh I know! I think the office gal is talking to her husband, but still!
Cracking up!!! I would have waited to see who she was. I bet she never came out of there. How stupid! You either poop or you take a phone call, you don't do both.
Sometimes at home, if I answer the phone or make a call and have to pee, I tell the person she's reached Pee Status and I can now speak to her while peeing--and flushing--that's a true friend!
Thanks for stopping by Manic's and for delurking! I hope you come by more often! I loved your Peter Pan and Hello stories!
Thanks for coming by Manic! I'm glad you stopped by! Will definitely come by more often!
Melissa - that is one open marriage! ;o)
sorry that i haven't been on for a couple of days. i have to say that i am glad that this topic was brought up. i have also heard people on the phone in public bathrooms. it's so odd. first of all, it's rude and unnecessary (does everyone have to hear your business and i do not mean bathroom business). secondly, it's so unsanitary. is she using that phone after she leaves the bathroom? i don't think that she is carrying around alcohol to wipe it down. if it's a business call, there is a time and place to take or make that call. it's certainly not in a public bathroom. this woman was probably so mortified that she won't do this again. maybe nobody has called her out for doing this before. in any case, unless it's some dire emergency, you do not need to use phones in the bathroom.
Oh don't get me started on this. Let me preface with -- I have a full time job as an account executive and most of my colleagues live and die by their cell phones -- but, I am so tired of people talking on cell phones pretty much in any public place where I have no choice but to be hostage to their conversations, and the public bathroom (any bathroom) cell phone talker is the one that mystifies me the most. Hello -- I have voice mail! If my cell phone rings when I'm in the bathroom, eating a meal, having a conversation, in a noisy place, in line at the supermarket or anywhere without privacy to carry on a conversation where the caller has my undivided attention and the world isn't forced to listen in -- I can call the person back! On planes -- and I have co-workers who do this all the time -- is there ever anything really so important that you need to call me from a noisy plane to tell me they're going to close the doors in a minute? Call me when you have time to carry on a civil conversation. OK, I'm done ranting :)
P.S. Despite the bookstore lady's odd behavior, I do feel sorry for her that her "neighbor" felt the need to humiliate her. That was uncalled for.
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