I've heard of restricted access restrooms, but never restrictions based on what output is involved. I wonder: is the bathroom in question available for use by customers? If so, then the boss may face a dilemma if a customer asks to use the restroom. Will he tell a customer that no solid deposits are permitted? I doubt it.

The boss is the boss, you must listen.

If this was a large corporation with a Human Resources Department you could probably make a "stink".

But usually when working for a small company you just play the game to keep your job, even if some of the rules are abnormal.

Working for a small business has it's advantages and disadvantages. I have to agree with doniker. The boss is the boss is the owner. Unfortunately, your boss sounds like jerk. He may not be sympathetic to your IBS. It sounds like he has a problem with human waste and you having IBS personifies it. I wonder if maybe YOU'RE the reason for him not wanting anybody to use "his" restroom.

In this Casbah, he may be Israel but you are Palestine. You have the right to use the territories, occupied or not. And if he will not grant you the right of return, you should reiterate that you will not be held responsible for what that asshole Hamas will do.
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Deja Poo - Because this shit's so strange, it couldn't ever have happened before.

I think if you abide by the request as much as possible under regular circumstanced, then even Draconian bosses will understand if you have an IBS attack.

You wouldn't even HAVE to say it was because of IBS. You would just say, "Wow! I'm sorry; I almost didn't make it, there! Must've been something I ate!"

I think GG is right, if you abide by the request and do that regularly then I dont think they will give you a hard time if you have to use the other "banned" bathroom in an emergency shituation. It doesnt hurt to try to explain the problem if you think they will listen. And of course remember courtesy flushes and a can of Oust will go a long way too.
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The Thunderous Crapper 63 Enjoying home toilet advantage since 2004!

I go to a 2,500-plus high school. There is a large 12-15 stall girls and boys bathroom in the middle of each of the four floors and a much-smaller two-stall bathroom at the end of each hall. Although both my summer school classes are at the middle of the wing, when I get my hall pass, I walk down to the end of the hall because those bathrooms are smaller and more personal, there's usually enough toilet paper for me to cover the seat with, the seats are rarely wet because there are less users, BUT on two occasions I have been stopped by the para-military security police (our hall monitors) and been told that I should be using the middle set so that the end bathroom are kept nicer for parents and other guests from the community to use. Just yesterday, and yes I admit, I defied their rule, I was seen by our summer school counseler on the stool taking a shit in a stall at the end of the hall. She waited a good eight or ten minutes, then asked for my ID card, and then she gave me an hour-long detention which I served today. I think this is going to continue to bother me for a while. My mom has taken my side and even called the school where my counselor remarked that if I can't follow simple instructions at school, how will I ever find work on the outside.

I think it really depends on the boss. If he is a complete asshole, then I wouldn't say anything and follow Doniker's advice. (You may want to check the want ads, though today's employment opportunities suck major wad.)

If he is a nice guy, you might inform him that you have IBS and might have emergencies now and then. Maybe you can work something out. Of course, in most cases you would still use the employee's bathroom, but for an emergency situation the boss's toilet could still be available.

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What if everyone farted at once?

Piece of cake: Just tell him you'll comply with the rules, but IBS may require some exceptions.

Yesterday, I was at Wal-Mart with my daughters 8 & 6 and my five year old son. We had completed more than two hours of shopping, including groceries and we had a good amount of perishables such as ice cream in our cart. Our usual routine is to go to the bathroom there just before we check-out, because with the family odds are for an "emergency" during our 45 minute trip home. We all went into the four-stall bathroom but all four stalls were in use. Unusual and a bit awkward because my five-year-old was along. The first stall finally opens and I take my son in, lift the seat, and then leave so he can do his thing. While we're waiting (a rarity at Wal-Mart, for us at least), I note there's quite a bit of talk among the occupants of the other three stalls, but otherwise no movement, sounds of poop or pee hitting the water--basically nothing. My six year old went in next and I could hear her pee flow begin within about 10 seconds and she vacates for her older sister. After about 10 minutes, it was my turn and while it took me only a couple of minutes to relieve my bladder, I noted that the conversation in the other three stalls stopped, the toilets flushed and the doors opened almost in unison. When I got out, I asked my oldest, what she observed. ALL THREE WERE TEENAGE WAL-MART EMPLOYEES! They should have been using the employees' bathroom and not tying up three stalls for families that really need them. I wonder if this is how the three spend each of their breaks. All I know is that we didn't get a break, we hit all the Interstate rush hour traffic and my son had to hold his poop in during our last 10 miles on the so-go freeway. There should be policies, just as there are for where employees can park, regarding bathroom use. Those of us writing checks for $625.00 deserve more convenience.

You expect class, decorum, common sense, and courtesy from a teenage, WalMart employee?

