Pat is alone in a room, performing a routine chore.  Chris opens the door, causing both of them to become embarassed.  Chris quickly shuts the door without entering the room.  Pat observes that had the other side of the room been partitioned, there would be no cause for embarassment, even though that portion of the room was not seen by either Chris nor Pat during the encounter.  Explain.

was he cleaning a bathroom and the other side of the room was stinky?

was he cleaning a bathroom and the other side of the room was stinky? No

Chore being literal, though?

chore

One entry found.

Main Entry:

chore

Pronunciation:

\ˈchȯr\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

alteration of chare

Date:

1746

1plural : the regular or daily light work of a household or farm2: a routine task or job3: a difficult or disagreeable task <doing taxes can be a real chore>

Will it help us to ask more questions about Pan and Chris? Background? Personality? Etc?

Is the fact that Pat was alone relevant?

Will it help us to find out what kind of chore Pat was doing? Or asking more questions about it?

Did anything relevant happen before the encounter?

Will it help asking more questions about the room? The side they were on? The other side?

Will it help asking more questions about any objects in the room?

Are there any other objects (or people/animals, etc.) in the room?

Would most people become embarrassed by what happened?

Are any other people involved? Or animals, robots, etc?

Are Pat and Chris healthy? Do they have any disabilities?

Is Pat showering or something (a daily chorus for most people), and Chris walks in on her?

Does the lack of visibility (or the fact that they cant see the other side of the room) have something to do with a shower curtain, a towel or anything simular?

Are any of them naked?

I have some difficulities understanding what "partitioned" means, so maybe help me. My dictonary said "divided", which means the room was divided in two? But it was still the same room? Was it divided by something then?

What are there genders? (please don't make me ask the hard way)

Me stoopid. Me thought you said "What are the genders?" and was prepared with a wikiwiki entry...

I'd have to say, however, that they are either male or female.

(REBOUND!!!!)

Are they in a warehouse or other industrial-place?

Semi-outside?

I need a diagram to help me

lol

lmao

pat and chris are pretty gender neutral names..

They don't have to be one or the other you know...

Uhm... yea, you keep thinking that, Morg (???)

I'll draw up a diagram... *sigh*

Methinks he is playing on the fact that there are a large bunch of computer nerds here when he says 'partition'-- in computing, to literally split the hard drive into essentially 2 virtual hard drives-- they can operate under different OSs, have different everything, basically.

Thankfully that seems just about to fit into the riddle... maybe seperating the room in two with one of those collapsable walls commonly found in meeting/ recreation places?

Sorry for the confusing-ness and lack of colo(u)r/ quality, I made it on the new Vista Paint, which apparently has a grudge on normal, basic colo(u)rs and good quality...

*opens up Paint in Vista*  it looks the same to me...

Was Chris in any form of undress?

either chris or pat was naked and the partition would have covered a mirror?

is it a regular shaped room (square/rectangular)?

Chore being literal, though? "A routine task or job" fits perfectly

Will it help us to ask more questions about Pan and Chris? Background? Personality? Etc? A little

Is the fact that Pat was alone relevant? Yes

Will it help us to find out what kind of chore Pat was doing? Or asking more questions about it? Yes

Did anything relevant happen before the encounter? No

Will it help asking more questions about the room? The side they were on? The other side? Yes

Will it help asking more questions about any objects in the room? Yes

Are there any other objects (or people/animals, etc.) in the room? Yes

Would most people become embarrassed by what happened? Most people within their culture

Are any other people involved? Or animals, robots, etc? No

Are Pat and Chris healthy? Do they have any disabilities? Irrelevant

Is Pat showering or something (a daily chorus for most people), and Chris walks in on her? This question is too general, it doesn't ask anything beyond what has already been established in the narrative

Does the lack of visibility (or the fact that they cant see the other side of the room) have something to do with a shower curtain, a towel or anything simular? I see I need to clarify this -- when I said the other side of the room was "not visible" I meant that they were not looking at it at the time and did not look at it during the encounter.

Are any of them naked? Under their clothes

I have some difficulities understanding what "partitioned" means, so maybe help me. My dictonary said "divided", which means the room was divided in two? But it was still the same room? Was it divided by something then? In this context, a partition is a separator within a room.  E.g., an office divided into cubicles via partitions.

What are there genders? (please don't make me ask the hard way)  Both male

Are they in a warehouse or other industrial-place?  No

Semi-outside?  No

I need a diagram to help me -- It wouldn't hurt

pat and chris are pretty gender neutral names.. I was inspired by SNL

Was Chris in any form of undress? No

either chris or pat was naked and the partition would have covered a mirror? No

is it a regular shaped room (square/rectangular)? Yes, rectangular

Note: I updated the original text to clarify that the "not visible" portion of the room was simply not seen during the encounter.

