Caught on the Toilet

I always find it incredibly awkward when someone knocks on the door of the toilet stall I’m in. I know that people knock just to see if anyone is inside the stall, and that knocking is the politest way to find out, but I still find it horribly awkward. I never know what to say in response to a knock on the stall door. I know that I should say something along the lines of “Someone’s here!” or “Just a moment!” but really… I can’t bring myself to do it. I just can’t.

I’ve tried to answer “Someone’s here!” when someone knocks on the stall door. I said it once, and I felt so incredibly embarrassed for no particular reason, and it was awful, just awful. It wasn’t the fact that I was using the toilet, it was the fact that, well, someone was trying to talk to me while I was on the toilet. And it’s not just the fact that I cannot bring myself to answer when someone knocks on the stall door, but I always feel mortified knocking on another person’s stall door and hearing that person exclaim, “Occupied, sorry!” I feel rude for knocking on the door and interrupting the person, even though I know I shouldn’t because it’s not like I’m opening the door and barging in on them. Now that would be rude.

Whenever someone knocks on my stall door, I usually try and bang things around so that people can hear the noises and figure out for themselves that someone is in there rather than having me proclaim that yes, I am in the toilet stall, and no, I am not quite finished yet, so please wait a moment or two. I rattle the toilet paper dispenser, shut the toilet lid loudly, and turn up the sink taps so that the running water makes a loud noise as I wash my hands. It’s not exactly the easiest way to signal that I am still occupied in the toilet stall, but for me, it’s much easier than vocalizing my toilet stall occupancy.

Question of the Week: When someone knocks on the door of the toilet stall you are in, what do you say? Is it easy for you to speak up, or easier for you to say nothing at all and hope that the person will realize on their own that the stall is occupied?

Cross-posted from breakthesky.net. Please leave any comments there.