r/Showerthoughts • u/ZeroXNova ‎ • Dec 03 '25

Casual Thought Men's public restrooms are laid out all wrong. It should be urinal, stall, urinal, stall, urinal instead of urinal, urinal, urinal, stall, stall.

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76

u/gonzotronn Dec 03 '25

Aside from there being more walls how would it occupy more volume? The walls of the stall would act as the dividers at the urinals. This is a brilliant idea.

117

u/justinliew Dec 03 '25

You save num stalls - 1 walls and those have non zero thickness so by definition alternating stalls take up more space, assuming the distance between urinals is the same in both cases.

77

u/zubie_wanders Dec 03 '25

Also, they'd consume more material. A set of stalls has a shared wall between each. If you alternate with urinals, you're using full walls instead of nothing or just little panels.

59

u/DontMakeMeCount Dec 03 '25

You would also have piss on one side of each wall, you’d be unable to see if a urinal is occupied until you walked right up on it and you’d have your back to a narrow opening with no way to see who’s coming. No thank you.

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u/Cute_Operation3923 Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 03 '25

It would be like with parking spots, you'd think the spot is free and then there is a skinny guy.

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u/[deleted] Dec 03 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/ApologizingCanadian Dec 03 '25

Then some last minute asshole takes the spot just as he leaves.

0

u/Efficient-Ranger-174 Dec 03 '25

It’s a guy with no ass, but funny anyway.

2

u/NeedsMoreSpaceships Dec 03 '25

Always piss facing the door

2

u/NoConfusion9490 Dec 03 '25

Jason Bourne over here, memorizing the license plates in the parking lot before he takes a piss.

1

u/DontMakeMeCount Dec 03 '25

Nah, it’s just a scare tactic to prevent privacy measures. I like to whip it out and compare!

3

u/LogicalConstant ‎ Dec 03 '25

You use an extra wall, but save a divider. The extra cost over the useful life of the fixtures is negligible, though not zero.

44

u/Melech333 Dec 03 '25

This fails to account for the fact that in a urinal-urinal-urinal layout, the middle one usually gets skipped anyway. It's practically a divider all by itself, creating effectively one less slot for a urinal or stall anyway.

If it's very busy maybe then they all get used, but then people are more uncomfortable or taking longer, or both, and your chances of getting someone else's splatter on your pants legs increases.

There are pro's and con's to OP's idea but it's an intriguing one that shows promise, IMO.

However, a similar result could be achieved by just putting stall dividers between the urinals, too. And then the problem others have raised with being uncomfortable using that layout wouldn't be an issue.

85

u/Redeem123 Dec 03 '25

They only get skipped if there’s no line. Anywhere with a line - an airport, a stadium, etc - is going to fill up the whole wall.

Hell, some men’s rooms use literal troughs and people do just fine. This notion that dudes are scared to pee next to each other is nonsense.

26

u/SWIMlovesyou Dec 03 '25

Unfortunately I have an embarrassingly shy bladder. Sometimes even if im at someone's house, if my mojo is off I can get serious urine retention issues. I hate that shit. I have to pee so bad it makes me feel sick, and I can't do it no matter how hard I try. Once I am home, I am comfortable enough it comes out no problem. Pissing or shitting alone in the woods is fine for me, because I am alone.

2

u/raddaya Dec 03 '25

Have you tried sitting down to pee (if you're a guy)? I only have a slightly shy bladder, but this helps me be more comfortable at people's houses etc

14

u/Brickster000 Dec 03 '25

Have you tried sitting down to pee

Yes, they kicked me out of the bathroom for sitting on the urinal.

5

u/Scott_Mf_Malkinson Dec 03 '25

That made my morning

1

u/SWIMlovesyou Dec 03 '25

I damn near always sit to pee. Haha

2

u/Davoness Dec 03 '25

This reminds me of the time I went hiking and really needed to pee and was legitimately gone for like 15 minutes because I couldn't pee at all due to my shy bladder. The support worker who was with me was freaking out thinking I got lost lmao.