The colo(u)rs in Vista Paint look like a mellow/ joint-smoking hippie came and threw up on the palette...

But, wait... If Chris or Pat had looked to the other partition, niether would have been embarassed?

If Chris or Pat had looked to the other partition, niether would have been embarassed? No; there is no other partition.  If there had been, they would not have been embarassed.

if the room was partitioned, would Pat have been on the other side, thus when Chris walks in, he would not have seen him?

if the room was partitioned, would Pat have been on the other side, thus when Chris walks in, he would not have seen him? No

would the partition have interfered with a light source, so it would have been dark enough that said embarassing thing could not be seen?

would the partition have interfered with a light source, so it would have been dark enough that said embarassing thing could not be seen? No

was it a specific room or would any room do?

was it a specific room or would any room do? A specific room

was the room in a house?

work place?

was the room in a house? No

work place? Yes

is it a specific workplace?

is it a specific workplace? No

does pat work for chris?

with chris?

does chris work for pat?

does pat work for chris? No

with chris? No

does chris work for pat? No

do they know each other?

do they know each other? No

was pat the cause of embarrassment?

or chris?

was pat the cause of embarrassment? or chris? I'd say it was the situation.  Neither did anything that was unusual or socially unacceptable

would they have been embarrassed if they'd both been female?

would they have been embarrassed if they'd both been female? Impossible to answer

would they have been embarrassed if they'd both been female? Impossible to answer

what does that mean? 

It means I can't answer that question.  It might behoove you to figure out why.

well then, obviously, this situation can't happen with two women.  Would it happen if Pat were female? Chris?

Did this happen in a bathroom?

Does it relate to male anatomy?

Was it something about (one of) them being a transsexual?

Was it in a photography studio?
When you say not a specific workplace, do you mean it just has to be at work or it is'nt a specific building (like the Twin Towers)

Would it happen if Pat were female? Chris? This is a little beyond a yes/no question, don't you think?

Did this happen in a bathroom? Yes

Does it relate to male anatomy? Yes, indirectly

Was it something about (one of) them being a transsexual? No

Was it in a photography studio? No

When you say not a specific workplace, do you mean it just has to be at work -- I did not say it had to be at work

or it is'nt a specific building (like the Twin Towers)   It need not be in a specific building.

If you want to nail down the specifics on the workplace, we can do that, it may help. 

Does it have something to do with urination?

Does it have something to do with urination? Yes

ooh... Is pat taking a piss when cris walks in?

and maybe the partition would have been a stall door?

So Pat is taking a piss inside a toilet stall (or simular), he forgets to lock the door and Chris walks in on him and sees him pissing and then walks out. Pat then notices that if there had been another toilet stall (or simular) in the room, non of this would have happend. Is it more to the story?

I take it by your numerous spelling errors, you are very tired, Red.

ooh... Is pat taking a piss when cris walks in? Yes

and maybe the partition would have been a stall door? Close

So Pat is taking a piss inside a toilet stall (or simular), he forgets to lock the door and Chris walks in on him and sees him pissing and then walks out. Pat then notices that if there had been another toilet stall (or simular) in the room, non of this would have happend. Is it more to the story? No, that is not what happened

Would it happen if Pat were female? Chris? This is a little beyond a yes/no question, don't you think?

not really.  This is two questions. Would it happen if Pat were female? has only two possible answers: yes or no.  Give me one.

Does the design of this bathroom indicate that multiple people may use it at the same time?  (there is no easy way to phrase it, but you know when public bathrooms have many stalls but bathrooms in gas stations sometimes only have one toilet, and you can lock them?)

Ohh, I thought you said "What would happen..."...

lol...

Is Pat using a toilet? Is this relevant?

Does it matter what he is doing?

Does it have anything to do with toilet stalls?

Did Chris see something he usually would not look after?

The door, is it the door to the bathroom or some other door?

The divider, is it a toilet stall, or is it something else?

is the "partition" the side of a urinal?

Does the design of this bathroom indicate that multiple people may use it at the same time? No

Is Pat using a toilet? Depending on your definition of toilet, yes. Is this relevant? Yes

not really.  This is two questions. Would it happen if Pat were female? has only two possible answers: yes or no.  Give me one.

Sorry, but the situation is more complicated than that.  It's not a well formed question; I could answer it yes or no depending on what other assumptions I make.

