‘A plop is quite different than tinkling’: Why are we afraid to poo at work?
In fact, taking a poo in the office bathroom can cause so much anxiety that many folks go to great lengths to cover their tracks.
Recently, the New York Times published a piece on women going number two at work and the poop-hiding tactics they employ. Among them include the “flush hush,” which is when you flush multiple times to silence any pooping sounds.
Another is the “scatological standoff,” which is when two or more people sit silently in their respective stalls until someone poops first, or gives up on their bowel movement altogether. If it sounds tiresome, it is.
According to Ottawa-based Julie Blais Comeau, the chief etiquette officer at Etiquette Julie, it’s still largely taboo to go number two in work bathrooms.
Because pooping is something often done in private, Blais Comeau said, it can be incredibly uncomfortable having this experience at the place you work. Just think: your colleague could recognize your shoes peering out of the bathroom stall, or hear you let one rip.