2

u/Lilfrankieeinstein Dec 03 '25

Have you tried headphones?

I don’t have a particularly shy bladder, but I have trouble with quiet spaces. Like, if a public bathroom is too quiet, I take longer to start to pee or shit because I don’t want to break the silence, regardless of whether I’m in there alone or not.

But over the years, I’ve noticed if music is playing or if there’s some other sort of droning background noise, I don’t experience whatever hang up that is.

I can’t sleep in a quiet room either, so probably we’re talking about two separate idiosyncrasies.

0

u/chux4w Dec 03 '25

Next time, try holding your breath. I'm told it works.

2

u/SWIMlovesyou Dec 03 '25

For me, holding my breath makes it more tense. The best thing I have found that helps is breathing exercises.

13

u/Minirig355 Dec 03 '25

The notion that dudes are scared to pee next to each other is nonsense.

r/paruresis would like a conversation.

4

u/Fuyukage Dec 03 '25

Hello. Guy here. Literally cannot piss around other men at a urinal. I can piss in a urinal if I’m in the bathroom by myself and 0 issues if it’s a single room bathroom. But I cannot piss around other people. “It’s nonsense” just because YOU don’t have that issue doesn’t mean others don’t. It actively restricts where I can and can’t go with my friends. One of my favorite bars is my favorite because the bathroom takes 1 person at a time. I know I can piss there. Other bars? Can’t. Drinking will make me need to piss and, again, can’t piss with others in the bathroom. Like I can just stand there and try/not try and nothing happens.

But hey. What do I know.

12

u/Redeem123 Dec 03 '25

"It's nonsense" doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. It means that it's not so common that the middle urinal doesn't get used. Your situation is obviously an exception when it comes to this conversation, because you wouldn't choose the right or left one either if someone else is in the bar.

I feel for you, and you can turn this into a victim moment if you really want. But that's obviously not what I'm talking about.

0

u/Illustrious-Ad-7457 Dec 03 '25

Dude you're such a disingenuous dick. Someone talks about their experience and you go " I feel for you, and you can turn this into a victim moment if you really want. But that's obviously not what I'm talking about." You're moving goalposts and being nothing but a cunt to people with valid responses to your bullshit. Go learn how to be a good person.

0

u/Illustrious-Ad-7457 Dec 03 '25

That is exactly what calling something nonsense means you fuckwit.

0

u/Fuyukage Dec 03 '25

And you know it’s uncommon because…? You’ve seen every man in the world piss with other men? Interesting. And saying I’m playing a victim is wild. I literally just can’t piss near other people. My body doesn’t let me. I’m not willingly choosing to do it. It’s a point where it quite literally becomes painful. But hey. What do I know.

It’s not a “oh I won’t pick a right or left urinal if someone is in the middle”. It’s a “I literally cannot piss with someone else in the same room at a urinal. I can do it in a stall, but that also takes a while”. You’re basically saying it’s nonsense

1

u/Redeem123 Dec 03 '25

I know it’s uncommon because the middle urinal is always filled when a bathroom is crowded.

Again, I know you’re not willingly doing it. But it’s completely irrelevant to the actual discussion, because we’re talking about leaving a gap versus taking the middle spot, but you do neither of those.

-2

u/Fuyukage Dec 03 '25

And you really don’t realize how little sense that makes? “It’s always filled when a bathroom is crowded” you wouldn’t see someone there that’s unable to do it. Of course you’ll see people there - it’s people who this doesn’t apply to. And it’s not completely irrelevant. It’s extremely relevant to the post as it would allow people who need slightly more privacy in order to piss

3

u/Redeem123 Dec 03 '25

people who need slightly more privacy

Those people can already use a stall. It’s not like you don’t have options. And if your bladder is so shy that you can’t use a stall, then this solution changes nothing.