Does it matter what he is doing? Not really

Does it have anything to do with toilet stalls?  Yes

Did Chris see something he usually would not look after? Can you rephrase?

The door, is it the door to the bathroom or some other door? The door to the bathroom

The divider, is it a toilet stall, or is it something else? A toilet stall

is the "partition" the side of a urinal? See above

I think you all have the essentials, you just need to put it all together.

I still don't get it...

So Chris didn't see Pat urinating, but rather saw him with his pants down facing a toilet?

So Chris didn't see Pat urinating, but rather saw him with his pants down facing a toilet? No; I don't think we have established what exactly Chris saw

Did Chris see Pat urinating? Did Chris see his penis? There!!!

Was he urinitating (or doing something else with his pants down) and Chris walked in on him, but if he had been on the other side of the bathroom, Chris would not have seen him.

Did Chris see Pat urinating?  Could be taken a couple of ways. Did Chris see his penis? No

Was he urinitating (or doing something else with his pants down) and Chris walked in on him, Yes

but if he had been on the other side of the bathroom, Chris would not have seen him. Not the point; the proposed partition would alleviate the embarrassment despite neither man being on the other side of it.

was pat stood up or sat down?

was pat stood up or sat down? Standing up

so...he'd have had his back to chris?

so...he'd have had his back to chris? No

Uhm... did he see Pat emptying a flask of someone's urine into a toilet?
Was he 'expelling' something that wasn't urine...?

was pat taking a piss test?

"I think you all have the essentials, you just need to put it all together."

You Bastard, we're nowhere near it!

So if there was a partiion it would avert the embarassment, but nobody would be on the other side nor looking to the other side?

Was pat "playing with the snake"?

Was he trimming his pubes>?

I would like to thank everyone in this topic for embedding some horrible imagery into this riddle.  Thank you all.

On an unrelated note, I will be offline for the next few hours - I have to go sanitize my brain.

was the toilet stall door open?

I agree Duke, this riddle is taking a weird direction. Hope this is one of those "not like it seems jokes", but it does involing some "on the edge" elements I think.

Maybe Pat had a rash or STD or something. Something that can be recognised visibly and very quickly

Did Pat have his shirt off too? Maybe he had a bad tattoo from his past that Chris saw

Just a random guess. Was Pat in the female bathroom, and Chris beeing the handyman?

Is there a mirror involved? Like, did Chris see something in the mirror which he would not have seen if there was a toilet stall on the other side of the room?

Was it a bathroom without a toilet stall, and because of that Chris saw Pat urinating, but IF there had been a toilet stall on other side of the room Pat would of course have used that one?

Uhm... did he see Pat emptying a flask of someone's urine into a toilet? No
Was he 'expelling' something that wasn't urine...? No

See, this is where you get in trouble because of imprecise questions, e.g. the exact definition of seeing someone urinate.

was pat taking a piss test? No

You Bastard, we're nowhere near it! It would seem you are moving in the wrong direction

So if there was a partiion it would avert the embarassment, but nobody would be on the other side nor looking to the other side? Yes

Was pat "playing with the snake"? No

Was he trimming his pubes>? No

was the toilet stall door open? What are you talking about?

Maybe Pat had a rash or STD or something. Something that can be recognised visibly and very quickly No

Did Pat have his shirt off too? No

Maybe he had a bad tattoo from his past that Chris saw - No

Was Pat in the female bathroom, and Chris beeing the handyman? No

Is there a mirror involved? No

Was it a bathroom without a toilet stall, and because of that Chris saw Pat urinating, but IF there had been a toilet stall on other side of the room Pat would of course have used that one? No

Just to sum up what we have so far, correct me if I'm wrong:

Pat is in the bathroom, urinating.  Chris opens the door, they both get embarrassed, Chris closes the door.  If there were a partition, everything would have been fine despite that no one was on the other side or looking over there.

There isn't a mirror involved, is there?

Your summary is accurate.

There isn't a mirror involved, is there? No; there is a mirror over the sink, but it does not affect the encounter

apart from pat/chris, a toilet, the sink and a mirror...is there anything else in the room we need to identify?

apart from pat/chris, a toilet, the sink and a mirror...is there anything else in the room we need to identify? Yes

So the mirror is in no way relevant to the riddle...?

(Following up SirM's question)

TP?

did we establish that there was only one toilet?

and that it was a toilet, not a urinal?

so what else is in a public bathroom, hmm....

Is there: a trash can?

toilet paper?

hand sanitizer?

paper towels?

hot air hand dryers?

is any of this stuff relevant?

is there anything that is not usually in a bathroom in there?

