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

Good point.
I love that our country has increased its awareness of the needs of people
with physical challenges. At long last we have started to see them as *real
people*, who deserve to have impediments removed from their daily lives, by
making such things as curbs with ramps, and ramps instead of, or in addition
to stairs, parking spots that are large enough to allow them to get out of
their cars, vehicles that can be driven by hands alone... automatic doors
and so forth.. those are all wonderful. They are nothing more than what they
deserve.
But bathrooms ?? Im not sure thats reasonable or necessary to have them
exclusive to just those in wheelchairs. Yes, they deserve first crack at
them, since that is the only stall that will allow them to do what they
need, but is it unreasonable to ask someone in a chair to wait a few
moments? If it is, please educate me. I do love to learn, and this is a
subject that interests me.
Diana


--
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44

"Jalynne" wrote (ruthlessly snipped)
how can you know if that person has a hidden disability?
--
Jalynne

Not to mention that some places are starting to put the diaper changing
tables in the handicap access stalls.

Jan

frood wrote:

If regular stalls were bigger, mothers with toddlers wouldn't need to use
the handicapped stalls. However, I've been in stalls so small there was
barely room for me to use it, let alone help 1 or 2 toddlers use the toilet.

We don't use the stall any longer than we have to, and we are glad when it
is there for us to use. Well, Giles isn't. The super big toilet scares her.

I agree with you Taria, the potty is not the same as the parking place.
After all, you do not need a tag to use the handicapped potty. On the
other hand, I have a son who will never be old enough to use the
restroom or go potty by himself, he is and will always be in diapers, so
I am happy to find more and more family restrooms, however, still on
occasion I have to take him in a ladies room to change a diaper he is
12 People stare, and then are embarrassed when they figure out he
is mentaly retarded and in diapers. He does not really look
handicapped at first glance. I guess you just get used to dealing
with the typical reactions.

Christina

Taria wrote:
I was under the impression the handicap stall was to accommodate
the area required for the special physical needs of a handicapped
person. It never occurred to me that this stall should be kept unused
but for them. I would differentiate the need from that of a parking
stall. Maybe I got the whole idea wrong but I don't get why any stall
should be going unused while others are waiting.
Taria

"C. Mathews" wrote:


Just have to jump in on this issue.

I am a handicapped person. I can only use the handicapped stall.

I have been made to wait while employee's smoked and took their break, while
people read, threw up etc.

It is so unfair and I can see no justification on anyone using a space for
the handicapped.
Line or no line.

That is not what they are intended for.

Same for handicapped parking. I have come out of a store with a week's load
of groceries, in the rain, only to find that some person had pulled their
car so close to mine that I cannot open the door fully to get in. I have had
to go back into the store and ask the manager to come out and back my car
out of the space.

When I worked, on rainy days, I would have to circle the block, until the
unauthorized person decided to come out and move their car.

And while I am on my soap box, I agree with the ladies, that boys old enough
to get their own pants up and down, should NOT be in a ladies bathroom. The
same goes for dressing rooms. I had this problem at the local Y.

I see no reason, a father cannot take his little girl into the men's room if
he first checks to see if any other men are in there...same for women taking
their sons in the ladies room.

However, as a patron, I would be asking myself, is this person really this
child's parent??? How are we to know??

Carla

"Teresa in Colorado" wrote in message
hlink.net...

Marie,
I respectfully disagree. Using the restroom takes just a few minutes,
unlike using the handicapped parking spot which takes much longer.

I will use the regular toilet if available, but if there's a line - I use
what's available.
Heck - we have even been known to take over the mens restroom from time to
time!!
It doesn't make sense to leave a facility unused when there's a line.

It is like the 9 item or less line at the grocery. If the cashier in that
line is idle, he will often call over someone in line at one of the other
registers, to get the lines down faster.

Also, when I had twins, in a big double stroller - I used the handicapped
stall. The stroller didn't fit into any of the little stalls.

It's a matter of common sense. You don't use the handicapped stall if
someone in a wheelchair is in line - you let them use it. But if it's the
only empty spot and there's a line (or a special circumstance), you use

it.

Alas, common sense is not all that common.

I think we should worry about all the people who abuse the handicapped
spaces - that is not right. I even know people who have handicapped

plates

who definately don't need them - not even for a hidden disability.

--
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

She will take him in, and try to use the wheelchair accessable stall
(heck, i use that stall with my own child)


Please! do not do this. It is only one step from using disabled
people's parking spots.
--
Marie Lewis


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or as we say at work the main office...

Christina

Diana Curtis wrote:

Thank you for this illuminating discourse about the throne room.. the head..
the privy...the john...the reading room...the can....powder room....
Diana

--
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44
"georg" wrote in message
...

Marie Lewis wrote:


Just as a matter of interest, why do Americans use euphemisms like "
rest room" and "bath room?"

No criticism intended: I am just interested.