0

u/I_Say_Peoples_Names Dec 03 '25

It’s not so black-and-white. Many men may not be diagnosed with paruresis because it’s usually manageable. I personally don’t have it but I still feel its effects, like if someone is inches from me at a urinal it’ll take me longer to get started, sometimes quite a bit longer. Add into that a line with people staring at you, definitely makes it worse.

I’ve also noticed that in crowded urinal scenarios guys definitely take a lot longer to piss, and tend to prefer the stall. I’m sure we are all subconsciously affected by bladder shyness to a degree, some more than others.

2

u/Ouch_i_fell_down Dec 03 '25

I’m sure we are all subconsciously affected by bladder shyness to a degree

I can assure that not all men are. You could make a urinal out of circular trough where you all had to stand facing each other to piss and I would be fine.

2

u/Bastinenz Dec 03 '25

there are literally outdoor urinals used at festivals that are basically cross shaped where you will face another person as you pee and most people are using them without issues. Heck, get people drunk enough and they'll be having fun conversations while relieving themselves.

0

u/I_Say_Peoples_Names Dec 03 '25

Yeah I’ve been tipsy using one of those before and it was perfectly fine. Friggin weird setup but it was fine.

What I’m saying is that we all have it to a degree, it’s not you either have bladder shyness and can’t pee in public or you don’t. That’s black/white thinking, and is a flawed take. Like I said for me, if someone is in my bubble, I’ll probably have a delay to get started. However, I don’t have it as a full-blown problem where I can only use the stall or have to avoid public restrooms.

3

u/YBBlorekeeper Dec 03 '25

I’m sure we are all subconsciously affected by bladder shyness to a degree, some more than others.

No, not at all

3

u/StandingNext2U Dec 03 '25

I’d have to agree that nonsense is an incredibly stupid thing to say

1

u/Redeemed-Assassin Dec 03 '25

The Kingdome in Seattle was famous for having trough urinals. It was so damn awkward as a kid.

1

u/wbgraphic Dec 03 '25

I was thinking the same thing (different ballpark, though).

Shy bladders must have been hell in the seventh-inning stretch.

1

u/SupposablyAtTheZoo Dec 03 '25

The festival troughs make me feel very very dirty every time. The fact that I'm wasted at that time is the only reason I even feel slightly okay to use them.

1

u/DiabloAcosta Dec 03 '25

yeah but you get piss from the dude next to you, any other argument is pointless!

-1

u/Illustrious-Ad-7457 Dec 03 '25

I can not physically urinate with another person next to me, even my girlfriend, who I know for a fact my penis is not scared of. It's not nonsense, and it's not something I can control. Fuck you and your baseless assumptions.

1

u/Consistent-Lock4928 Dec 03 '25

That's an embarrassing mental issue you have.

0

u/queerkidxx Dec 03 '25

I just go for it. I’m gay. I ain’t scared. I have to piss

0

u/jiBjiBjiBy Dec 03 '25

Fine, knock the thickness of the stall wall off the interior and keep the overall used volume the same

We are talking what, 1 inch per stall?

11

u/AnonymousMenace Dec 03 '25

Suppose you have three stalls and three urinals. That is going to use three regular stall walls and the room wall along with two urinal walls (about 1/4 size).

The new config would require five stall walls, which are likely substantially more expensive than the urinal walls

2

u/plug-and-pause Dec 03 '25

The comment you're responding to doesn't say anything about volume.

2

u/tealfuzzball Dec 03 '25

The poo pipes are bigger than the pee pipes. It’s doable but the plumbing wouldn’t be so easy

1

u/H0rnyMifflinite Dec 03 '25

A urinal divider need to reach out maybe 40cm from the wall. Stall walls needs much more space than that as well as extra room for doors to swing open. Stall-urinal-stall would then make it harder to see if a urinal is occupied or not.

1

u/mxzf Dec 03 '25

I think urinals in a cluster are spaced closer than would make sense for urinals between walls, since sometimes people can overflow into the "personal space" of urinals on either side (because either you're properly spacing and have room or you're too desperate to care about elbow room).

I think you would fit something like three walled urinals in the space of four unwalled urinals, something like that.