STFU

Post by anal_reactor » Fri, Jan 16, 2026, 9:01 PM UTC

logicx24 wrote: post #144

dekhn wrote: post #88

Here's one I don't know how to solve: at work some folks take meetings in the bathroom. They're on their phone, they walk to a stall, do their... business while doing their business, all the while talking and listening, while toilets flush in the background. I understand cultural differences but taking business meetings in the bathroom seems inappropriate under effectively all circumstances.

Robert Caro, in the LBJ series, wrote about how LBJ would use the discomfort of being the bathroom as a negotiating technique and a show of dominance. He would drag senators into the bathroom and force them to listen to him talk as he used the urinal, or force his staffers to take dictation as he took a shit.

Post by rootusrootus » Fri, Jan 16, 2026, 9:04 PM UTC

kstrauser wrote: post #179

krick wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a matter of fact, I do NOT understand the overwhelming opposition to this. What's your deal if a guy is good at multitasking and people on the other end of the wire don't mind it? It isn't like he is desecrating a temple, or intruding into your home and using your toilet, or jerking off in the public... Wait, actually I'd say even the latter shouldn't be your business, unless he stains something. Why cannot people…

I do not wish to hear anyone else's bathroom noises. Yes, we all use the bathroom. No, I still don't want to hear anyone else doing it.

Post by rootusrootus » Fri, Jan 16, 2026, 9:06 PM UTC

filoleg wrote: post #194

krick wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a matter of fact, I do NOT understand the overwhelming opposition to this. What's your deal if a guy is good at multitasking and people on the other end of the wire don't mind it? It isn't like he is desecrating a temple, or intruding into your home and using your toilet, or jerking off in the public... Wait, actually I'd say even the latter shouldn't be your business, unless he stains something. Why cannot people…

Is this a sarcastic take? Asking because I was pretty much on-board with the comment and took it as being fully serious, up until the point of “jerking off in public shouldn’t be anybody else’s business, unless they stain something” being mentioned. Now, I am not so sure. Either the entire comment was sarcastic or I am missing something major. But putting jerking off in public and talking on the phone in a public bat…

Post by Scoundreller » Fri, Jan 16, 2026, 9:08 PM UTC

matwood wrote: post #205

abalashov wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the overwhelming opposition to this, and I wouldn't do it myself. However, I lead a life of very few meetings (I'd actually appreciate more--this stance puts me in a very small company, to be sure), so it's easy for me to say that one should be more judicious with one's timing. I can emphathise with someone stuck in meetings all day in a predominantly listening role, that they consider perfunctory or mos…

> However, I lead a life of very few meetings An old business partner had meetings which felt like 24/7. He had zero issue taking a phone call in the bathroom. I doubt anyone on the other end ever knew.

Post by einsteinx2 » Fri, Jan 16, 2026, 9:09 PM UTC

imzadi wrote: post #20

ahupp wrote: post #5

Hilarious. When working on a virtual reality VOIP product, someone added a test mode that played back your own speech with a delay. It was like part of your brain shut off, was a surprisingly strong effect.

I'm old enough to remember when cell phones were primarily used for voice calls. Sometimes you'd hear yourself when you were trying to talk to someone, and it was infuriating. You'd have to hang up and call back, if the call was going to go on any length of time.