I'm sure you've encountered this question before, but I could use your help if you'd be willing to take it on again. Let me introduce myself: I'm a 27-year-old female who's been involved with a 27-year-old male for three years. We met in grad school and were both lucky enough to find jobs in the area, so we decided to go ahead and take the next step of moving in together. That was a year ago, so we'd had plenty of time to get used to each other's habits, etc. One thing we hadn't worked on, however, was the use of the bathroom. When we were living in separate places, there never seemed to be a reason to use the bathroom at the same time. Now, it comes up at least once a day, in part because there's only one bathroom.
But allow me to be more specific. I'm not just talking about using the bathroom. I'm talking about, you know, using the bathroom. My boyfriend has absolutely no compunctions about doing either a No. 1 or a No. 2 while I'm in there. And unless I expressly ask him to, he never closes the door before doing his numbers. I, on the other hand, can do a No. 1 if he's, say, in the shower, but if he's, say, brushing his teeth at the sink, I prefer to wait until he's done. And doing a No. 2 while he's in there is out of the question. It's not that it's disgusting. It's just that it's, you know, private. I was and am an only child, so maybe I'm used to having the bathroom all to myself. Or maybe I'm what my boyfriend calls me: a privacy freak.
He seems willing to play by my rules, which are that whoever gets in there first gets to determine the privacy level and that if he's the one who gets in there first would he please close the door. But I feel like I'm imposing something on him, like I'm some kind of privacy freak after all. In my defense, I did try a few No. 1s while he was in there, and I got where I could do them without feeling too self-conscious. But I don't think I'll ever feel totally comfortable under that arrangement, and I don't think it has anything to do with how I feel about my boyfriend. In fact, I think he would agree with me that in all other areas of our physical life together I'm as comfortable as could be. It's just this one area.
My question: Do you think I'm weird?
Behind Closed Doors
Behind Closed Doors: Yes, you're weird. Your boyfriend's weird, too. We're all weird, each and every one of us. For instance, I was out jogging the other day and I came upon a woman walking her dog. Nothing weird about that. But apparently the dog needed to do its business, because it stepped over onto the grass and assumed the position. Nothing weird about that. But then the dog, instead of actually doing its business, looked back at its owner while continuing to assume the position. Nothing terribly weird about that. But then, while the dog was still looking back at its owner and continuing to assume the position, the woman pulled out a plastic bag and placed it on the ground directly where the dog would be doing its business if it were in fact doing its business. Okay, now that's kind of weird. Then the dog, without taking its eyes off its owner, proceeded to do its business into the bag!!!
Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?
And I'm sure I could teach you a trick or two, Behind Closed Doors, but I'd prefer to open this one up to my dear, dear readers. Who out there has had this problem, and how'd you resolve it?
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