Potty talk: Secrets we share in the loo

Want to know what people talk about in the bathroom? According to a new survey released by Georgia-Pacific (makers of Quilted Northern toilet paper), 41 percent of people gossip, 30 percent talk about their jobs, 20 percent discuss sex and 16 percent talk about their love life (i.e., how much they want to have sex). Yes, public bathrooms are social places. So much so that 86 percent of the people surveyed said they often have personal conversations in the loo. But, apparently we're conflicted about that as 73 percent of people agreed that bathrooms should not be treated as social spaces. The survey, conducted by the marketing research firm StrategyOne, queried nearly 1,300 men and women between the ages of 18 and 64. Questions ranged from their style of toilet paper scrunching (31 percent create a “snowball” while 28 percent fold it into squares) to how many folks think reading in the bathroom is taboo (10 percent). The study also found that most people aren't comfortable just coming out and telling their buddies when they need to visit the restroom. Instead, they turned to euphemisms -- 26 percent said they told their friends they were going to “use the potty,” 21 percent said they were heading off to “heed nature’s call,” and 26 percent said they were going to “drop a deuce.” What, are they playing cards in there? The gross-out factor of public bathrooms dictates behavior in most people surveyed. More than half (53 percent) said they, too, cover the seat with toilet paper when away from home while 19 percent go so far as to sterilize the seat with a hand sanitizer or baby wipe. (Only 10 percent just plop down.) Hate asking the person in the stall next to you whether they can “spare a square”? Fifty-six percent of people surveyed said they were also uncomfortable asking the person next to them to pass the TP. But there’s something worse than having to ask for a handout. Fifty-seven percent of men and women said simply hearing someone else in the restroom was the thing that made them uncomfortable. Toilet paper injury lawsuit can go to jury For Jessica Ward, a 30-year-old notary public from Seattle, her biggest bathroom beef is people who talk on their cells phones in the stalls. “I always flush and sometimes curse between flushing when the person in the stall next to me is talking on their phone,” she says. “It’s my subtle, passive-aggressive way to tell them to get off the phone. I want to let the person on the other end of the line know where they are.” While toilet talkers shocked only 25 percent of the people surveyed by Georgia-Pacific, more than twice that number were disturbed by something else: people who eat in the bathroom. What's your pet peeve? Tell us in the comments. (And keep it clean, kids!)Find The Body Odd on Twitter and on Facebook.