I was reading this health magazine at the doctor's office the other day and there was some article about germs in it; one of the recommended actions for avoiding germs in public bathrooms was to always pick the first stall because, according to the author "most people pick the middle stalls so they are the dirtiest."

I thought, "Huh?" Whenever I enter a large bathroom, if any stalls are occupied, it's usually the first one or the handicrapper. I've never met anyone who chooses a middle stall first, but it takes all kinds, I guess.

Personally, I go for variety. I pick whichever stall is open and go for it. If it is dirty, I will check the ones next to it until I find a clean one, but I don't always choose the first one, middle, last, etc. I just pick whichever one I feel like that day.

What about first looking in the back away from the door and/or sinks but ultimately choosing for cleanliness and TP? (I chose 6 by the way)

The cleanest and most well stocked get my number 1 (and maybe #2) prize every time!

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'Hey that sounds pretty nasty, how about a courtesy flush over there?' (AP1)

I usually pick the cleanest stall, and the one with an adequate supply of TP.
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I am winter's hurricane, I am the great blizzard of 1899, and no body shall be exempt from my wrath.

I'm with AB2K on this one. I just randomly walk up to whichever stall appears to be available and check it over for TP and sprinkles, etc. If I've got lil' shitwit with me I'll spring for the handicrapper since there's more room to do the "let's try pooping on a public potty maneuver" and more room for mommy's expanding girth (we've passed the halfway point and it's unmistakable now that there's a bun in the oven!).

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Rock-n-roll! Poopy-poo!

This is really interesting. I've never analyzed my stall-picking behavior like this before. I always avoid the first and the last, but I will override that rule in favor of ensuring a one stall buffer between me and a fellow pooper. So ultimately, I guess, I place the buffer zone above other considerations.

I pick randomly, but never the first or last stall: the first tends to be taken by those with emergency problems so it is likely to be covered in runny shit; the last is the haunt of the fetishist oddball who needs to be far from other human contact, that stall will be filled with all sorts of weird horrors. Somewhere in the middle is the only safe haven.

I picked the last cause most of the doors at work don't lock, and most of the catches allow bi-directional door swing. Of course, if there were more than several crappers, I would choose any clean crapper. Neighbors are a bonus.

Like Dave, I'd never thought about it before. It took me a minute to decide because. I certainly don't put a lot of thought into it since I don't basically give a shit if I'm crapping next to someone or not. As long as the stall is clean (or what's in the bowl can be flushed down) I'm okay. I had to pick "random" because there is really no set pattern.

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If a man farts and no one's around, does he make a sound?

I'm a college student with two roommates. We had quite a discussion on this. Jen says she always takes the first stall. The longer the row of stalls, she says more people will select the far end one or the middle ones. Her biggest dislike is have an occupied stall on both sides of her. She gets easily grossed out by gas noises and heavy shit hitting the water.
Lydia says she takes whatever stall is available. She believes the condition of the seat and if someone else's urine or shit has not been flushed isn't the most important factor. She said the most important thing to her is putting toilet paper over the seat before sitting down. She is very adamant about that and can't believe that I don't.
As for me, the door latch is the most important thing. Three times--at both aathletic events and airports--I've had loose or no door latches and women have barged in on me. One opened the door so fast that she hit and bruised my knee. I don't worry about directly sitting on the seats because that's what showering and bathing is for. My second most important criteria is the availability of toilet paper. Often my shits are messy and it can take a third of a roll for me to clean myself thoroughly.
As for my boyfriend,who was teased in middle school because he sat down to pee, overall privacy is his most important criteria. We've been in the school library together and I've seen him walk three floors up to go because the stalls have doors and because there are less users there.

I feel for the poor, unsuspecting schmuk-ette who gets stuck in a stall next to TSV.

I don't give this a lot of thought. I've posted before that cleanliness of the bathroom is the most important thing to me. After that, I just pick a seat.

Pulling My Pants Down For Peace, Plop and Posterity!

Dumpster, I assume that if a girl takes a stall next to mine, she is probably a volcanologist interested in the geochemistry of my gases, and therefore is sitting in the other bathroom with her COSPEC device waiting for results. If I choose the bathroom first, however, she is likely a resident of Pompeii.

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If a man farts and no one's around, does he make a sound?

