qotd: first rule of public restrooms

[aroraborealis]

What is the first rule of public restrooms?

Comments

[sconstant.livejournal.com]

If either of two people in a public restroom wants to pretend that the other person is not there, the other person is obliged to join that pretense, except insofar as it inconveniences that other person more than a small amount, and except insofar as the first person appears to be in either a small amount of distress which the other person can alleviate ("oh, here, I have a band aid / wet wipe / tissue") or a large amount of distress unignorable by the other person ("oh, honey, it'll be ok"; "stay in here, I'm calling the cops")

[http://users.livejournal.com/_sabriel_/]

*unless, of course, the paramedics are there already, and the person and the general vicinity is covered in blood, then it is perfectly ok to pretend the other person is not there and nothing unusual is happening.....
(which is what I encountered at a public restroom recently, not as the person covered in blood.)