Retail business without public restroom

[Anonymous]

In high school I worked at a higher end baby/toddler clothing store that had to close its restroom to the public because people are disgusting and retail associates don't get paid enough to deal with customers' bodily fluids.

We got a lot of complaints - and I get it, the clientele was mostly pregnant women and women with small kids, so exactly the kind of people who can't "just hold it" - but there was a public mall bathroom right down the breezeway. But don't blame the retail stores; blame your fellow customers who make messes and don't clean up after themselves or their children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The grocery store nearest to us recently started locking their restroom so you have to find an employee to unlock it for you. I’ll be shopping at the other grocery store a little further away a lot more now because of this.

Really? How often do you have to use the bathroom in the middle of grocery shopping?

NP. When I was super pregnant and needed to pee every half hour or so, I used the grocery store bathroom regularly. That being said, I *don't* think every single business everywhere needs to provide public restrooms. Food service should, but I don't expect it of anyone else. That being said, I have generally found that grocery stores, big box stores (Target, etc), libraries, museums, and hotels almost always have public bathrooms. In most other countries there are regularly available public restrooms you have to pay to use (yes, they're often disgusting but sometimes that's what you have to live with). I don't see why it's a big drama that the nursery doesn't have a public bathroom. The cost of the plants is irrelevant -- I would expect Walmart and McDonald's (the cheapest of the cheap) to have bathrooms before a high end jewellery store or one of the artsy clothing boutiques.

Frankly, I astonished by the number of people who have not mentally planned out of the house bathroom usage (for toddlers or as a tourist or whatever) consistently enough to know where you can and can't find public bathrooms.

This. I've worked in both retail and food service and I've been pregnant and a parent, and I've had GI issues. I understand the need. But of course not EVERY SINGLE STORE can provide a bathroom. Many do, and when you are in a situation to need one regularly, you just figure out what those stores are and plan outings around them.

When my kids were really small, we almost exclusively used the big box chain bookstore near us instead of the cute little independent bookstore down the street, even though if I were going to bookstores on my own, I'd go to the indie one. But the big box one had a bathroom, and more space for the kids to run around. When I was pregnant, I only went to the nice Wegmans or Whole Foods in part because they have much nicer, cleaner bathrooms than the Harris Teeter near my house. When I have had GI problems, I've planned my whole schedule around access to a bathroom, including rescheduling a vacation because I didn't want to be in the situation of needing a bathroom and not knowing where to find one.

This is life.

[Anonymous]

If a place of business can't provide a rest room for it's customers I can't be a customer of that place. Principle alone.

[Anonymous]

Pro tip: if you’re ever in Center City Philly & need to pee, go to the food court bathrooms at Liberty Place Mall

Learned that the hard way as I absolutely could not find a bathroom for blocks the first time I went there & felt like I was about to pee in the street

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If a place of business can't provide a rest room for it's customers I can't be a customer of that place. Principle alone.

Then don't. It is not worth their time.

:shrug:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In high school I worked at a higher end baby/toddler clothing store that had to close its restroom to the public because people are disgusting and retail associates don't get paid enough to deal with customers' bodily fluids.

We got a lot of complaints - and I get it, the clientele was mostly pregnant women and women with small kids, so exactly the kind of people who can't "just hold it" - but there was a public mall bathroom right down the breezeway. But don't blame the retail stores; blame your fellow customers who make messes and don't clean up after themselves or their children.

+1

Parents are gross, and claim to be overwhelmed, when they are just plain lazy. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If a place of business can't provide a rest room for it's customers I can't be a customer of that place. Principle alone.

Ok. Go buy your plants elsewhere. No one cares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s legal, and stupid. I was at a niche type store making a similarly large purchase when my then-4yo said he had to go #2 NOW! I asked and they said they couldn’t accommodate. It all happened so fast and before we could get out the door to the car he let it all out all over the carpet. I had a boy covered in excrement and they still wouldn’t let me use the restroom. So not only did they lose out on the sale, they had a crappy mess to clean on the carpet.

It sounds like your son was sick. If he had so little control over his bowels, it's very likely he would have crapped all over their bathroom, too. At least in this case, he had clothes on which likely captured most of it.

Be honest: if your son had crapped on the floor of the their bathroom, how much effort would you have put into cleaning it up? Or would you have thought, "eh, I'm sure they pay someone to clean this" and left?

It's an unfortunate anecdote but actually doesn't change the equation for most businesses at all. There is little to no benefit to providing a bathroom and there are huge downsides.

I absolutely would have cleaned it! I’m not a heathen. My point was that I’m sure cleaning the carpet at the front of the store of feces was exponentially more of a time suck. At least, I hope they thoroughly cleaned it afterwards.

You are absolutely a heathen if you left that foul carpet for someone else to clean up while you went somewhere else. No matter what you tell yourself.

[Anonymous]

Ally's Law

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323078

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s legal, and stupid. I was at a niche type store making a similarly large purchase when my then-4yo said he had to go #2 NOW! I asked and they said they couldn’t accommodate. It all happened so fast and before we could get out the door to the car he let it all out all over the carpet. I had a boy covered in excrement and they still wouldn’t let me use the restroom. So not only did they lose out on the sale, they had a crappy mess to clean on the carpet.