To explain to those who do not know, the British term "loo" comes from
the old cry "Garde à l'eau", distorted to "Gardez-loo". This meant
"look out for the water" as people in earlier centuries emptied their
chamber pots into the street below!

We also use "toilet" (the usual term), "bog" (which is slightly
improper) "lavatory" which is incorrect, of course and other terms.

The English also use euphemisms like W.C. or water closet, because
that's one of it's names. When private rooms for this purpose became
fashionable in the 16th century, they were refered to by the English as
"the room of ease" which is where rest room came from. The English also
called it the Chapel, because of the quiet contemplation that occurs
therein. There is some speculation that many of the so-called Priest
Holes installed in historic homes are refitted rooms for a close-stool.
(A close-stool is a wooden box designed to hold a chamberpot within and
be sat on comfortably. The lid is locked so only the owner can use it.)

Lavatory is correct, if you wash your hands.

Most Americans have a bath in the bathroom. We have other plumbing in
there too, but that's the origin of the name. It was a luxury to have a
separate room for a bath.

Personally, I kind of like the origin of Privy Counsel.

-georg
plumbing historian

I think if we were just more tolerant and flexible...situations like that would not
be the norm. I"m rather disturbed at the thought that people in general have such
strong territorial feelings about public washrooms (or whatever you want to call
them), because they are *public*. We need to realize that everyone has different
needs, and work with them, instead of excluding them, and being judgemental.
Christina, i know you'll have challenges with your son, and i am glad that you've
just done what you needed to do. We all just need to be sensitive to each
other...try to be *in*clusive instead of *ex*clusive. After all, as the book says
"Everybody poops".
--
Jalynne
Queen Gypsy (snail mail available upon request)
see what i've been up to at www.100megsfree4.com/jalynne

"nomorespam" wrote in message
...
I agree with you Taria, the potty is not the same as the parking place.
After all, you do not need a tag to use the handicapped potty. On the
other hand, I have a son who will never be old enough to use the
restroom or go potty by himself, he is and will always be in diapers, so
I am happy to find more and more family restrooms, however, still on
occasion I have to take him in a ladies room to change a diaper he is
12 People stare, and then are embarrassed when they figure out he
is mentaly retarded and in diapers. He does not really look
handicapped at first glance. I guess you just get used to dealing
with the typical reactions.

Christina

Taria wrote:
I was under the impression the handicap stall was to accommodate
the area required for the special physical needs of a handicapped
person. It never occurred to me that this stall should be kept unused
but for them. I would differentiate the need from that of a parking
stall. Maybe I got the whole idea wrong but I don't get why any stall
should be going unused while others are waiting.
Taria

"C. Mathews" wrote:


Just have to jump in on this issue.

I am a handicapped person. I can only use the handicapped stall.

I have been made to wait while employee's smoked and took their break, while
people read, threw up etc.

It is so unfair and I can see no justification on anyone using a space for
the handicapped.
Line or no line.

That is not what they are intended for.

Same for handicapped parking. I have come out of a store with a week's load
of groceries, in the rain, only to find that some person had pulled their
car so close to mine that I cannot open the door fully to get in. I have had
to go back into the store and ask the manager to come out and back my car
out of the space.

When I worked, on rainy days, I would have to circle the block, until the
unauthorized person decided to come out and move their car.

And while I am on my soap box, I agree with the ladies, that boys old enough
to get their own pants up and down, should NOT be in a ladies bathroom. The
same goes for dressing rooms. I had this problem at the local Y.

I see no reason, a father cannot take his little girl into the men's room if
he first checks to see if any other men are in there...same for women taking
their sons in the ladies room.

However, as a patron, I would be asking myself, is this person really this
child's parent??? How are we to know??

Carla

"Teresa in Colorado" wrote in message
hlink.net...

Marie,
I respectfully disagree. Using the restroom takes just a few minutes,
unlike using the handicapped parking spot which takes much longer.

I will use the regular toilet if available, but if there's a line - I use
what's available.
Heck - we have even been known to take over the mens restroom from time to
time!!
It doesn't make sense to leave a facility unused when there's a line.

It is like the 9 item or less line at the grocery. If the cashier in that
line is idle, he will often call over someone in line at one of the other
registers, to get the lines down faster.

Also, when I had twins, in a big double stroller - I used the handicapped
stall. The stroller didn't fit into any of the little stalls.

It's a matter of common sense. You don't use the handicapped stall if
someone in a wheelchair is in line - you let them use it. But if it's the
only empty spot and there's a line (or a special circumstance), you use

it.

Alas, common sense is not all that common.

I think we should worry about all the people who abuse the handicapped
spaces - that is not right. I even know people who have handicapped

plates

who definately don't need them - not even for a hidden disability.

--
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

She will take him in, and try to use the wheelchair accessable stall
(heck, i use that stall with my own child)


Please! do not do this. It is only one step from using disabled
people's parking spots.
--
Marie Lewis


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

In article , Shelly
writes
(Gently snipped)
It isn't as though I'm hurting the disabled person by using the empty
stall, not when she's not there. And this has nothing to do with parking
spots.