Actually ..... I'm still not able to go publicly ... I'll climb over broken glass to get back home to familiarity ... I'm not scared of public pooping .. OH NO! ... my friends only like to swim in their own private pool. I'm working them through this though ... with therapy.

The more I think about this ... I had a flashback to kindergarten, there was no stall ... it was one room with several tiny pans and no doors to speak of and a large glass wall that opened out to the school room with other kids ... this was so that busy teachers could remain on poop patrol and could assist if needed by one glance and not actually have to go into the room with the child .. consequently ... all kids could see too. No wonder we are all damaged.

I check for cleanliness, lockability, purse/coat hanger, TP availability, water leakage/spillage and proximity to other shitters. If there's someone groaning in the stall next to me, I automatically find another stall. I can't go with that happening next to me. Also, I can't go into a stall that has an open sanitary napkin container, because my eyes keep going over to it and I'll be traumatized for life if I see a used tampoon. Oh, and no pubes. That's unacceptable.
I also have an intense knowledge of all clean toilets within a 20 mile radius, and know which toilets are simply unacceptable.
When I used to work in a construction site, I'd walk all the way to a fancy restaurant down the street in order to use their facilities instead of using the horrible ones provided.

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Don't be playin' with the Queen of Sharts

If I'm taking one of the kids in with me, I choose the handicrapper, otherwise, I just choose one at random. If it's a complete mess, I choose another.

My selection behavior is usually a combination of the poll options. Like Dave, I prefer to have a buffer if I can, but that's not my primary concern. My main criteria are TP supply and cleanliness, and in a desperately urgent situation the deciding factor is TP. I've GOT to be able to clean up when I'm finished.

I am glad to see people talking about this subject. I have actually written a paper for speech class on proper bathroom behavior. No matter how nice a building you are in, there is always one person that can't seem to figure out what the flippin water filled hole that they are sitting over is for. Why or how do people manage to shit on the seat and floor? I am a girl that is not afraid to admit that I have to take a shit. And when I do have to in public, it would be really nice if people would remember that we have all been capable of walking up right for a long time now and therefor should know after the age of 3, how to take a shit and not make a mess. Oh and lets not forget the ever important rule of a courtesy flush! Nobodies shit smells like roses!! Shit is Shit, and it belongs in the toilet! Flush when you are finished people!

My son is 5 and my daughter is 4. I don't want to jade them about how unkempt many public bathrooms are but they are already asking questions. We were at Target and I let my youngest run ahead of me, select a stall and as she was about to pull her panties down, she came running out to show me what she had discovered--a full stool in the bowl that hadn't been flushed. I showed her how to walk along side of the stool, take her hand and then flush it. However, in the meantime, she started to pee her even though she was off the stool. Thanks so much for the inconsiderate person who didn't take time to push on the flusher! And last week my son was complaining that he had to do a #2 at a BPAmoco station. He used the mens room while I waited for him to finish so I could use the ladies room next door. After about three minutes he opened the door and called for me to help him--he was on the stool and found there was no toilet paper (not even an empty spool) available. I got him some from the ladies room but not before he scraped his butt over the front of the seat and then sat back down in the poop he had even managed to get his penis in. If the last user had simply told the attendant, it wouldn't have been an issue. More than anything else, I'm concerned that such negative experiences will cause my children and others too to avoid public restrooms and try to "hold it" until they get home. I know I had about 20 years ago after I, at about age 7, was on the stool relieving my bowels when in one sitting two different women--one of them quite angry and cussing--opened the stall door on me because the latch had been broken off. Even now, seeing eyeballs peaking in on me between the door and stall partition cause me anxiety.

Unless it is an ABSOLUTE emergency, and I have only one or two of those a year, I will check out as many stalls as necessary before and if I make my selection. My first criteria is anything but a black seat. This goes back to middle school almost 20 years ago when the restroom between classes was busy, a lot of girls waiting for a stall to open, and I spotted one with the door ajar way down at the end of the line. I had to pee bad, threw myself onto the seat even before I closed the door, and bearly had my underpants down when I felt a something moist disintegrate under my left thigh! An inch-long piece of shit. I used most of the toilet paper available in cleaning myself up. Worse yet, some of the girls were snickering when I came out because they had seen it and avoided that stall. Second, I refuse to use a stall if it is the only one available, even if it doesn't have a black seat. A friend of mine had a bad experience when she was traveling across the country to college. She sat down on a toilet, only to have the seat fall in on her because, apparently vandals, had fully detached it from the stool. She said it, too, was black.

