Urinal etiquette explained
The Least Compromised Position in an Observationally Unfavourable Room
QUESTION 9/20
This arrangement offers no completely private vacant position. A defensible judgment must acknowledge the remaining exposure rather than announce a security that the scene does not provide.
The situation
Railway Station · Entrance: Lower right.
| Position | State |
|---|---|
| 1 | Large visitor |
| 2 | Available |
| 3 | Ordinary visitor |
| 4 | Available |
| 5 | Available |
| 6 | Visitor looking left |
Recommended position: 4
The unavailable ideal
The substantial visitor is at one, an ordinary visitor at three, and the left-looking observer at six. Every free fixture lies to the observer’s left. Position four is therefore not invisible to him. That limitation is an essential part of the finding, not a footnote to be omitted for convenience.
Relative burden
Position two is confined between the substantial and ordinary visitors. Position five immediately adjoins the observer. Position four has one immediate ordinary neighbour and retains position five as a buffer before the observer. It avoids the more intrusive forms of adjacency without pretending to remove the gaze.
Conclusion
Position four is the least compromised choice. The absence of a flawless solution is a reason for careful comparison, not an invitation to describe a flawed solution as flawless.
In plain language
None is perfect. Two is squeezed in; five puts you beside the creep. Take four. He may still look, but at least he is not right next to you.