Shy bladder on a long Thanksgiving road trip

Last November my wife and I drove about fifteen hours north for Thanksgiving. I was up at 5 a.m. in a dark kitchen, already thinking about bathrooms. I’ve had a shy bladder since my teens, and in my school band days it was crippling.

Once, after a late trip home on the tour bus, I went a full day without peeing. The toilet was a tiny cabin with thin walls, and an acquaintance was joking right outside. I shut down completely.

These days I work security, so I use whatever restroom is close, some with hardly any privacy. My wife is great about it too. If one gas station doesn’t work, we drive to the next, and being the driver made that easy.

The stops

We stopped about four times each way, and every restroom was empty but one. A year ago I’d have walked right back out. This time I took a stall a few down from the man already there, unzipped, and just stood. When he left, it took a few minutes, then it worked.

The cave gift shop

The hardest one came after a cave tour. We had an hour of driving ahead, so I ducked into the gift shop bathroom. The door was propped open because the floor was just mopped, and two employees were chatting around the corner. Every word came through clearly.

I stood there for several minutes wanting to give up. I stayed, and eventually it started.

What I tell myself is that nobody in there is watching me. They want in and out like anyone. Walking into bathrooms when you don’t need one helps too, just to get used to strange rooms.

Another guy told me he checks the restroom as soon as he sits down at a restaurant, bladder barely full, so a small go is an easy win and later holds no surprises. Someone else said low urgency makes it harder for them. I haven’t tried it in a big restaurant yet, where I’m still pretty pee shy.

When I came out of the gift shop, my wife was by the postcard rack holding two fudge samples. I took one and didn’t say a word.