You’re sitting with a group of people and you need to use the bathroom.
You could just get up. Instead, you wait for a break in the conversation.
Someone starts another story. You wait.
A few minutes later, there’s a pause. You start to move, but someone else begins talking. You sit back.
Eventually you say, “I’ll be right back,” and stand up.
Nobody looks surprised. Nobody asks where you’re going. The conversation continues before you’ve even left the room.
You didn’t need anyone’s permission.
But somehow, you’d been waiting for it.