smell phone
Here is a little Friday fun for y'all... I just walked into a public restroom and heard something I had never heard before in my life. There were two stalls in there, in addition to the usual complement of urinals, and in one of the shitters was a guy having a long conversation on his cell phone, apparently while simultaneously taking care of business. I wasn't there when the conversation began so I don't know if he initiated it from the throne, or simply answered an incoming call while in the midst of other activities. Either way, he carried on for a good minute after I arrived. Then he said his goodbyes and came out and washed his hands as though nothing was amiss.
So, in the spirit of better cross-cultural understanding, I pose a survey question to my two biggest readership constituencies. Icelanders: does Jón Jónsson* do this regularly, or was this guy a special case? Americans: have you ever experienced this particular sight/sound/smell combo? Leave your answers in the comments section below, and góða helgi!
*Icelandic equivalent of Joe Sixpack
So, in the spirit of better cross-cultural understanding, I pose a survey question to my two biggest readership constituencies. Icelanders: does Jón Jónsson* do this regularly, or was this guy a special case? Americans: have you ever experienced this particular sight/sound/smell combo? Leave your answers in the comments section below, and góða helgi!
*Icelandic equivalent of Joe Sixpack
posted by JB at 16.1.09
10 Comments:
Well, I can't speak for my fellow countrymen but I suppose when cellphones are ubiquitous you have to expect the odd call to come in, um .... during business hours.
One of my favourite movie scenes of all times is in that wonderful film, Wild at Heart.
The mob boss who wants Sailor dead sits on his *gold* toilet doing the number two while dealing with his hit men on his *gold* phone.
In front of him two tired and bored strippers do their thing rather listlessly as if they were ordered to years before and nobody remembered to or bothered to rescined the order. The mob boss ignores them completely.
Just wonderful. I wonder if some of Iceland's "credit cowboys" had gold phones and gold toilets with strippers installed in their palatial mansions so they could go through their wheeling and dealing while taking care of other business.
Never encountered that one before. As for me, I'll let it ring!
I have encountered that before a few jobs ago.
He was an older gentleman...so either he gave up caring about etiquette or had an old-school mentality that deals can go down whenever and wherever.
I always wondered if the person on the call had any clue where the gentleman was. I mean, there had to be some aural clues.
I would say this is quite normal for a Jón Jónsson. Can't really see what it is about it that strikes you: is it just funny or something more?
Heh, I can only suspect that people who answer and initiate phone-calls while driving their cars, shopping in supermarkets etc. would also do the same in public toilets.
I stand corrected, and yet still baffled. I just got back from a going-away party and I posed this scenario to the early-party sitting-down-in-an-LR-circle crowd, of mostly British men. But one Icelandic girl. And the consensus response was that this was completely normal, and that in fact there were many instances of cellphones dropped inadvertently in the toilet. I am waiting for my American brethren to come through in force and say that this would almost never happen at least in that civilized place, but I fear that this will not come to pass.
Fellas, yeah, not too common here in the Land of the Free (oh wait, do I have to wait 4 more days before you'll let me say that?).
I do here a whole lot of texting going on a lot though - but never a conversation. Although I bet our pal John M would multitask like this.
As an American, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but disappoint you I must. I can't speak for men's public/workplace restrooms in the U.S., but I've definitely heard women on the phone in the toilet. Like you, I find it bizarre and a little distasteful, but it doesn't surprise me in the least anymore. It's also extremely common in Russia. Seems to be a cross-cultural phenomenon.
Well... what do they do about the flush? End the conversation, then flush, don't flush at all (gross) or flush and 'fess? Yes, it's the flush that gives it away. Not the smell, of course.
Now back to the Kreppa! Or is it now the Krappa! Which is what it is called in The Hub. Jared, you explain.
I've got a little anecdote. I was reading a document about what we should avoid doing during a job interview.
It was written that sometimes you get a job interview on the phone.
But if you are on the throne while it rings and you answer and do the interview, well... don't flush the toilet during that interview. It is sure you won't get the job...
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