The photo was shared in Reddit’s “Mildly Infuriating” forum by u/heichousbleach, an anonymous poster from Australia, who wrote: “My [workplace] doesn’t allow you to use a toilet as a toilet.” The post has garnered over 49,000 upvotes and thousands of comments from Redditors calling the sign “ridiculous.”
The sign read: “Ladies…This toilet is to be used for PEEING only. If you need to create a smell please use the plaza toilets upstairs or the toilet across the road at Rydges! Please have respect for your fellow workers.”
In the photo’s text overlay, u/heichousbleach wrote: “Bruh are you serious????”
Redditor u/heichousbleach further vented about the sign in the comments section of her post, saying she thought it was a “joke” at first.
“I thought it was a joke…until they had sent out a very passive-aggressive email to everyone in the workplace about it,” she said. “This is so annoying! I’ve never had a workplace tell you that a toilet can’t be used AS A TOILET! It’s absolutely absurd! [A]nd all the women complain about it in such a childish way…it’s always the same old, ‘Whoever st in the toilet is so rude,’ ‘Did they not read the sign?!’ ‘We have rules for a reason,’ and stupid st like that.”
Bathroom Etiquette
According to U.S. News and World Report, there are several things workers should avoid doing in office bathrooms, including making phone calls and shaking hands with co-workers.
“When it comes to greeting a co-worker, client or your boss in the bathroom, keep your hands to yourself. A friendly hello will suffice,” the publication advised.
Michael Sykes, president of the International Center for Bathroom Etiquette, also said employees should avoid talking too much, saying: “Leave the business out of the bathroom.”
On the subject of defecation, U.S. News and World Report reminded workers that “everyone poops,” so it’s not a punishable offense to go “number two” at work.
“The No. 1 tip about going No. 2 is to be courteous to others sharing the facility, but if you’re especially bathroom-shy, try finding a less-trafficked facility,” the publication said. “Some workers venture to other floors to scout out lower volume restrooms. Others find hotels or nearby stores. Some prefer the anonymous crowd at their local coffee shop to seeing their co-workers at the urinal.”
Redditors React
Redditors slammed u/heichousbleach’s co-workers for attempting to ban each other from defecating at work, calling the sign “ridiculous.”
“Rip it off, what sign,” u/WorstAverage said.
“They could just [buy] some poo-pouri spray instead of trying to embarrass humans for being human. A-Holes,” u/LivInTheLight wrote.
“‘Please have respect for your fellow co-workers’ is so a**-backward…I would make a public mockery of this sign. It’s entirely ridiculous,” u/patchwood added.
Newsweek reached out to u/heichousbleach for comment.
More Workplace Stories
In a now-viral post, a Texas Roadhouse customer said the restaurant left cards on each table promising free food to those willing to “snitch” on their servers.
Online commenters slammed a pizza joint on Monday for hanging a sign blaming its staffing shortage on a “lack of work ethic.”
And a worker went viral last week for saying their boss assigns them after-hours “homework.”