I already asked TP

So the mirror is in no way relevant to the riddle...? Correct

TP? There, but not relevant

did we establish that there was only one toilet? Now we are going to have definition issues again

and that it was a toilet, not a urinal? There was a toilet.  There was a urinal.  Some people might call a toilet a urinal.  In this case, I am not.

Is there: a trash can?  Yes

toilet paper?  Yes

hand sanitizer? No

paper towels? Yes

hot air hand dryers? No

is any of this stuff relevant? No

is there anything that is not usually in a bathroom in there? Pat

lol @ last answer!

So what is relevant? Is the toilet relevant? is the urinal relevant? or are both relevant? or are not of them relevant?

was there anything unusual about the toilet.....like it was a squat toilet?

is this a female bathroom?

OOOoooo

But why would a female bathroom have a urinal?

That picture is wrong on so many levels...

it is indeed. but i forgot there was a urinal, so i guess not.

hey anybody cud tell me how to get free internet on my phone using opera mini. i have a sony ericcsson k310a.

Free internet? Is there such a thing?

Yup, in the land of the invisible Valkyries.

I shall bringesth thou to a land that floweth with milk and honey and free internet

-Jesus 2.0
 

You must be talking about Heaven

LOL!

naw, that domain name was already taken... It's Hey0vane now.

I just went to heaven.com....

totally not what I was expecting. Didn't stay there long

So what is relevant? Is the toilet relevant? is the urinal relevant? or are both relevant? or are not of them relevant? Both are relevant

was there anything unusual about the toilet? No

is this a female bathroom? No

But why would a female bathroom have a urinal? Not a yes/no question

was the fact that Pat was using the urinal relevant?

Who said we had to have yes/no questions?

The yes/no question limitation is an integral part of the riddling process , if it weren't for the fact that in principle you can only ask questions that can be answered yes or no, you could just directly ask for broad information, instead of dancing around the edges slowly chipping away the possibilities (as we tend to do).

Regardless of that though, my question "But why would a female bathroom have a urinal?" was directed at Anonymous, not drdec 

I guess I meant that we'd had non-yes/no questions before, although they have still been of multiple choice.

Such as, "was the shirt red, green, yellow?" - rather than asking three separate questions about said shirt.

"was the shirt red, green, yellow?" is just easier than asking:

"was the shirt red?"

"was the shirt green?"

"was the shirt yellow?"

Yeah... so long as you're specific enough that it could theoretically be phrased in a yes/no way, it fits the bill.

Just asking "what colour is the shirt" wouldn't fly for example.

And there are always (though I name no names) certain smartasses (not pointing any fingers) who like to respond to a "is it X, Y or Z" question with "yes" to indicate that it is one of the three options.

was the fact that Pat was using the urinal relevant? Yes

Who said we had to have yes/no questions? Also not a yes/no question

There seems to be a lack of momentum on this one.  I'll take the opportunity to pontificate a little.  First, consider that embarassment is culture based.  I'll spot you that Pat and Chuck are American.  For those of you (and I think that is the majority) who are not American, you may need to consider the possibility that this is a situation which would not be embarrassing to you.  Second, if you are female, you are again at a disadvantage since there is no female counterpart.  (And yes, that is a small troll to get the girls to try to solve the riddle.) 

Is this related to The Urinal Game?

I still have NFI....

Does it have something to do with Chris' actions?

Ooh.. I've played that before!! (and failed I think)

Is this related to The Urinal Game? No, it is not related to selecting the "correct" urinal when others are in use

I still have NFI.... Well you have a double handicap, being Australian and a woman

Does it have something to do with Chris' actions? No

if the partition was in place...would anything we have identified be on the other side of it?

where was pat in relation to chris...to left of him?

to the right?

in front?

does it matter?

Is it a bathroom in a building? Or elsewhere?

if the partition was in place...would anything we have identified be on the other side of it? Yes

where was pat in relation to chris...to left of him? No

to the right? Yes

in front? No

does it matter? Not really

Is it a bathroom in a building? Yes

does the partition go all across the room (one side to the other) or is it a partial partition?

does the partition go all across the room (one side to the other) or is it a partial partition? This is a theoretical partition, remember? It would enclose an area of the room completely.  A careful re-reading of prior questions will tell you everything you need to know about the potential partitioning of the room.

oops...that was meant to be 'would'..not 'does'...

OK, just making sure I wasn't misleading you

So... the partition itself (the hypothetical seperator) would be the entire room, and therefore if there was a partition, the room would be filled in with [insert material said imaginary partitions are made of]???

