A Question of Etiquette

There is a question I have been struggling with for awhile, and have tried to see if I can come up with the correct answer myself, but so far I am not having any luck, and was wondering if someone out there either can point me to a definitive answer, or give me suggestions as to what to do. My question that I've been struggling with is:

What is the correct etiquette for conversations in public restrooms?

I don't think there's nothing wrong with having a conversation about something on the way in, and continuing the discussion in the bathroom, or even striking up a conversation with someone (someone you know that is) as long as you're next to each other in the urinal, or as long as there's no one else between you in the urinal. There are a few grey areas for me though.

1.) Is it ok to keep the conversation going, if one goes to the urinal, and the other goes into a stall? Personally, if I see someone start walking towards a stall, I'll end the conversation. If its me going into the stall, I'll try my best to end it. I don't want to talk over the wall..and besides I like my peace and quiet while I'm making a twosie.

2.) What if one is in a urinal, and the other is cleaning up at the sink? For me, it depends on how good of friends I am with the person, and if there's someone else in the bathroom. Its a very close scenario to #1, where you don't actually see the person you're talking to, and you kind of have to talk louder than a normal inside voice, since there's water running and stuff.

3.) If you know the person in the stall next to you, and its just the 2 of you in the bathroom, is it ok to talk to them? I'm thinking that's a no-brainer for a answer of NO. Again, I prefer peace and quiet.

4.) If you are in a scenario where one person walks in and sees you and starts talking to you, just as you are finishing up washing your hands (or vise-versa), how long are you obligated to talk to them if they initiate it? Do you try to end it ASAP and leave as politely as possible, or do you stand at the sink and continue the discussion? If you do continue the discussion, do you turn around and talk at the persons back, go to the door and try to leave ASAP, or do you continue the conversation while the person finishes up, and then washes and dries their hands? I really don't know an answer to this one. There's one guy on our floor, who I only seem to see in or on our way to the restroom. I don't interact with him on a work related basis. However like I said, I seem to only seem him in or near the restroom. Sometimes we'll start the conversation on the way in, but oftentimes, we end up in instance #3. If I'm on the way out, I usually just say a polite hey, so that I won't get stuck just standing there talking to him the whole time. Sometimes when I do say hey, he'll reply and then bring up a highlight from that morning's episode of SportsCenter, and then I'm left there awkwardly drying my hands for a long time while discussing some big story in baseball or basketball. The only other thing I could think of is to act like I don't see him, and try to avoid any conversation altogether.

Thoughts, ideas?!?

Idiots! My mid-week rant..

Over the past week or so, I've discovered I have a new pet peeve here at work. The janitors who clean our bathrooms. I like and appreciate a clean bathroom just as much as the next person, but do they really need to clean the bathrooms during business hours? Can't they either do it sometime in the evening, once a majority of the people have left, or early in the morning before everybody gets here? Its not like the janitors work the same hours as everyone else in the building. I've been here at 10:00 PM, and have seen them in action (action as in cleaning, not action like 'hanky-panky') so I know that they do work well into the night.

The reason this bothers me is because lately at around 9:00 in the morning, they start making their rounds, cleaning the bathroom on my floor. This is usually around the same time that the coffee I had at home "kicks in", and I need to go visit the spacious handicapped stall..if you know what I'm getting at. A couple days I've tried to go pay my visit, and there's a sign saying its closed for cleaning. Usually this frustrates me, and then the urge is gone, and then my routine is out of whack. Yesterday I went to visit, and to my surprise, no sign! When I walked in, I almost wiped out due to the floor being wet from the mopping, and my new "styling" shoes not having any traction (which brings me to another point, shouldn't there be a sign remaining, warning of wet floors? Wait, should I have bit it? I could have gotten workers comp and/or a nice settlement for a slip and fall accident..). One other day I went to pay my visit, saw the coast was clear, but then started wondering if the janitor was going to come and try to clean while I was in there? I would be embarrassed if I'm in there, and the janitor knocks to see if the coast is clear, and I have to tell them to wait. I've seen that they wait outside the door until the last person comes out. I like to take my time while I'm in there (hey, I'm on the clock), I wouldn't want to be branded as the guy who takes forever. I might become a running joke among all of the janitors when they all get together and gossip. All of these worries made me decide to abort my mission until later in the day when I knew I wouldn't have to rush, and I wouldn't have to worry about the cleaning crew.

But to get back to the main point, seriously why would janitor's clean during normal business hours? I can see them making sure that the toiletries are stocked to their adequate levels, and performing any other maintenance on a as-needed basis, but to shut down the bathrooms? Maybe I should start a petition requesting that shutting them down should only happen during non-business hours.

Since I'm complaining, I have one more complaint...where is the freaking sun!?! Ever since Monday, its been cloudy, cold, rainy, and just overall dreary. I feel like I'm back in Michigan again. Unfortunately its supposed to be like this until Saturday.

Last 5 songs I've listened to:
Since I've Been Loving You - Led Zeppelin
Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
Who Am I (What's My Name)? - Snoop Doggy Dogg
The Sound of Settling - Death Cab for Cutie
Cold Turkey - John Lennon