I work for a national store, although not Wal-Mart. I was born in 1991, so I guess that makes me a "teenager". Now that summer's here and I'm working on the day schedule, I get a 10-minute morning break and a 10-minute afternoon break in addition to lunch. I usually eat at our store's snack bar. Although I don't do it to piss off paying customers, I do go into the restroom each break. I sit down and most of the time will have my bm during the morning break and I will pee a little during my afternoon time. I am, however, guilty of staying in the stall a little longer than necessary, but it feels comfortable for me to get off my feet for a few minutes. Sometimes I'm a little sore from my softball game the night before. I do more walking than a lot of the "associates" because I have experience as a "floater", meaning they move me on any given day sometimes two or three times among various departments. By not leaving the floor outside of break time, I think I'm more of an asset to the store and its customers. I don't see anything wrong with me sitting out most of my break in a stall. Our bathroom has five stalls so I'm not causing a line to form and, much of the time, I'm the only person in there. Also, on a couple of times I've discovered a clogged toilet, and once, a lot of blood in the sink that I suspect came from someone's nosebleed. More often what I report to the manager's office is pee on the seat or a lack of toilet paper. There is a one-stall womens bathroom upstairs adjacent to the store office and walking all the way across our store which I've heard is about 80,000 square feet would suck for me. I would be off the floor longer, too.

Shittin' Sarah - I'm glad your mom at least has taken your side. The counsellor is an idiot. Why cannot people understand that, for some, shitting requires seclusion and privacy. There needs to be some empathy in schools for those who need to shit and don't find it easy. I was at a boys grammar school and was a very shameful shitter. So much so, that I never went at school at all. But If I had been desparate, I would have needed to go in the quietest, most out of the way toilet where no-one might see me. Happily though, after years of agonising, I'm converted - liberated even - and can now go anywhere! I hope in time you will reach this happy state too!

I agree that school counselors (it's laughable when you read Sarah's post because I thought they were suppose to be an advocate for their students), security, and administrators just don't get it. Their attitudes SUCK! I, too, am in summer school. I'm taking an advanced all-day computer curriculum for five weeks that will enable me, as a senior next year, to have the credentials for part-time work that can lead to a four-year college scholarship and my career in programming. I'm not an idiot taking remedial classes, but our class of 25 is being treated as such.

We have to use the bathrooms immediately across the hall from our lab. The boys don't complain as much but for us girls it's pretty wicked. Stall #l has the door lock broken off. #2 has a seat so loose that if I would have moved while shitting last week, it probably would have come unattached. #3 doesn't have a door, I think it disappeared back in December. #4 the flusher is broken, it drips and doesn't work. Besides, the smell is so bad I think the pee in the bowl is from the last day of regular school. #5 is actually OK to use, but if the seat is up and you look while dropping it you will find a dried specimen of someone's diarrhea underneath. #6 the seat has two large cracks in it and if you move even a little while going you could pierce you left underthigh. #7 the stool is fine but there's just four holes in the partition that once held the toilet paper dispenser. #8 has a keyed lock on it and a sign in old-style painted letters, "Reserved for faculty"

There are only six of us girls in the class, but we're not allowed to use the bathrooms on the three upstairs floors. I've tried but they are locked! Most of us just hold it and wait until 11:30 and lunch when we go across the street to Burger King. Luckily, we get done at 3 p.m. each day and the one bathroom at home that I share with my three sisters has never looked so good.

I have worked for one of the largest retail stores in our state since I graduated from high school seven years ago. Three months ago I was "Employee of the Month" and was interviewed for both a paper and electronic newsletter corporate puts out. Our store is one of the anchors at our regional mall. We have three floors with customer bathrooms on each level, although lesser traffic upstairs proves the architects were right in making them single-stall. I use the restrooms in our store when I have to pee (I'm a squatter so I don't sit directly down on the seat)but when I have to crap, I go out into the mall and use the nearest restroom there because each stall has the toilet seat tissues. Yesterday, I was stopped in coming back into the store by the general manager, a male who is 58, curious as to why I had left. I didn't give him a direct response as to why I was gone for less than 10 minutes, but I sense he would have appreciated an explanation. I don't know of any specific policy regarding restroom use. Should I volunteer the information or hope he forgets?

Wow, Brittney - your knowledge of the stalls is impressive!! They sound like those at my old school many years ago - things just have not moved on at all. More seriously, the fact that we hold it in rather than go when we need to causes problems later. My doctor told me years ago that its like the bowel sending messages to the brain so often and being ignored that it doesn't send them any more. I never shit at school, and have had constipation most of my life since! I'd hoped things were a bit more civilised now.

You should talk to him about your IBS and ask him if he would rather you risk pooping yourself to comply 100%.

Oh wait, this is kind of what Dung Daddy said.
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.....hugging bunnies since 1969
www.daphneszoo.com

u have the right to shit wherever you want in your own workplace dude u needa show ur boss whats up
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i have met many people that talk like asses but i have not met many asses that talk like people