OT - Please Help Ladies!! Restroom Etiquette - Your Opinions Needed!!

If you think having a colostomy qualifies you to use a handicap stall, think
again. These stalls are for people with ambulating disabilities. A colostomy
does NOT qualify as disability in my opinion. A hindrance, but not a
disability! You aren't hindered from walking, nor do you need a wc. These
stalls are built for easy wheel chair access or other ambulating aids. Most
people with a colostomy learn to take care of their needs before leaving
home and have no worries while being out and about. True, there is the
occasional accident if one doesn't apply the bag just right but this is not
and should not be an every day occurrence, if you know how to take care of
it properly.
Shelly
"Marie Lewis" wrote in message
...
In article , Diana Curtis
writes
-- We owe people with physical challenges the ability to lead as normal a
life as possible. We (able bodied) wait for stalls.. so should they.

Some of them cannot. there are many disabilities.
--
Marie Lewis


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WOW!!!

My mother was disabled due to surgery and in a wheelchair and NO she could
not take care of "her personal needs". Many people can't. Does that mean
they must stay at home with a "minder" and never go out in public?

My mother had an in-dwelling catheter and severely compressed vertebrae and
she could not reach her"tinkle bag" (my DD"s name for it). Should she have
let it explode? If my DH was with her, he would empty it for her. I don't
think he would have gone in the ladies' room to do so but you know what, he
would have walked over broken glass for my mother and he would have handled
whatever situation came up.

Good for you, Marie, in getting around with a wheelchair and good for your
DH for helping you out. My mother didn't mind asking family for help but
would not have travelled with a "helper" as she would have found it
demeaning. Everyone's different, I know, but I don't like hearing other
people deciding what a disabled person can and cannot do.

Just my opinion, but you sure did push my buttons!!

And in response to another post, I have never seen a "family" bathroom in my
area, rural eastern Ontario, Canada. Sounds like a good idea. As far as
public health goes, we still have people smoking in corner stores here, very
few wheelchair-accessible buildings and no crosswalk help for blind people.
I think family bathrooms aren't a priority with most people.

Joanne in Spencerville


"Shelly" net dot charter at angel glass wrote in message
...
Marie, I think your more than capable of handling your own personal needs
in
a bathroom. If not, maybe you should hire someone of the appropriate
gender
to attend your needs when you travel. Neither of you would be very happy
with me should I chance across your hubby in a women's bathroom. ;o) Or
maybe better yet, go with your hubby to the men's room. If it's fine for
the
men to come into the ladies room, then turn about is fair play, huh?
Can you not wheel yourself into the restroom, close the door behind you
and
tend your own needs? If not, how do you manage when your dh is not at home
with you?
Shelly
Who doesn't think that grown men belong in the ladies rooms.
"Marie Lewis" wrote in message
...
In article , Charlie
writes
I personally don't think it's right for men to go in a women's loo


Why? Can my husband not help me, when I am in a wheelchair?
--
Marie Lewis


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Snipped
How old was your oldest when you started letting him into the public
men's room by himself?

Your question was how old was my oldest when he started going to the
restroom alone. I answered your question.

Shelly
"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
news:bMhsb.129031$ao4.405825@attbi_s51...
And yet my question remains. How old will your son have to be before
he's allowed to use a public restroom by himself? He's 8 now. When
he's 10? When he's 15? There are crazy people who attack adults too.

--Lia



Shelly wrote:
I'm not really sure but then we never went out to many places where this
was
an issue. I remember standing outside the doors of the men's room on
several
different occasions and having someone to check on him for me and also
cracking the door to call for him, if I hadn't seen anyone enter or
leave in
several minutes. This was all before the time of the unfortunate
incident
with my friends child though. I watch my youngest son more closely
because
of that very incident. Better safe than sorry and if there are any
problems
that may arise from the women in any of the restrooms that I choose to
take
him into, I'll make short work of them! I'd rather take him in with me
if
there isn't a male with me, than risk something happening to him.
Shelly



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I agree. Also, many handicapped stalls over here are poorly designed. My
mother would not have been able to manoeuvre her wheelchair into the door as
it opened the wrong way, not enough space to turn the chair, etc. She would
have needed help just to get into the stall never mind "attend to her
needs".

Joanne in Spencerville


"Marie Lewis" wrote in message
...
In article . net, Jan
Dunaway writes
Not to mention that some places are starting to put the diaper changing
tables in the handicap access stalls.

Jan


That is really stupid.


