Be honest. When you walk into a bookstore, do you immediately need to poop? Really think about it. If you’re suddenly realizing that that’s happened more times than you can count… you’re not alone.
In fact, you’re so not alone that it actually has a name. It’s called the Mariko Aoki phenomenon — named after a woman who mentioned this feeling in a magazine in 1985. What a legacy!
No one’s entirely sure where it comes from. Could be a Pavlovian response to reading books and magazines, could be all the coffee that’s usually associated with bookstores, and it could also be as simple as the fact that you’re standing up and meandering around — knocking loose whatever’s in your bowels.
Point is, it’s a thing! And if you need to feel less alone, here’s some Tweets confirming that Mariko Aoki’s legacy will never die.
https://twitter.com/ncstammer/status/824354172011220992
rt if bookstores make u poop
— meatball (@strega_a1len1) December 8, 2016
https://twitter.com/DanaSchwartzzz/status/866322086737915904
does being in a bookstore make you have to poop?
— Christopher Ingraham🦗 (@_cingraham) September 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/fridakahlol/status/867919558442536960
dear lady at the bookstore, I would love to learn more about how join the monthly book club if I didn't have to poop. #SorryNotSorry
— emma bravado (@allligatortears) August 1, 2017
Can you explain to me why I have to poop whenever I'm in a bookstore though, Katey? I am serious.
— Addie Bjornsen (@abjornsen) August 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/ReneeHooray/status/889503804529541120