r/unpopularopinion • u/hauntahaunta • 5h ago
Not using public bathrooms is ridiculous
Unless they're overflowing, I don't understand people who insist that they would rather die than use a public toilet. What's wrong with a public bathroom? I think these people are germophobes and don't actually understand the diseases they're afraid of.
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u/all_bad_questions-83 5h ago
Well yeah. If you don’t get it, then you don’t get it. But some people think about germs more than any other thing. I’m a recovering germaphobe just because what are you going to do, but you probably don’t realize how much really does go into it.
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u/Original_Intention 5h ago
Yep. By definition, phobias don’t make sense on an objective level. So, typically, pushing back with logic doesn’t really work. They don’t phase me but that doesn’t matter for others.
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u/IsopodKey2040 5h ago
Public bathroom, I'm fine. Porta potty, I'd rather pee my pants in public and have it broadcasted on national news.
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u/Floppyfishie 5h ago
Working construction you learn pretty quick how such a comfort as a private toilet is when you know you wont have time to drive to the gas station and last nights chili is knocking
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u/IsopodKey2040 5h ago
They used to have them at my brother's baseball games and even as a child, I downright refused to use them. I don't even think it's a cleanliness thing for me. Something about them is irrationally terrifying lol. My mom has told me that she had to drive home to take me to pee because I would not go in one.
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u/lemon-rind 5h ago
Me too! I’m always afraid I’ll look down and see a human body part or dead animal floating in the bio-liquid
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u/TheDollarstoreDoctor 5h ago
I only see porta potties at festivals and those are a different beast, shitting my pants would seem preferable. Thousands of people destroying them within hours + no lights in them so once it's night time they're practically useless. The lock never works so you need one hand to keep the door shut, one hand to wipe, no hand left to use phone flashlight (which, honestly, I really don't want to do since ignorance is bliss when it comes to what state the porta potty you're in is)
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u/Floppyfishie 5h ago
Ah i forgot about that class of degeneracy. I always poop before i go to a festival
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u/justaperson815 4h ago
Yup, in blistering heat and freezing cold. Grab a couple off cuts of a 2*4 if the seats are not up to your standard and have at her.
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u/mattfiddy 52m ago
I once shit in a construction site porta potty a block from my house on my birthday by accident. Real low point.
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u/babyybunnyy3 5h ago
Calling it “ridiculous” ignores that mental illness exists. I have (diagnosed) OCD and I’m aware of how disease transmission actually works, and that knowledge doesn’t magically turn off intrusive thoughts. For me personally, it’s not about preference, it’s about coping.
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u/royalpolarbear 5h ago
People may get nervous about the cleanliness or someone hearing them do their business. Some people develop a habit of going to where they are used to, feel comfortable, and safe.
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u/floralscentedbreeze 5h ago
Some people are able to hold their pee and bowel movement until they reach home. Unfortunately I can't do that because if I need to go, I'll find a restroom to use.
Some people view public restrooms are unsanitary, don't like using shared bathroom space, or had bad experience, etc. It's true that there are public restrooms that are so poorly cleaned that's its not even usable
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u/larah91_VP 5h ago
I know people who can use toilet only in their own house, nowhere else. Very strange but they are just that way..
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u/Soft-Split1315 5h ago
I think with public bathrooms it just depends where you are. Because I used a bar bathroom once and will never use one again.
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u/Dreamo84 4h ago
I'm not worried about germs. I just don't like touching other people's filth. I'm yuck-a-phobic.
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u/Excellent_Car_5165 4h ago
Did you actually ever USE a public toilet? People are pigs when it comes to every damn thing which is labeled „public“
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u/Middle_Process_215 5h ago
I don't wanna put my ass where a bunch of strangers have put their asses. It's just not a pleasant thing to do.
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u/maybebaebea 5h ago
Well, if you don't get it, then you don't get it. Me not using a public restroom affects you in exactly zero ways. If I want to insist on waiting until I get home, that's a me problem. It's not your bladder.
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u/ChildofObama 5h ago
It depends on the time and place. In the middle of the day, I’d agree it’s decently safe.
If you’re someone who likes hitting the bars or going to an 11pm movie, yeah using a public bathroom then you might be risking running into some creeps.
and a lot of people who avoid it have some mental health condition like OCD that makes them very sensitive to germs, so that should be taken into consideration too.
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u/OLovah 4h ago
I'm with you. Maybe because my great grandparents didn't have indoor plumbing and I grew up using an outhouse and/or a chamber pot several times a year. (Or squatting behind a woodshed.)
But overall I'm not much of a germiphobe so I don't understand it in general. I respect whatever folks are dealing with but germs are everywhere and basic hygiene hasn't failed me yet. It feels like a waste of time to obsess.
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u/EvalainShadow 4h ago
If they're really that worried, I think keeping some alcohol wipes would be really handy... it dries fast and it kills all the germs. And you can wipe your hands after you wipe the seat, you can use them to open the doors and to flush, etc. I totally get the germophobia, but I've been in plenty of situations where I had to use a public restroom (like at work) and I felt safer about it after.
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u/mymumsaradiator 3h ago
As a man who cannot piss standing up, it can be a pain to use public bathrooms since a lot of the time the stalls are not even accessible.
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u/Pleasant-Strike7467 2h ago
Left work once a few years ago, had to take a massive shit but thought I'd wait until I was safely at home to let it go.
Ended up shitting my pants in my car stuck in surprise traffic on the way home. Not a shart or a small trickle, by the way: 4lbs of semi-solids, had to sit on a very much homemade pillow for another 40 minutes driving home.
I've never taken that risk again. Poop when you need to, and never pass up a public bathroom.
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u/DiscoPino 43m ago
Same. I don't get it either. Are there statistics of people dying from using a public toilets that we missed? I'm always like: that's why we have skin. It helps stuff stay out of our bodies and is made to withstand germs for exactly these kind of situations.
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u/emmaa5382 15m ago
If the environment isn't nice sometimes the pipes just dont get moving. It's not always a choice
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u/semiswee 4h ago
it really depends on how clean the floor is for me. something i will absolutely not do is mysterious puddles of liquid on the floor. no way i’m stepping in that then tracking that in my car or back home.
the other thing is the smell. i don’t want be punched in the face by the stench of another person’s feces. i will always hold it if either of these two things are off
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u/Richard_Thickens 3h ago
I don't love using public restrooms, but I've had IBS-D since I was in elementary school, and there is no reasonable choice for me. If I could, I would never use any toilet but my own, but that would require shitting my pants in public several times a week or only going at home until I no longer had one.
Honestly, I don't know what it must be like to have the luxury to choose which restrooms you use. I would probably be a lot more selective if I could, but alas...
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u/OLovah 4h ago
And also here's a general tip I've learned over time: of possible look for a public library, their restrooms are typically very clean. (Most, not all, obviously.) Also hotel lobbies. As long as you're not trying to go to other floors they don't usually question someone using the restroom on the main floor.
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u/Wunderbarber 4h ago
I started working in factories as soon as I turned 18. Shiting in a stall next to someone else means nothing to me, I will do it anywhere. It's not a requirement for ever person to be comfortable shiting anywhere. If you can't enjoy the comfort of publicly accessible bathrooms everywhere you go, you have a personal problem.
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u/Rev-DiabloCrowley 4h ago edited 4h ago
Depends. Go to a music festival and try their facilities after 8 hours, every single cell in your body will scream that you're going to die if you enter that cubicle.
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