I normally shop around for the cleanest stall unless I have to poop. Then I go for the handicap stall just cause they are bigger. Girl needs a little room to breath

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40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.

Any reasonably clean stall, with the necessary acoutrements. :)
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Happy crapping! (_o_)

i picked the middle but most of the time its a handicrapper stall sometimes i need the bars on the walls for leverage

I seem to remember some one making a comment about leaving the handicapped stall when there was a guy in a wheel chair waiting. The guy in the chair said "are you handicapped", and the interloper said "I was when I went in there".
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SamDamnit!
The Emir of Crapistan

As a 27-year-old SWF, an experience this past weekend has caused to me answer: AS FARTHEST AWAY FROM CHILDREN AS POSSIBLE! I fly at least once a month due to my business, and I try to have the most pleasant experience possible. In flying out, with about five minutes left before boarding I was waiting in a crowded airport restroom line, behind a woman and about a six-year-old boy. She takes him to the door of the stall, all the time telling him his father is at the terminal parking garage waiting for them and probably getting a ticket for double parking, etc. My initial thought was her ragging on the boy like that isn't going to make go faster. Wrong! He vacated the stall after about 60 seconds and I felt good that I would finally be able to take my shit before boarding. Wrong! He hadn't even tried to aim--there was pee all over the seat, and dripping. I looked at the roll and there was only about two or three sheets of toilet paper left, so I had the choice of using it to clean the seat or not clean myself, or holding it until the flight. I selected the latter. About 30 minutes into the flight, there was again a line--largely dominated by kids (only a few of which were accompanied by a parent)--for the toilet. The wait was about ten minutes and I was behind a young girl, probably about 10 or 11. She was only in there for about three minutes and I welcomed the fact that I would not be following a boy with bad aim, etc. Wrong! Although she might not have noticed or minded, there was urine on the seat, but I used some toilet paper to wipe it off before I sat down. After about a minute we ran into some turbulence due to thunderstorms, but I insisted on completing my crap before vacating. After my meetings in Washington, D.C., at Reagan, waiting for my flight back and after legitimately waiting for my stall during the mid-morning rush, I was seated no more than 20 seconds and had just started my crap when a mother knocked on my door and said her daughter wasn't able to hold it much longer. I felt guilty since I would be in there a while, so I made myself presentable, and yielded to the young girl. The mom seemed very thankful that her daughter made it onto the stool without an accident for what I assumed was diarrhea. As the girl left, again I was nicely thanked, but when I opened the door I found out why. The diarrhea hadn't been flushed, there was enough toilet paper used to clog the stool and there was no additional toilet paper available. I decided to hold my shit until I got back to Muny Airport and found an out-of-the-way restroom, with no line and most importantly, no children anywhere near!

I usually just pick the first clean one I come to, unless the place is crowded. In that case I try to find one that is at least one stall away from the next person to spare us both from having to smell each others farts in addition to our own.

The nearest one usually, then check TP and it is reasonably clean.

Gotta Lotta Poop above is so right - why do people have to make a mess on the seat or floor!!? I do tend to blame those who won't sit down, and can't aim properly.

In a large bathroom I generally like a stall sort of in the middle, but I do not mind if someone is in the neighboring stall; in fact, I rather enjoy hearing his efforts and results, and providing my own sounds for him. I do look for cleanliness, paper supply, and a lockable door. I also tend toward a stall with decent lighting, just to see what I am doing and, when done, what I have done. I am, I guess, shameless, in that I don't care if someone hears me go, so I take the stall that looks the best, regardless whether neighboring ones are occupied.

In really large places like airports, stadiums and auditoriums I just take the first open stall that catches my eye. I'm not going to directly sit down on the seat anyway, and any stall is conducive to hovering. When my daughter, who is 6, is with me I tend to be more discriminating because she is unable to squat yet and I just feel better if she's sitting on a toilet that is reasonably clean. Most of the parents I know have the same philosophy as me. With children in tow, the availability of a larger amount of toilet paper is also a plus. Also, I find that my daughter prefers the stall at the far end because it tends to give her more privacy.

I always look for a stall that already has a deuce in it, I usuall find an unflushed stall and Drop my shit right on top of it.