Not using your phone while doing your business

Not using your phone while doing your business
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It’s ‘unseemly’ for anyone to take the phone into the bathroom, private or public, says etiquette expert, Diane Gottsman. In a private bathroom situation, the person on the phone doesn’t want to hear you doing your business. In a public bathroom situation, the person on the phone doesn’t want to hear you and everyone else doing their business, and no one in the bathroom wants to overhear your conversation.

Here are some mobile phone etiquette rules you should be following – but aren’t.

Not minding your boundaries in public

Not minding your boundaries in public
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It’s also unseemly to invade the personal space of others in a public bathroom, Gottesman points out, and personal space boundaries are more sensitive in public bathrooms than in other venues. So, when choosing a stall or a urinal, as it were, if you’re not erring on putting the maximum possible distance between you and anyone else who is already there, you’re breaking bathroom protocol.

Not dawdling in public bathrooms

Not dawdling in public bathrooms
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This applies regardless of whether the bathroom is single- or multi-stalled. In a single-stall bathroom, your hanging around is potentially keeping other people waiting in line outside the bathroom. In a multi-stall situation, your idling is potentially keeping ‘bathroom-shy’ folks from doing their business.

Not making chitchat with strangers

Not making chitchat with strangers
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In a public bathroom scenario, if you’re making small talk with strangers, you’re doing it wrong, says Gottesman. “A simple nod of the head or a friendly ‘Hello’ is all that is necessary.”

Are you making any these bathroom mistakes?

Not volunteering to join your friend in the bathroom

Not volunteering to join your friend in the bathroom
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You might be thinking, “Don’t women always go to the bathroom together?” But the fact is, if your friend wants you to join her in the bathroom, she’ll ask. If she doesn’t ask, you can assume she wants to do her business in private. As Emily Post points out, not everyone wants a partner or an audience when they’re using the bathroom.

Not backing off if the door is locked

Not backing off if the door is locked
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If the door is locked, what do you do? Do you jiggle the door? Knock repeatedly? If so, you’re making the person inside uncomfortable, according to, well, basically everyone who’s ever been in that situation. Just wait your turn.

Not locking the door behind you

Not locking the door behind you
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The only thing more embarrassing than having an unplanned guest walk in on you doing your bathroom business is being the one inadvertently walking in on an occupied bathroom. That’s because the person who doesn’t lock the bathroom door should have known better. Since the person who walks right into that trap cannot unsee what they’ve seen, is it really fair to put them in that situation?

Not cleaning up after yourself

Not cleaning up after yourself
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It would seem to go without saying that in every bathroom, at all times, you should never leave without cleaning up any mess you might have made. But it’s important enough that etiquette experts unanimously remind us to clean up after ourselves. That doesn’t just mean wiping dribbles off the seat/floor/wherever. Polite people run the water in the sink to remove any soap bubbles they’ve left behind and place their used towels in the proper receptacle.

Read on to find out which plants are perfect for keeping in the bathroom.

Not flushing things you shouldn’t flush

Not flushing things you shouldn’t flush
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Speaking of proper receptacles, if you’re attempting to flush things that shouldn’t be flushed, you’re violating a very basic rule of bathroom protocol. Things that shouldn’t be flushed: anything except your own ‘personal’ waste and a reasonable amount of toilet paper.

Not reporting a toilet malfunction

Not reporting a toilet malfunction
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If you find yourself in the uncomfortable position of encountering an uncooperative toilet, don’t use it. If your use of the toilet is what precipitated the problem, then the first thing you should do is to try to fix the problem, within reason. If you can’t fix it, don’t just pretend there’s not a problem, rather, report it to the appropriate person (your host, for example, if you’re at someone’s house).

Not using air freshener

Not using air freshener
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Air freshener is there for a reason: to freshen the air after you use the toilet. If you’re not using it, you’re not doing your part toward making the next person’s bathroom experience a positive one.

OVERusing air freshener

OVERusing air freshener
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Yes, use air freshener. But no, don’t overdo it. The next person to use the bathroom should be able to breathe without getting a lungful of canned, scented air.

Not changing the toilet paper roll

Not changing the toilet paper roll
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If you leave the bathroom with the cardboard showing on the toilet paper roll, then you’re not being considerate to the next person to use the bathroom. If the toilet paper runs out while you’re using the bathroom, it’s your job to put on a new roll and throw the empty one in the trash. When you’re in a public restroom, let the appropriate person know it needs to be replaced (i.e. bathroom attendant or restaurant manager).

Over or under? Read on for the solution to the great toilet paper debate..

Not washing your hands

Not washing your hands
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Sudsing up post-potty is not just the right thing for you; it’s the right thing for everyone who touches the doorknob after you, as well as anyone who you happen to touch after using the bathroom and anyone who happens to touch anything you’ve touched after using the bathroom.

You should always wash your hands immediately after touching these 10 things.

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Source: RD.com

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