One of our airports had a large mixed-gender bathroom with fully-private stalls and it was the best public bathroom I’ve ever used, I assume to appeal to the international crowd.
Amazingly, McDonald’s has pretty consistently provided the best public restroom experience for me. They’re almost always clean and usually provide either a private room or at least a fully protected stall. Wal-Mart would be second best (in terms of consistent acceptability across locations). Though Wal-Mart toilet paper often has little embedded specks that make me uncomfortable (observed before use, not after).
Couple months ago I found myself needing to stop at a McDonald’s in probably one of the worst neighborhoods you can find outside of the inner city. Nature was calling and it seemed like my best option.
It was for paying customers only, fair enough, I made a token purchase of a McChicken and some fries, and got an employee to unlock the door for me.
I was greeted with that eerie blue light that bathrooms in places like this use to deter drug use because it makes it harder to find a vein.
It gave off an all-around really unsettling vibe, but I will admit that, at least as far as I could tell given the lighting, it seemed to be immaculately clean.
As unsettling as that can be, I certainly prefer it to what I’ve seen at some rest stops - mostly in Pennsylvania, but I’m not well traveled - where, to discourage drug use, they have half (at best) stall doors which (by design) provide no privacy at all.
Users of bathrooms don’t prefer them. Bathroom owners do. Privacy would allow people to feel comfortable, which is the last thing the bathroom owners want.
I’ve seen one interpretation of our fire code result in each enclosed stall requiring their own flashing light and siren. So the expense to build really does add up. Every contractor knows how to do it the cheap way, anything else they charge a much higher rate to make it worth the trouble. Maybe some shit related to sex or drug use in bathrooms as well, I’d imagine the more secure it feels the more likely someone might see that as a safe thing to try, not saying that’s a real thing but shit gets talked about on the news enough for it to be something the decision maker has in their head to be influenced one way.
I didn’t realize how much of a difference it made till I got my new job where the restrooms don’t have any gaps. Never felt more secure in a public restroom.
The gaps on the bottom and the top serve the important purpose of ventilation. It’s a really effective design allowing vertical airflow. So yes, I do prefer air gaps over stinky boxes, and I have personally never seen a creep sticking their head under the gap.
Is there any reasons you guys there over the atlantic prefer those creepy gaps under the stall doors / walls?
We all hate them. Please help.
Indeed.
Sometimes my back gets wet sliding under them.
Use the toilet paper. What did you think they put them in all stalls for, decoration?
what
We don’t prefer them. The people that own the buildings do because they are cheaper.
Not to give some rich idiot an idea, but so are no locks, no doors, no walls.
How do i delete someone elses’ post
I think maybe it also makes it easier for the cleaners/security to see if there’s someone hiding in the stall at closing time.
They do it because of moral panic about same sex, sex and drug use
One of our airports had a large mixed-gender bathroom with fully-private stalls and it was the best public bathroom I’ve ever used, I assume to appeal to the international crowd.
Amazingly, McDonald’s has pretty consistently provided the best public restroom experience for me. They’re almost always clean and usually provide either a private room or at least a fully protected stall. Wal-Mart would be second best (in terms of consistent acceptability across locations). Though Wal-Mart toilet paper often has little embedded specks that make me uncomfortable (observed before use, not after).
Couple months ago I found myself needing to stop at a McDonald’s in probably one of the worst neighborhoods you can find outside of the inner city. Nature was calling and it seemed like my best option.
It was for paying customers only, fair enough, I made a token purchase of a McChicken and some fries, and got an employee to unlock the door for me.
I was greeted with that eerie blue light that bathrooms in places like this use to deter drug use because it makes it harder to find a vein.
It gave off an all-around really unsettling vibe, but I will admit that, at least as far as I could tell given the lighting, it seemed to be immaculately clean.
As unsettling as that can be, I certainly prefer it to what I’ve seen at some rest stops - mostly in Pennsylvania, but I’m not well traveled - where, to discourage drug use, they have half (at best) stall doors which (by design) provide no privacy at all.
No one prefers them
Users of bathrooms don’t prefer them. Bathroom owners do. Privacy would allow people to feel comfortable, which is the last thing the bathroom owners want.
I’ve seen one interpretation of our fire code result in each enclosed stall requiring their own flashing light and siren. So the expense to build really does add up. Every contractor knows how to do it the cheap way, anything else they charge a much higher rate to make it worth the trouble. Maybe some shit related to sex or drug use in bathrooms as well, I’d imagine the more secure it feels the more likely someone might see that as a safe thing to try, not saying that’s a real thing but shit gets talked about on the news enough for it to be something the decision maker has in their head to be influenced one way.
I didn’t realize how much of a difference it made till I got my new job where the restrooms don’t have any gaps. Never felt more secure in a public restroom.
The gaps on the bottom and the top serve the important purpose of ventilation. It’s a really effective design allowing vertical airflow. So yes, I do prefer air gaps over stinky boxes, and I have personally never seen a creep sticking their head under the gap.
No, none of us do. Well, probably a small amount of us do, but they would be the exception that proves the rule.
Puratins hate anyone having privacy with their own body
Those puritans should have some bodily privacy known as fucking themselves.
Where I’m from doesn’t have the gaps, but they could be useful if the door jams.