my answer to your question: never really thought bout it.  just seemed like the natural order of things to not talk in bathroom (unless it's a head nod)...to always skip a stall when someone is using a stall...and to never ever ever...

ummm...anywho...

no questions from me.  thanks, anyways!

And its not so much a territory thing as it's a "men generally don't like having their equipment exposed in proximity to other men" thing.

"if you look at my gear without my permission, you are violating me"

"we are exposed beside each other as a matter of necessity.  finish your business quietly and expediently."

@the_last_kiss - Exactly... Well Said. Also only shake once or twice when done... anymore and your are playing with yourself.

I will restate that any deviation from the method as described from above will result is bad/uncomfortable situations.

I guess I'll start a similar question toward the women, from the guys:

What is up with the all-the-girls going to the restroom together thing?

I go out with the girls, but obviously can't walk into the womens restroom.  And I have an idea from what goes on in there from the likes of SATC and similar shows.  But what is it about the restroom that you can't do at the table/ booth/ room even when you know the guys can't hear you?  Other than actually using the toilet, I mean.

@the_last_kiss - #1, we want someone to talk to while we inevitably wait in line (because the girls' bathroom line is always much longer than the guys). #2 we can gossip about you boys. #3, we don't want to leave one girl by herself feeling awkward and probably getting hit on by men she may not want to talk to. #4 if we accidently have tp stuck to our shoe or something, our friends will hopefully notice and point it out. 

@Nikolais_apprentice@xanga - Do guys ever talk about girls/their relationships with their girls when the guys are hanging out?

No, not really.

This is not to say that we don't talk about our girls/ relationships; we just don't do it in groups of more than say... 3, and ONLY with very very good friends.  Men don't talk about their girls/ relationships with mere acquaintances or "the guys" they hang out with.  In fact, the "3" number is rare.  Guys, as best-friends, will talk to each other about their relationships, but only in absolute privacy out of the earshot of anybody who could possibly hear them.

Men also don't tend to sit down specifically to talk about these things.  Like, you'll almost never see two guys sitting down together doing nothing but talking about their girls/ relationships.  We will always be... like, one guy under the car, the other guy working on the motor from above.  Or in the case of nerdy guys, I don't know... coding or something.  The only time you'll ever see two guys talking about girls/ relationships that APPEARS like they're just sitting there is when we're sitting down having a drink (or a lot of drinks), or something similar.

We also do not make eye contact with each other talking about these things.  If we're not busy doing something, and we're just talking over a drink or a smoke, we'll be looking down or off to the distance.

Conversation also tends to NOT be like "OMG you know what Shelly did for me today?  She stopped by at work and took me out for a picnic!  Like, it was SOOOO sweet.  And she even went out of her way to get my favorite Brasilian soda for me."

Instead, it tends to be like, "You know, Bob.  I know Shelly loves me and all -- hey hand me that 10mm deep socket -- but sometimes I just don't get her...."

Bob:  "Unnh."

"She's always griping about saving money, but today she comes and picks me up from work and we have lunch at the park and I know all the stuff she bought must have cost about a hundred bucks.  For lunch.  I don't get it."

@hopelessromantic - #1, we want someone to talk to while we inevitably wait in line (because the girls' bathroom line is always much longer than the guys).

Makes sense.  I don't think I've ever seen a decently popular place without a line at the women's restroom.

#2 we can gossip about you boys.

Do you really talk about the guys you're out with when you all go to the restroom together?

#3, we don't want to leave one girl by herself feeling awkward and probably getting hit on by men she may not want to talk to.

LOL yes I've seen this.

#4 if we accidently have tp stuck to our shoe or something, our friends will hopefully notice and point it out.

LOL yes, I've seen this too.

This makes sense, thank you.

@la_faerie_joyeuse@xanga - First, at any given moment, several women will need to pee.  One person will speak up, and the bladders of the others instantly remind them of their urgency.

Interesting.  Is there an internal hierarchy among women for this?  Meaning, a woman who is not high on the ladder needs to pee, but she'll hold it until a woman of higher stature needs to, then everybody goes?

I ask this because among groups of men, if the group is moving somewhere, it's usually the Alpha who moves the group even if lesser-ranked males have been thinking it.  "Let's get out of here, go to (the other place)"

Also, women have a much more "developed" sense of social hierarchy.  A woman who is alone is seen as unsociable, stupid, unpopular, or mean, even if she's just going to pee.  A man alone is just a man.

Interesting.  I had a random dinner with a drop-jaw gorgeous girl the other night, because I saw her dining alone and asked her if she would like to have dinner together since I was dining alone too.  She seemed very comfortable with me, but I know what you're talking about -- I rarely see women dining alone, and servers look at women dining alone differently than they do men dining alone.

Finally, women like to get their mid-meal gossip going on.  They know you're bored by their gossip, so they wait until they're alone, then they spring it.

Oh, most.  I can listen to gossip all day though. :)

Thanks for your reply and the new insight I have now.

@the_last_kiss - Ladies go to the bathroom together because we have to talk about what had happened, what we think is going to happen, if we are having fun, how good we look, if we need to fix our hair, etc. We want our friends there to reassure us of certain things. It is sort of natural for us to go to the bathroom together, we have been doing it since middle school dances and games. Just my thoughts on it....

@Ms2Sexi4u@xanga - Ladies go to the bathroom together because we have to talk about what had happened, what we think is going to happen, if we are having fun, how good we look, if we need to fix our hair, etc. We want our friends there to reassure us of certain things. It is sort of natural for us to go to the bathroom together, we have been doing it since middle school dances and games. Just my thoughts on it....

So a lot of it is actually social and relational grooming then?  I can see how that can't be done in "public", and makes a lot of sense.

This makes me raise another question -- you mention middle school dances; when does this behavior exactly start?  And is it learned by observation or is it instinctual?

I think you have some pretty good explanations of guy behavior in the bathroom though very little seems to have been said about why it is that way.  Frankly I can't help you with that because I don't know how it evolved.  As far as I know it has been that way since the beginning of time.  As a guy you learn the rules and what the punishment for breaking those rules is and very rarely is a guy willing to subject himself to the punishment that he knows will come.

@the_last_kiss - Yeah, well girls do, so therefor this is a reason why we go to the bathroom in groups. =)

Yeah, there are also many girls who don't wash their hands -- that is sad.

Well, glad you got your answers!

Thank you for subbing:) lol, I love this topic, so funny. Guy behaviour continues to amuse and enthrall me lol.