Posted by Pete L on 7/4/2009, 3:58 pm

Hi folks Just wanted to share a positve experience I had on Sunday. We decided to go to Cambridge for the day, for no particular reason other than a day out. Anyway, I would normally not bother taking fluids if I know i'm planning going out, however, seeing as though I've recently found this website and booked in on a beginners course, I thought 'what the hell'I'll try my arm! So, I drank several cups of tea and made sure I didn't use the loo before we went.....talk about entering the lions den! When we arrived at the park and ride, to my amazement, I had the thought ' I wonder if there are toilets here as need a pee'!!! Not, 'oh my god, I need the loo' and then get all panicky. Luckily, there was a toilet so I just went for it..... and, instead of going to the cubicle (the toilets were empty) I went to the urinal! Of course if someone had been there, I wouldn't have felt brave enough to do what I did but, just to let you know, that was the first time I used a urinal in about 15 years. During the course of the day, I didn't worry about my fluid in take, and made several trips to the toilets. Though I didn't even consider the urinals, I pretty much didn't give it a second thought about using the cubicles. Mind you, the cubicles had no queues so, therefore, I couldn't really say whether I would have felt anxious.....probably would have. On the way home, we stopped at a restaurant for an evening meal. I was thinking about going to the toilet but then heard some lads asking the waitress where they where so I hesitated a bit. Anyway, after a few minutes, I plucked up a bit of courage and walked in. Luckily, there were 2 cubicles....both free. While I was doing the do, I heard someone go in to the cubicle next door and noticed that he had not gone in there for a number 2.... My immediate thoughts were ' I wonder if my neighbour here is an AP?' Nevertheless, I felt positive about yet another successful trip to the loo. Thanks to this site, your words of encouragement to each other, Stephen Soiffer's 'Shy Bladder Syndrome' and a little bit of courage I had a really enjoyable day out. Pete L

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