The other day I walked into a restroom at work. Upon entering the door, I saw three urinals available for my use. Without hesitation, I went directly to the middle one. Right behind me entered another gentleman. You could tell from the look on his face that he wasn’t comfortable having to choose one of the urinals next to me. After saying hello in a gruff voice, he quickly finished up and scurried out the door.
Later when I mentioned this episode to one of my colleagues, he said it was understandable because I had broken urinal etiquette by taking the middle urinal. I had never heard of such a thing. As I told my colleague, for as long as I can remember, I have always chosen the middle urinal.
Intrigued by the concept of urinal etiquette (by now you must be realizing that I have been a little bored lately), I researched the topic when I got home later that night. It seems that there is indeed a code of etiquette. One of the best explanations of this code can be found in Complete Guide to Guys by Pulitzer winning author Dave Barry.
In a chapter entitled, "The Public Restroom Problem", Barry wrote that the roots of this issue can be traced back to the concept of territory. As he pointed out, each time a man enters a restroom, he has to make a split-second decision on which urinal to use. According to the code, it is very important that he select one that puts a buffer between others and him to guarantee that he doesn’t infringe on the territorial rights of each. The only time that he should select a urinal that forces him to stand next to another individual is if the facilities are full and he has no choice. Based on a few discussions with some of my female acquaintances, I learned that it works pretty much the same way with three stalls.
As I read the Barry explanation, I started to wonder if urinal or stall choice says something about you and your personality. Can we learn about your work ethic, your willingness to take risks, or your ability to compromise? Strange associations I know, but hoping to find answers, I undertook additional research (again did I mention that I have been bored lately?). I quick became disappointed to find that no one had asked these same questions (I am sure many of you are not surprised).
Rather than being discouraged, I decided to conduct a study of my own. The inspiration for conducting this study came from a colleague who told me about a project that he undertook with a co-worker a few years ago that looked at the association between messy desks and a love of chunky peanut butter. It seems that those with messy desks prefer chunky peanut butter over smooth peanut butter. Looking at my own desk, I can say that the results of that study seem to be dead-on.
I want to ask for your participation to make this study a success. Below is a link to an anonymous SurveyMonkey poll. Just provide your answers to the questions I have posed. Obviously my colleagues at work that undertake scientific analysis would refute the true “science” of this study….but hey, it’s all in the name of curiosity. In a couple of weeks, I will provide the results in a post.
Bathroom Etiquette Survey