I agree Julia! The person would probably have a longer wait if a handicapped
person was using the stall. I prefer to use the handicapped stall myself ALL
the time just because there is usually much more room, and it's usually
cleaner. I've never once encountered a handicapped person waiting to use the
stall I was just in.
Shelly


I find this appalling. I have had to wait and I do not have a choice of
stalls.

The French have signs: you can use my "restroom" if you also take my
disability.


As is said in another post, the French are very civilised.
--
Marie Lewis

In article , Kate Dicey
writes
Marie Lewis wrote:

In article , Kathy
Applebaum writes
You know, I've never thought about this or seen it happen. Can't really say
what I'd think. I'm sure the problem also comes up when a elderly person (or
a disabled person) has a caregiver of the opposite sex. Hmmm.....

I am, at present, somewhat dependent on a wheelchair, and my husband has
been pushing my chair around France, on holiday, for three weeks.

He didn't hesitate to take me into the ladies' loos and no-one at all
raised an eyebrow.
--
Marie Lewis

France is different: lots of the loos there are 'co-ed' anyway.


But he would have to do that in the UK, too.
--
Marie Lewis

In article , Shelly
writes
The bathroom to be called the "water closet" in the 19th century because
that was where you went to "make water" or pee into a chamber-pot. These
closets were usually located or connected to the kitchen. There was no
running water and the water had to be carried and poured into a tub in order
for one to have a bath.

It isn't so hard to figure out why "we" Americans call it the bathroom.
That's exactly what it is, a place to take a bath in our homes. When you're
out on the road traveling, you stop to rest for a few minutes and use the
toilet, hence the term..............restroom.
Shelly


Some people were referring to "bathrooms" in public places. That is why
I asked.
--
Marie Lewis

Jalynne wrote:

they're wheelchair/disabled *accessable* stalls not wheelchair/disabled *exclusive*,
and I see absolutely no problems whatsoever with an "able bodied" person using them,
especially when they're larger or have children with them. Another thing to think
about...how can you know if that person has a hidden disability?

I use a cane often, but I don't have handicapped tags for my car. I do
NOT park in the handicapped spot. But I will use the handicapped stall
sometimes, just because it's great to maneuver where there are handles!
But if someone is in a wheelchair and needs the loo the same time I
hobble in, I'm letting them go first.

I do know there are handicapped folks who when they need to go, they
need to go NOW and it's a LOT nicer for them when there is an available
handicapped stall available. It saves them from needing to change their
own diaper. And I've helped a friend or three clean up who didn't make
it there in time (but usually not due to a line!).

I can see both sides of the issue. If there is a line, I'll use the
first available stall, but let an obviously handicapped person ignore
the line. If someone was able to *announce* their handicap if it wasn't
obvious, yes, I'd tolerate them skipping the line too. And yes, I've
gotten strange looks for being the lady with the cane waiting my turn.

-georg

if at all able, i will leave the handicapped stall available.
That being said... it is a heck of a lot easier for a mom with 3 little ones
to keep them contained in one handicapped stall than in any other kind! And
i was in several restrooms this year where the baby changing stations were
INSIDE the handicapped stall!

but i must say KUDOS to whomever decides to put family bathrooms in their
place of business! It helps tremendously! and i don't have to feel guilty
for taking over the handicapped stalls or making others wait whilst i cycle
thru the kids! And the one at the 2nd airport we went thru this summer was
a godsend! The first airport didn't have them and my 2yo daughter decided
to follow her 6yo brother in the mens room while i was trying to get the 7yo
daughter's attention.....only takes a second!

Kellie - still grappling with the "how old should they be to go alone into a
crowded bathroom ? ".....

"georg" wrote in message
...
Jalynne wrote:

they're wheelchair/disabled *accessable* stalls not wheelchair/disabled
*exclusive*,
and I see absolutely no problems whatsoever with an "able bodied" person
using them,
especially when they're larger or have children with them. Another
thing to think
about...how can you know if that person has a hidden disability?

I use a cane often, but I don't have handicapped tags for my car. I do
NOT park in the handicapped spot. But I will use the handicapped stall
sometimes, just because it's great to maneuver where there are handles!
But if someone is in a wheelchair and needs the loo the same time I
hobble in, I'm letting them go first.

I do know there are handicapped folks who when they need to go, they
need to go NOW and it's a LOT nicer for them when there is an available
handicapped stall available. It saves them from needing to change their
own diaper. And I've helped a friend or three clean up who didn't make
it there in time (but usually not due to a line!).

I can see both sides of the issue. If there is a line, I'll use the
first available stall, but let an obviously handicapped person ignore
the line. If someone was able to *announce* their handicap if it wasn't
obvious, yes, I'd tolerate them skipping the line too. And yes, I've
gotten strange looks for being the lady with the cane waiting my turn.

-georg