It sounds like your son was sick. If he had so little control over his bowels, it's very likely he would have crapped all over their bathroom, too. At least in this case, he had clothes on which likely captured most of it.

Be honest: if your son had crapped on the floor of the their bathroom, how much effort would you have put into cleaning it up? Or would you have thought, "eh, I'm sure they pay someone to clean this" and left?

It's an unfortunate anecdote but actually doesn't change the equation for most businesses at all. There is little to no benefit to providing a bathroom and there are huge downsides.

I absolutely would have cleaned it! I’m not a heathen. My point was that I’m sure cleaning the carpet at the front of the store of feces was exponentially more of a time suck. At least, I hope they thoroughly cleaned it afterwards.

You are absolutely a heathen if you left that foul carpet for someone else to clean up while you went somewhere else. No matter what you tell yourself.

DP but if they didn’t let the kid use the bathroom then I would have left it for them to clean

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s legal, and stupid. I was at a niche type store making a similarly large purchase when my then-4yo said he had to go #2 NOW! I asked and they said they couldn’t accommodate. It all happened so fast and before we could get out the door to the car he let it all out all over the carpet. I had a boy covered in excrement and they still wouldn’t let me use the restroom. So not only did they lose out on the sale, they had a crappy mess to clean on the carpet.

Yeah, that’s Karma at work. They shoulda just let the kid use the bathroom. Now they can clean the carpet instead. Sounds like justice was administered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s legal, and stupid. I was at a niche type store making a similarly large purchase when my then-4yo said he had to go #2 NOW! I asked and they said they couldn’t accommodate. It all happened so fast and before we could get out the door to the car he let it all out all over the carpet. I had a boy covered in excrement and they still wouldn’t let me use the restroom. So not only did they lose out on the sale, they had a crappy mess to clean on the carpet.

It sounds like your son was sick. If he had so little control over his bowels, it's very likely he would have crapped all over their bathroom, too. At least in this case, he had clothes on which likely captured most of it.

Be honest: if your son had crapped on the floor of the their bathroom, how much effort would you have put into cleaning it up? Or would you have thought, "eh, I'm sure they pay someone to clean this" and left?

It's an unfortunate anecdote but actually doesn't change the equation for most businesses at all. There is little to no benefit to providing a bathroom and there are huge downsides.

I absolutely would have cleaned it! I’m not a heathen. My point was that I’m sure cleaning the carpet at the front of the store of feces was exponentially more of a time suck. At least, I hope they thoroughly cleaned it afterwards.

Sure you would. Your son crapped on the carpet and you walked away from it and left a cart full of merchandise. So if your son had made it to the bathroom and crapped all over the bathroom, you would have done the exact opposite of what you actually did and stopped to clean the mess.

I can't believe you could actually type what you did. You're such a hypocrite. You say one thing but your anecdote shows you would and did do the exact opposite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s legal, and stupid. I was at a niche type store making a similarly large purchase when my then-4yo said he had to go #2 NOW! I asked and they said they couldn’t accommodate. It all happened so fast and before we could get out the door to the car he let it all out all over the carpet. I had a boy covered in excrement and they still wouldn’t let me use the restroom. So not only did they lose out on the sale, they had a crappy mess to clean on the carpet.

It sounds like your son was sick. If he had so little control over his bowels, it's very likely he would have crapped all over their bathroom, too. At least in this case, he had clothes on which likely captured most of it.

Be honest: if your son had crapped on the floor of the their bathroom, how much effort would you have put into cleaning it up? Or would you have thought, "eh, I'm sure they pay someone to clean this" and left?

It's an unfortunate anecdote but actually doesn't change the equation for most businesses at all. There is little to no benefit to providing a bathroom and there are huge downsides.

I absolutely would have cleaned it! I’m not a heathen. My point was that I’m sure cleaning the carpet at the front of the store of feces was exponentially more of a time suck. At least, I hope they thoroughly cleaned it afterwards.

Sure you would. Your son crapped on the carpet and you walked away from it and left a cart full of merchandise. So if your son had made it to the bathroom and crapped all over the bathroom, you would have done the exact opposite of what you actually did and stopped to clean the mess.

I can't believe you could actually type what you did. You're such a hypocrite. You say one thing but your anecdote shows you would and did do the exact opposite.

Is this a new type of Karen? A ShitKaren?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a place of business can't provide a rest room for it's customers I can't be a customer of that place. Principle alone.

Ok. Go buy your plants elsewhere. No one cares.

If I have a cart full of plants ready to check out and find out the store doesn’t have a restroom for customers (and I have an urgency to pee), then I leave the cart in front of the register and never go back.
Don’t they realize they lose good customers and sales?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a place of business can't provide a rest room for it's customers I can't be a customer of that place. Principle alone.

Ok. Go buy your plants elsewhere. No one cares.

If I have a cart full of plants ready to check out and find out the store doesn’t have a restroom for customers (and I have an urgency to pee), then I leave the cart in front of the register and never go back.
Don’t they realize they lose good customers and sales?

They’d rather have customers that can control themselves.