Thankfully, in the UK or Europe, I have never seen that.
--
Marie Lewis

Butterfly (and not all of us with handicaps LOOK like we have a
handicap. Those sidebars in the handicap loo are a godsend to us)

And to heavily pregnant women who have trouble standing up (past personal
experience speaking here...)

Joanne in Spencerville

You would think so, wouldn't you? But my DD's were terrified of public
bathrooms and didn't know how to flush the toilets and couldn't cope with
the doors long after they were independent at home.

I was always with them, though, so it wasn't really an issue.

Joanne in Spencerville


"NightMist" wrote in message
...

Any child who is capable of going to the bathroom totally
independently all the time at home, should be able to do it in a
public restroom.

If a parent is uncomfortable with the child going into a restroom
alone, they should take them into the one appropriate to the parent's
gender. Though if the child is older than 5 or 6, it is probably more
appropriate for the child to go into the gender appropriate bathroom
while the opposite gender parent waits by the door, unless there are
unusual circumstances pertaining.

NightMist



On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 18:05:17 GMT, "TwinMom"
wrote:

OK, so to make this a bit OT, I was away this weekend at a quilting
retreat
(Had a GREAT TIME btw!) and the following item came up between DH & I. We
have a 3yo DD and twin 7yo DS and our DD had to use the public restroom
at
McD's. DH took her into the men's room, which I found really gross, not
only
because the men's rooms are, generally, filthy, but I don't want her
exposed
(no pun intended) to strangers using the facilities. I felt he should be
taking her into the women's rooms, whenever a single use or family
restroom
is not available. She is not old enough to go unattended and, after all,
I
take the boys, now 7, into the women's with me. A lengthy discussion has
ensued, so I'm seeking the opinions of follow females, as many as
possible,
on the following issues:
1) How do you feel about a father accompanying his very young daughter
into
the women's restroom to use the facilities? Would you feel threatened or
offended, or would you understand the situation?
2) If you, or your family has experienced this problem with
dads/daughters,
how did you address it?
3) Not important, but I am starting to get "looks" at having my little
boys
in the facilities with me. Do any of you take offense at boy children,
say
under 10, in the woman's restroom with their mothers?
No flames please, I'm just trying to get a cross section of opinions from
various ages, w/ and w/o children, etc.
TIA
Lorraine in Los Alamos



--

I'm a little teapot, short and stout
here is my handle, here is my...other...handle?
Bloody Hell!!
I'm a sugar bowl!

Have you ever "urgently" needed to get upstairs the way a person may
"urgently" need the washroom?

Joanne in Spencerville


"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
news:J2hsb.128872$ao4.403327@attbi_s51...
What about the handicap ramp? Are we allowed to walk on it if no one in
a wheel chair is using it, or should we make sure we use the stairs in
case someone who can't walk needs the ramp right away?

--Lia

Yes, and I usually let moms with wee ones ahead of me. Little ones have
little bladders, after all.

Joanne in Spencerville


"Teresa in Colorado" wrote in message
nk.net...
All they have to do is ask.
I've let people ahead of me when they asked, due to an emergency
(handicapped or otherwise).

--
Teresa in Colorado

The Presser Foot
Sewing Machine Sales, Service, Supplies, and More
www.thepresserfoot.com
--
"Marie Lewis" wrote in message
...
In article . net,
Jalynne writes
I would always let someone who is obviously disabled go ahead
of me.


What about the disabilities that are not obvious?
--
Marie Lewis

Actually, I find Marie's posts interesting. I've never travelled abroad but
have friends who have been to France and complained a lot about unsanitary
toilet facilities. (I sometimes wonder if they saw anything OTHER than a
public toilet in France,...) I have heard that smoking is allowed in
restaurants there and that people can bring their dogs into restaurants. Is
that true, Marie, or is it a Canadian urban myth?

Joanne in Spencerville

P.S. Anyplace that can make people in wheelchairs feel more welcome gets a
thumbs-up from me.


"Judy Grevenites" wrote in message
...
Marie, sometimes I wonder why you deign to talk to us in the rest of the
world. France, France, France---yes dear, we get the message. Marie
and France are civilized--the rest are barbarians. RedQueen

where DH comes from they say 'warshroom'.
Drives him crazy.
Taria

Maureen Wozniak wrote:

Julia Altshuler wrote:






In Canada, they say "washroom."

In parts of the U.S. too. In Northern Illinois, especially the Chicago
area, "washroom" is used for both public and private baths or restrooms.