01 March 2009

Why ladies go to the bathroom in pairs

I cannot for the life of me work out why ladies go to “powder their noses” together, despite the fact that I am a lady. (Maybe I'm not, but that is another topic.) It was never an issue. I would watch the other ladies at the table nudge and wink at each other and then tootle off together. This was great – it left me alone to chat with the guys and when the urge to go became overpowering I would politely make my excuses and make my way to the ladies ALONE.
Then the other night, something odd happened.
I was out with a group of friends, which included a female friend of a friend who I hadn’t met before. Lets call her Kate. At some point towards the end of the evening there was a point in the conversation which neither Kate nor I were involved in and she quite loudly (to my ears at least) across the table “Kim, don’t you need to go to the loo”. Not feeling that particular urge at the moment I looked at her blankly and then nodded my agreement lest she repeat herself and attract more attention. “Cool” I thought, now is my opportunity to find out what really happens when ladies go to “powder their noses”. Hopefully there will be a little gem of gossip or scandal imparted or I’d be able to answer a question that had been bugging her all evening. So off we tootled, found the facilities (it was the first time either of us were there) and then … NOTHING. No hand holding, no gossip, no probing questions. Niks. Nada. Nothing. I was disappointed to find that my foray into this secret world of the ladies powder room hadn’t yielded anything. It wasn’t sufficient to convince me that these tête-à-tête’s are nothing more than “face time”, but there will be more opportunities to investigate.
For those people reading this who think that men are innocent in this behaviour, think again and keep a watchful eye out when you are in a group. You’ll be surprised how many times a guy will get up to follow another to use the facilities. What is the reason? It may be as simple as the “appropriate moment” or something more complicated (or sinister if your mind works that way).

This post was included in the June edition of the Creative Carnival hosted by Write Anything.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kim, I prefer to go to the bathroom alone too! Unless it's dark and the place is seedy and there's safety in numbers. But WE would never hang out in places like that right? So we may never have the pleasure of each other's company in the ladies ;)

Kim said...

mmm, then we'd best not go back to Shenton Way Party World. Definitely sounded like you needed numbers there... But at least we have the pleasure of your company at other times.

Anonymous said...

Read the real blog now, and will let you into the “guy’s version” of this issue.
Firstly, unless you’re a bit otherwise, guys never go to the toilet together – ever! End of story!
Secondly, if you do happen to bump into a buddy while in the toilet, you do not talk or acknowledge one another while “busy – ever! And no, contrary to popular chick-myth, you do not “look” – ever! Note that it is acceptable to talk to your buddy when “finished”, like when you’re washing your hands, but then you have to act completely surprised, like, “jeez, where did you come from – you’re like a friggin ninja!”
To give you an example of the above, I was once out to dinner with a group, and I got up to go to the toilet. When I got back to the table a buddy was also sitting down again – we’d both just come from the same bathroom at the same time and in all likelihood stood next to one another – yet neither realised we were in the toilet together! This is s true story.

Kim said...

@ Annon: Great to get another point of view. Keep them coming.

Sai Ghose said...

Hey Kim,
I enjoyed your fun sketch. Being a guy, I always wondered what goes on during those "visits" to the ladies room.

I'll be including this in our upcoming carnival on The Guy's Perspective BLOG.

We had to delay this once again until Wed. August 12th. Sorry about that. Please let your readers know with a link and/or message.
Thanks,
Sai
"ONE of THE GUYS"

Denise Kiggan said...

I am definitely a loo loner. The only time I might feel compelled to accompany other ladies is if the loo is in a lonely or dodgy place! I definitely have no need to do the group thing.

Kim said...

@ Freshly Found: Thanks for the visit and comment.

Cathy J said...

Now I am a half and halfer - no probs going by myself or with friends.

Although I must say when I have gone by myself and waited in a queue, I have made wonderful friends - some for a short time and others still friends years later!