I am sure there are allot of posts regarding your first visit to the ladies room. (sorry ftm, I can't give any advice, I was horrible at using the mens room). But here is my little bit of advice.
It has been said before but it is the first and foremost rule. RELAX !!! There is nothing that can attract more attention than someone who is obviously nervous. You don't want to look like Woody Allen , whistling while a police officer passes by and he has his hand stuck in the gumball machine behind his back.
Ok so you breezed on into the ladies room, only to find other ladies waiting for a stall. DON"T PANIC!! Remember ,RELAX!! Ladies are pretty quick and most of them are considerate of the people waiting. Now here's the hard part. You have to talk while in the ladies room. This will set them at ease, if there was any cause for concern. Tell her you like her purse. That always works. You may not be able to find the right compliment but you can always say something about her purse. So take notice of their purses . Trust me on this.
Once you enter a stall, check it out. Make sure you have a seat liner and or toilet paper. You may have been led to believe girls are neater, when it comes to toilet use. They lie!! unfortunately they tend to be as messy as men if not more so. So give the seat a quick look, wipe if need be. Then you need to find a place for your purse. This is important. Allot of time the hook that is meant to hang your purse on is broken. There are plenty of other places to hang your purse, the corner of the door, the hinge of the door, maybe the toilet paper roll holder. (I don't like to set it down on anything) Do not try to hold it on your lap. This could be a disaster. You may be able to sit down and do your business, but when it comes time to stand up, wipe and try to keep your twig and berries in place at the same time holding on to your purse. God knows, nobody wants to see you bust through the stall door, land face down , bear ass'd on the floor because you lost your balance or at the very least dump your purse out on the bathroom floor.
This is something you may not think about. DO NOT FORGET what you are wearing. Men don't usually wear things that hang down far enough to worry about. Ie, scarfs, coats, sweaters. It may be easier to take them off and hang them on a hook in the stall, then to try to keep them from falling in. God forbid you whisk into the stall with an ankle Length sweater ,sit down start doing your business and notice how warm and soft this toilet seat was, then look down to notice your are sitting on it. Thank god I only had to go number one, and there was no one else in the bathroom at the time. I had to wash my sweater out in the sink. I bet won't let that happen again.,
You may be worried about being seen as you stand up or as you sit down. First of all no one is going to be looking through the crack in the door. But maybe the door does not latch properly or god forbid there is no door. If you know how to tuck properly no one could see anything anyways. (except for the little trolls that live under the toilet seat) So if you don't tuck (some think tucking is not necessary if wearing a dress) you need to and the more you tuck the more you and your body will get used to it. Now if you are tucked properly, you will be able the pull your panties and pantyhose down , with out everything becoming exposed, (if you keep your legs together). And again when you are done you can stand up (keeping your legs together) without exposing yourself.
While you are sitting down, doing your business. You may notice , what looks like a small waste basket or box with a lid (some times they are stainless steal) attached to the wall of the stall. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, get curious and open it. It is for sanitary napkins, EEWWW !!!
Now your done. Don't forget to wipe. I know you may not think after all these years you don't have to. But do it anyways. For two reasons. Most girls do it all the time, (at least I hope so) and since you are tucking and you have kept your legs together. You bladder mite not empty completely. So when you stand up , give a little wipe. Dribble on guys pant, who cares right. Dribble on girls slacks is a no, no.
Leave the stall . DON"T FORGET to smile at the lady waiting !!! If there is one.
Now head for the sink. You have to wash your hands. This can be quite tricky. Trying to hold on to a purse and wash your hand at the same time. Watch if and where you set your purse. It is usually very wet on the ladies room counter. And don't set your purse down then walk over to the paper towel dispenser. Women will look at you as if you have just left a baby unattended. Don't be in a hurry. Apply some lipstick or fix your hair. This will not only give you a aura of confidence it will also allow you to get used to your new surrounding . After all the work is done now you can relax and enjoy yourself.
If they have a full length mirror, don't forget to pause for a moment a smile at the petty lady who is looking back at you. Take a deep breath, puff your chest and be on your way.
Hugs, Roxy
That sounds complicated. In the guy room, everyone just pisses and then leaves. Sometimes, they wash their hands inbetween.
It's actually simple for women too. They just tend to talk a lot. Obviously...I never talked to anybody and I would always run in and out like I was on fire. But most adult women don't pay that much attention. That always made me more nervous though, sitting there, trying to go, and somebody is on their phone, or a group walks in and chats it up. The large groups probably make things nervous, but in reality it's better because they're too busy talking with each other to notice whatever you're doing.
I have been in the waiting in line scenerio. Very easy to find something to comment on. You can find great places to find shoes with the words "I love your shoes". Trust me she will tell you were she got them and some times even how much they were, especially if there was a sale. ::)
And I have always found that the locks, coat hooks even the hinges are always broken in the mens room. But it the ladies room they are just as much a must have as that little stainless steel container in there.
This thread should be stickied!
Shoe or bag comments always work.
I carry a small packet of 'wet wipes' in my handbag to wipe down the seat. I know it is clean than. My fave hand bags are shoulder bags so they have a decent strap, in the stall I put my foot through the strap so there is no way it can be stolen, at the sink I put them across my shoulders, I haven't been out with a clutch as yet. Not sure what to do there.
