When does it become an “accident”?

[FranticK]

It seems like we've got quite the array of opinions on this! I personally fall in the middle. I don't believe there needs to be wetness on the ground, like my favorite author Lee, but I also think the wet spot needs to be significantly large to be considered an "accident". I would consider image 6 to be a pretty good approximation of my cutoff.

Another way to think about it would be: at one point would a neutral third party, upon seeing you walk past them, immediately turn to their friend and say "OMG look, that guy had an accident"?

[Sam70]

A great topic and some great responses. My own take (unsurprisingly) is that a genuine accident means wetness all down one trouser-leg (at the very least) and some trickling or dripping onto the floor! Anything less is a slight mishap!!

Point taken. However if the lad is seated in desk/chair like is used in university classrooms. The knees may be pushed high enough that the wetness might not make it to the knees, yet there be a quart of pee on the floor and the entire butt soaking wet.

Lee's "slight mishap" is what I hear in my geographical area being called "a little accident," meaning the person was able to hide it from the majority of people around.

No mention has been made of the term "losing control of the bladder. A little leak is not the same as losing control of your bladder.

Perhaps this is a meaning of the term accident, "A real loss of control of the bladder" which is not the same thing as a little squirt.

We will never come up with a definition that is broad based from a loss of a little urine to the loss of a lot of urine because whether it is an accident or not is a "judgement call."

When it comes to the lad who has had some urine spill on his clothes, the most important definition for that lad is his own judgement. Some lads go about it as if it hadn't happened. Other lads have a wet spot that is tiny, yet that lad goes ballistic about it!

[googlism2008]

Yep, great question.

I'd go for the following. It's an accident if it requires taking drastic action over it. So if you've wet yourself so badly that you've got to go home immediately, it's an accident.

If you feel you can get away with continuing to do what you were doing and ignoring it, it isn't.

Under that definition, it's not just how much pee you've let loose, but also what you're wearing, who you're with and what you're doing that will decide if you've "had an accident" or not.

As far as being a public accident, it would depend where each of the guys were at the time. No matter how small the wet spot, if due to the specific circumstances at that particular point in time, there is a need to change clothes, then it is considered by those involved to be an accident.

If it can be totally out of view, it isn't considered an accident. In the area where I live, these little mishaps are called, "little accidents."

Both Brian's and Sam's seem to be good operational definitions. Of course, what's subjective is what size or attributes crosses the threshold. I suspect there's also a cultural factor: if getting boozed out is part and parcel of the culture, then ping pong ball sized wet spots are likely to be common and treated as non accidents.

[Brian]

I really appreciated FranticK's revival of googlism2008's very famous and and very long-running blog, choosing from that blog those pictures of wet spots where guy's have leaked, and it's actually made me think that those borderline areas where you think "is it an accident or isn't it?" are possibly the most interesting.

Okay, Lee says that it's an accident only if the guy has totally wet himself and there's piss on the seat or ground as well as all down the pant legs. And I have a lot of resonance with that. An inadvertent release of a few spurts, something we've all surely done on occasion, isn't a complete disaster. Whereas weeing the whole lot out and soaking yourself while you're at work, for example, is seriously drastic.

But the borderline cases, the ones where a momentary loss of control has resulted in an embarrassing visible wet area without complete emptying in the pants, like in most of those pictures, lead me to think: what is the bloke going to do about it? Does he think he's had an accident, or is he going to pretend nothing's happened? And the answer may depend on the guy's own attitudes. Different people handle such a situation differently. Some will stop what they're doing and go home immediately to change (if that's an option), others will be embarrassed but try to ignore it and tough out any stares and comments, others might actually be able to laugh it off without feeling awkward. The human psychology of differing responses to having an obviously piss-soaked groin fascinates me.

[Fred]

A momentary lapse with a brief spurt really isn't an "accident" if the person regained control and continued to maintain it. In my mind, an accident occurs when someone releases urine and cannot stop the flow for a period of time. But as Brian points out, a lot depends on the person's attitude about it. Even if the wet area is very visible, if the fellow laughs it off and continues as if it didn't happen, it is at most a "minor accident".

I would find it exciting to see that someone released just part of the contents of his bladder because I would imagine he is still holding quite a lot! If he is experiencing leakage he must really have to go!

[Bigdog]

I think any form of wet spot technically is an accident, provided it was involuntary. If the wet patch is clearly visible or even down leg then I refer it to a full blown wetting.

[Bigdog]

I really appreciated FranticK's revival of googlism2008's very famous and and very long-running blog, choosing from that blog those pictures of wet spots where guy's have leaked, and it's actually made me think that those borderline areas where you think "is it an accident or isn't it?" are possibly the most interesting.

Okay, Lee says that it's an accident only if the guy has totally wet himself and there's piss on the seat or ground as well as all down the pant legs. And I have a lot of resonance with that. An inadvertent release of a few spurts, something we've all surely done on occasion, isn't a complete disaster. Whereas weeing the whole lot out and soaking yourself while you're at work, for example, is seriously drastic.

But the borderline cases, the ones where a momentary loss of control has resulted in an embarrassing visible wet area without complete emptying in the pants, like in most of those pictures, lead me to think: what is the bloke going to do about it? Does he think he's had an accident, or is he going to pretend nothing's happened? And the answer may depend on the guy's own attitudes. Different people handle such a situation differently. Some will stop what they're doing and go home immediately to change (if that's an option), others will be embarrassed but try to ignore it and tough out any stares and comments, others might actually be able to laugh it off without feeling awkward. The human psychology of differing responses to having an obviously piss-soaked groin fascinates me.

My friend who is 27, wet himself a bit on the bus. He was quite open about it and didn’t seem that embarrassed

[Brian]

My friend who is 27, wet himself a bit on the bus. He was quite open about it and didn’t seem that embarrassed

Oh, this sounds interesting. I'd love to know more about this if you want to share more details.
Were you with him at the time? What did he say about it? What did he do afterwards?

[Bigdog]

He was a bit immature about it, and fortunately his pants were darker and just said he would change when he got home, and did not know how it happened