That last answer confused me very much.

If there were a partition, would Pat have been behind it?

I still have NFI.... Well you have a double handicap, being Australian and a woman

Hrrrmph!! I'm handycapable I tells ya

So... the partition itself (the hypothetical seperator) would be the entire room, and therefore if there was a partition, the room would be filled in with [insert material said imaginary partitions are made of]??? What?

If there were a partition, would Pat have been behind it? No

When you said"It would enclose an area of the room completely." I thought you meant the hypothetical physical/ tangible barrier would consume the entire room...

no, he just meant that it would completely cut off that portion of the room.

would the other toilet be behind the partition?

was there something wrong with the toilet in the first place?

Was he out of toilet paper?

Was there a problem with the toilet paper dispenser?

Was he peeing into the sink?

Did Pat ever see Chris's urine?

would the other toilet be behind the partition? Yes

Allow me to repost an earlier question:

The divider, is it a toilet stall, or is it something else? A toilet stall

was there something wrong with the toilet in the first place? No

Was he out of toilet paper? No

Was there a problem with the toilet paper dispenser? No

Was he peeing into the sink? No

Did Pat ever see Chris's urine? No

If there were a partition, would Chris have gone behind it?

C'mon guys.... think dammit!

did either of them speak?

did chris need to pee?

poo?

wash his hands?

dry a wet patch on his trousers?

If there were a partition, would Chris have gone behind it? No

did either of them speak? Yes, but nothing relevant.  Chris mumbled an apology as he closed the door.

did chris need to pee? poo? wash his hands? dry a wet patch on his trousers? Unknown and irrelevant

If there were a partition, would Pat have gone behind it?

If there were a partition, would Pat have gone behind it? No

Does it have anything to do with what Pat weared? (like did he wear pants that he had to pull totally down in order to pee)

Was there a toilet WITHOUT a petition (toilet stall) on the other side of the room?

If so, is that relevant?

Did Pat forget to lock the door? Or was there any lock?

To sumorize: Pat is alone in a mens bathroom (with a toilet and a urinial), taking a piss in the urinial. Chris opens the door, both gets embarressed and then leaves.  Pat observes that ha there been a toilet stall on the other side of the room, there would be no cause for embarassment. Correct?

Am I missing something important?

Maybe it was a handiap toilet or a small toilet intended for only one person, but if it had a toilet stall, more people could have used it?

with what pat weared?

lol

This happened to me, actually, two days ago in a Five Guy's restaurant. There was a toilet and a urinal and someone walked in. I thought it was more of a 1 person restroom (1 sink, 1 urinal, no partitions), so I was like "Whoa!" and he just proceeded to wash his hands.... I felt weird.

Partitions? Where you inside a hard drive? (Yay, more geek score this way!)

Yup. If you read over the whole topic, you'll see I referenced that.

I'm pretty sure that my story != the riddle, however.

Ther are at /home !!! ;D

Or not. Anyway, I'm bored. Got to go now too.

To sumorize: Pat is alone in a mens bathroom (with a toilet and a urinial), taking a piss in the urinial. Chris opens the door, both gets embarressed and then leaves.  Pat observes that ha there been a toilet stall on the other side of the room, there would be no cause for embarassment. Correct? That's it

@Synthuir, no, your story pretty much fits.  This is actually a true story, where I play the part of Pat.  Afterwards I thought it was funny that if the toilet had been partitioned off, the room would magically become a multi-person bathroom and it would be perfectly normal for someone else to come in.

Anyway, the point goes to Red Wolf 

Wait.... I'm missing something.... Why did Chris get embarassed then?

Because he thought it was a more-than-one-person bathroom and walked straight in. He then, realising its not, gets embarrassed and walks out again.

It's not? Then why was there a urinal and a toilet in there?

*sigh*

You seriously need an answer to that??

I dunno... my brains are fried...

I'm quitting this waking up business

OMG me too....

LOL!

In mens restrooms in some parts of the world there is one toilet and one urinal in there, probably to speed things up or to make it so if the toilet's clogged you can still take a leak.

Or to keep the toilet clean

Yes, although that could work backwards if the women's toilet is clogged and they lead a raid on ours.

How often does that happen?

Several times, apparently. http://www.en.wikipedia.org/Women_bathroom_raids

heh. I don't even know enough of the syntax of a Wiki http enough to make a false one that's even halfway believable.

I call rule 534!

(Or whatever...)

Go ahead, make one!

?

Now we're all confused.

Skip then www. part and put in /wiki/ in between .org and the article name. Example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_bathroom_raids