Funniest experience I've had was a man walking in, saying I'm here to change over the sanitary disposal units. And he was. Waited with the queue until a cubicle emptied went in brought one out and replaced it and did the others. In Australia you cannot use gender as a means to employ people or not to employ people , without a dispensation, Seemingly the company was told they could not discriminate on gender or sex on who they employed. Still felt weird, sort of double weird if you can catch my drift. Conversation dropped ;D :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:.
Cindy
Whatever you do DO NOT STAND UP TO PEE in the ladies room! Good grief, if you want to send women running and screaming from the toilet searching for a cop then do that. I heard a story about someone transitioning at their workplace who did that. ugh.
I also like to make eye to eye contact and just give a warm smile. If I feel comfortable I might then compliment them on something I truly find interesting. I find it hard to give compliments that aren't genuine to me. Not knocking that for others. I am just weird about that.
I have never been challenged for being in the ladies room (1 year full time) but am always a bit nervous about something happening. Make sure you have a letter from your doctor (bathroom pass) that you can show. Having female gender flag on your drivers license will also be a big help.
And "hover girls" ugh. I have seen toilets covered in pee from these women who are too scared to just sit down. And they never clean up behind themselves.
You may have been led to believe girls are neater, when it comes to toilet use. They lie!!
Every janitor knows this, and the richer they are, the worse they are.
Allot of time the hook that is meant to hang your purse on is broken.
Do not EVER hang your purse on that hook, it's way too easy for someone to reach over and grab it and book. And it's going to take you so long to get ready to get up and chase them that it's almost a freebie for them.
Quote from: CalebLance on February 26, 2011, 01:46:07 AM
LMAO! This is knowledge I always took for granted, being born female.
I've never been in a women's restroom. I can positively say that if I saw such a disposal unit, I would have looked inside to see what it is for.
I'm so glad I read this thread.
Quote from: VeryGnawty on February 26, 2011, 06:43:24 PM
I've never been in a women's restroom. I can positively say that if I saw such a disposal unit, I would have looked inside to see what it is for.
I'm so glad I read this thread.
It's not liek anyone's born with the knowledge...most of us got curious in the same way as children...some of us too early to have any idea what we were looking at.
Yes! years ago I cleaned public restrooms as part of my job. The ladies room was always the most disgusting. That little box, we use to call it the bl**d box ;D
Best advice, be yourself ! Your in there for the same reason the other ladies are.
Yes, and you do have to wipe! not just because it make you feel more like a woman and all that bs, but because like Roxy said, you definitely will dribble.
Funny thing happened to me other day. I was sitting outside the ladies room (male mode)in a upscale dept. type store. I needed to go in there to do some work. I had woman/ girls look at me and asked if there was a line. I didn't understand at first, then it hit me :o oh they think I'm waiting to use the ladies room. ;D
Shelly
Quote from: kyril on February 26, 2011, 07:28:12 PM
It's not liek anyone's born with the knowledge...most of us got curious in the same way as children...some of us too early to have any idea what we were looking at.
My son, first time in mens room, as I'm washing up I hear him," Dad whats this" I screamed in horror as he was holding the urinal mint from the urinal UGHHHHHH quick get that out of you hands.
I preceded to scrub his hands for the next five minutes.
Quote from: Just Shelly on February 26, 2011, 07:29:52 PM
Yes! years ago I cleaned public restrooms as part of my job. The ladies room was always the most disgusting.
I used to work at an establishment which saw a fair amount of business. I don't remember very many problems in the men's restrooms. There would be urine on the toilet seats, unflushed (and occasionally clogged) toilets, and every now and again there would be vomit (but not at any higher frequency than you'd find it anywhere else in the establishment)
However, the female coworkers were ALWAYS complaining about having to clean the women's room. But the guys only complained about the work (because they were lazy) and not the mess. Usually, all we did was flush toilets and wipe the seats down. When we were done, we'd go out the exit and find a female coworker coming out of the women's room looking really frustrated.
I don't know exactly what went on in that restroom, but I'm glad I never had to clean it. I'd rather unclog a toilet with my bare hands than walk in there, judging by the reactions of my coworkers.
Haha that was very detailed and had me smiling the whole time. Very true.
Silly girl =) Funny post, even if true ;)
Quote from: Dana Lane on February 26, 2011, 05:50:48 AM
Whatever you do DO NOT STAND UP TO PEE in the ladies room! Good grief, if you want to send women running and screaming from the toilet searching for a cop then do that. I heard a story about someone transitioning at their workplace who did that. ugh.
I've been doing this for ages without issue. I've gotten a few looks, but I just ignore them and keep going. It's only worth worrying about if you don't pass, in which case you might not be welcome in there to begin with.
Quote from: Caldwell on March 01, 2011, 07:09:29 AM
I've been doing this for ages without issue. I've gotten a few looks, but I just ignore them and keep going. It's only worth worrying about if you don't pass, in which case you might not be welcome in there to begin with.
Whether its urban legend or not I don't know, but there was a woman who noticed someone with their shoes facing towards the toilet, so obviously peeing facing forward. Convinced there was a man in the restroom, she ran to get a security officer. When they confronted the "man", it turned out to be a woman emptying her colostomy/urine bag.
My other favorite, yet unnecessary, restroom "rule" was the suggestion to keep flushing while you were urinating becuase they would know by the sound of your urine hitting the bowl that you weren't a woman.