Defending the Truth

I am placing this thread / poll in the philosophy forum because I believe there are some deep rooted philosphies that may well figure in to the protocols and practices that I am about to talk about and inquire about.

I have it on trusted word, that when a man goes to the bathroom in a public restroom, he will look straight ahead and not speak to any of the other men who are availing themselves to the "urinals."

Even if he happens to walk in and see someone he knows! He will wait til he and the other gentleman are at the sinks washing their hands before he will say so much as a "Hey how's it going?"

Now I am amused by this, and even a bit bothered. I am picturing a line of men relieving their bladders only to do so in silence.

Nearly making it a holy moment, the phallus, a shrine to their sexual identity.

But the real problem here, as I see it, is the fear of the sliding scale of sexual orientation.

Perhaps many men are afraid that if they show themselves friendly and dare to speak so much as a "What's up?" Well, on second thought, maybe saying "What's up" would be the least appropriate greeting at such a time as that, but all the same, what the heck is wrong with smiling at a friend and saying,

"Good to see ya?" , many men are afraid they would be labeled as "gay"...

Too bad people can't just accept gay folk and then they wouldn't have to be scared of being labeled gay themselves.

Shoot, I accept people who have foot fetishes, and really don't mind if someone mistakenly labels me as having the same. Who cares?


Now back to the bathroom:

Me, I have used public bathrooms as a woman, I have not ever begun a conversation unless I already knew someone who was, like me, spending a penny. But if a woman spoke up to say something about the condition of the facility or talk about the weather or something, I don't mind. And I have nearly made friends in public bathrooms. Though I have yet to leave one giving anyone a hug. I have had some good sorority moments talking about the sale at The Wet Seal or the latest fragrances in at the Bath and Body Works.

Though admittedly, unless you know someone in the bathroom, you would not be apt to talk to someone who is in a stall. Then again, that is just cos the door, the sight unseen deal, shows that privacy is called for. But sometimes I have gone to the mall and in the company of friends, and light conversation continues even when behind separate doors.

For what it's worth, I wish men could know the real bonding of simply being human. Go to the bathroom and get in touch with their fellow latrine company without being so guarded . There is a whole lot of stress we make for ourselves by the phobias we carry around with us. And I thought using the restroom meant "relieving" ourselves!

I sing in public bathrooms
I love the beatles

Love, love me do.
You know I love you,
I'll always be true,
So please, love me do.

It showed up before the poll was done!!! I just know it did or you would have voted!!!

By the way, my 14 year old son has his cell phone ringer set to that same exact song.

OD

I will talk to people if the right things fall in place. Like when I was in Boston for First Night and jumped into a hotel to use their public restrooms...there were tv's above the stalls and they were set to espn so me and a guy were watching and i cant remember what story came up but we started to talk about it for abit. Then we zipped up and went our seperate ways

Yep, Hard Rock Café in Indy
Me and my friend started singing and another guy joined in. He had a pretty good voice.

Hio disclosed:
Now that is truly funny!

OD

Didnt notice what i wrote and how you took it that i understood lol

Wow, that is so cool! y'all were just being real. Human.

I don't know, I kind of did an informal survey here in "the real world" with men I felt comfortable to ask. And there were hardly any that were as open and comfortable as you and Hio.

I am eager to see if other men here will add to your camp or reflect what most of the men told me in person.

OD

Singing in the shower ok...singing in a public restroom you guys are on your own

Actually we had a trio because we got someone else to join in. Wasn't really expecting that but who doesn't like to sing along to the beatles?