Job Concerns & UC

Hi All,

Ok, so I have a concern. I think I am about to get offered a position at a company I would be excited to work for; however there is one problem...the bathroom situation. This office is really small, only 5 people in it and there is only one bathroom...now yes that is bad, but the worst of it, is that the bathroom is in the actual office rather than outside of the office with stalls and that whole situation so if I smell it up, then I will probably smell up the WHOLE OFFICE!!! Do I not take the position just because of that? But it really freaks me out because given the frequency of how often I go, maybe 10 times a day and how bad it smells, which is always it smells bad....like really really bad...I don't know how to handle this situation.

Any ideas? Does anyone else have that same issue? Or do I need to just not take the job?

Hellllllp!

Thanks!

This happened to me when I had IBS (and not colitis yet). I still remember that once I had so much gas that a fellow employee heard. He laughed really hard. I was so embarrassed.

I bought one of those white noise machines from Amazon when I had diarrhea during a flare up. It cost me $50, but it helped drown out the noise.

I would suggest scoping out alternative bathrooms for times when you can hold it a minute. Across the street from my work was another office building with a public restroom in the lobby. If I was having a particularly bad day I would go across the street to go to the bathroom lol. Look for coffee shops, food courts, etc with public bathrooms that you could get in and out of without being noticed. Obviously yours would still be there when you need it but you wouldn't use it as often.

I once had a great offer that would have gotten my new career off the ground. The place was very much like the one described above but with one more little goody. The server for all the computers was in the linen closet of the bathroom! (The place had once been a house) I took the job, but I was such a nervous wreck, I quit after one week.

Just think about one of the other accountants being with an important client and the server acting up and the other accountant needing to get in there while I was stuck on the pot.

I would take the job, if I really wanted it, and just bring a air freshener that you enjoy the scent of (since it is an enclosed space) to use as needed, or maybe one of the automatic ones that spray every 30 minutes, and you can push the button while in there for an extra burst if needed.

Haha, all good responses, thank you very much. I don't know what I'm gonna do yet...I have a meeting with them tomorrow and we are going to discuss compensation, ect, so I will see. I really appreciate the biological odor killer idea, I will try that out at home because that could really be a good asset to have anywhere, like when I am visiting friend's houses ect. But the thing is that I have a flare most of the time, or at least d often, so it's very hard for me and I feel kinda the same way as the person who wrote that they would possibly turn the job down because it would set the into such a bad flare because of all the stress that would accompany that situation. However I feel bad about that, but it is sorta just accepting my situation...at least what my situation is right now. It is really helpful to hear all these different points of view, because even 2 years ago, I would have never considered turning a job offer down because of a bathroom situation, NEVER! It makes me sad to think about the fact that I have these limitations now, but it also motivates me to make the situation better and better. It's weird either I can really go, it's d. OR I am really constipated...so frustrating. I scoped out the bathroom situation and I didn't see a way to be able to use on in another building, although there is a restaurant closeby, I don't know that they would understand why I was constantly up and leaving though...but I could always try it out and then if it doesn't work, then it doesn't work I suppose...I dunno. This sucks :( But thanks soooooo much for the advice and for sharing your experiences. It really means a lot to me to hear from you guy's experiences because I start to wonder if I am the only one that has to think about this stuff...

Take Care

Also, have you had any success with using immodium or a liquid diet to get through the work day? I used to do some substitute teaching and couldn't take a bathroom break easily. I would get up an hour or so early to poop as much as I could. Then I would take two immodium and head to work. I would consume liquids only (including broth or apple sauce) until I got out of work. Then I would eat a small meal on the way home (sandwich) and have dinner with my family as usual, then repeat. I know you couldn't do that every day for the rest of your life but maybe just until you are a little more comfortable with the situation.

In this rare case, I would casually bring it up, up front, at the meeting about compensation etc. I would just say "I noticed that you have this little bathroom right here. I have a condition that makes me use the bathroom pretty frequently. Are there any others in this building that I could use? What do you do if this one stops working?" They might surprise you and say "oh yeah, xyz company down the hall lets us use theirs too" or something like that. No need to say what it is or go into great detail. If you are already talking compensation you have the job so its not like they are going to pull your offer.

Good luck! What a crappy situation :)

This is a tough issue! I bet, though, that every person in that office, even without colitis, hates having a shared bathroom in their workspace. Everyone needs some privacy sometimes!

I think that once you accept the job, you could bring up your concerns and ask the employer whether there is any chance that they will improve the bathroom situation. I don't know what kind of building it is, but is it possible that there's another bathroom that isn't functional that they could renovate?

I think that getting your colitis under control would help address this issue. I see you're taking Asacol. Are you taking anything else? Maybe it's time to try some other things. Even without the intimidating bathroom situation, running to the bathroom all day sucks.

One last thought -- people with colitis are now protected by the American with Disabilities Act which means that employers need to make reasonable accommodations for us, including job applicants. I don't know if improving the bathroom arrangement would count as a "reasonable accommodation" but it's something to keep in mind in case.


Definitely once you get closer to the people you work with it will get easier.