Of all the things to worry about at the outset of your career - building strong peer relationships, managing your reputation, doing impeccable work - bathroom issues should be at the bottom of the list.  But this is one subject that is especially fraught.  Some say that this is the last remaining taboo for women.  I don't pass time in office men's rooms so I can't definitively disagree with that.  

What I do know is that I've personally had this conversation plenty of times.  So, finally, to answer the lingering question - is it ever okay to poop at work?