"Hello?" *flush*

(Warning: if you are offended by reading about what happens in bathrooms, go here instead.)

I have a question... I have no idea if this applies to guys as well, so let's establish right now that I am only speaking in terms of women's bathroom etiquette.* (When) is it ok to talk to someone through the stall door?

I think it's pretty much accepted that you can continue a conversation with someone that you walked in with, and even if you start the conversation in the bathroom but pre-stall entrance of either one or both parties.

Still, there's the question of the different boundaries that come with how well you know the person. For example, if you recognize the shoes of your friend in the next stall, it's not that strange to strike up a conversation post-stall entrance (after validating her identity, of course). However, most people would not go "Hey, did you see that email?" to someone who they only know in a professional capacity. You certainly wouldn't do it to a stranger.

There's also the consideration of how long someone has been in the stall. Is there a window of opportunity, after which it's just faux-pas to interrupt someone's alone time? Once the other person has started peeing, do you have to wait until she's finished or out of the stall completely? If there's an inconvenient time to be engaged in a new conversation, it would be mid-stream... But then, once the person's done, is it all good again?

What if you're the one in the stall and see (through the little crack in the door) someone you know enter the bathroom? Do you say hi, letting them know you're in there and open to a conversation, or ignore them and let them recognize your shoes all by themselves? If one person recognizes another but doesn't say anything, is it rude? (It seems rude to me. Is that just me?)

Now is the part where I tell you that all of that has happened to me. I've had conversations with people without ever actually seeing their faces. I've been introduced to people through stall doors, some of whom also without seeing their faces afterwards. I've been complimented on my shoes by the stranger in the next stall. I've been asked to share toilet paper and then had to carry on a conversation about the growing epidemic of the lack of toilet paper in public bathrooms.

All of which begs the question, "Was that weird?".


*This caveat works under the assumption that women generally prefer not to go Number 2 in a public bathroom if they can help it, but that men are more open to it. This may be wrong universally, but it has held up in my past 26 years of frequenting women's bathrooms. Thus, all of these examples only consider urination. Keep it classy.