scilly

don't be so daft!!

Of course, I don't!

But I think they should at the very least leave a tip for the staff who have to clean up that bathroom!

beckiwoo

That's very true and they very clean as well, which makes me more keen to use them then paying for a Starbucks and using their disgusting toilets

BristolUK

Not if you're bladder shy.

scilly

Does every coffee shop, cafe, etc in the UK have a washroom for the use of customers?

If so, what is their policy towards non-customers wanting to use said bathroom?


I don't know what the situation in Australia is now, but I know cafes and tea shops at one point did not have to have a washroom for their customers .............. that could be very interesting with a toddler! Try changing the diaper on a park bench 'cos there was literally nowhere else.

They didn't have to .......... and that was a great surprise coming from Canada where every place that served drink and food had to have a washroom for the CUSTOMERS. I know they were not always easily accessible, even for able-bodied people ............

"Go through that door, down the corridor, turn left, go down the stairs to the half landing, turn right, and you'll see it. Oh, here's the key."

That was almost literally still the case at Murchie's on Government Street in Victoria 5 years ago, but was very common in the 70s!

dbd33

In Amsterdam on the Queen's Birthday holiday everyone just pisses in the street. Whole lines of people leaking. I don't recall seeing any disabled people but it's a fairly relaxed kind of place I would not be surprised. It's not relevant to Canada though, this is a much more prim and proper location.

dave_j

I don't know how other provinces approach this problem but have a look at BC's attempt. Point in Time - Public Toilet Act
You can't charge for use but it apparently says nothing about outright refusal.

DandNHill

All these premises that are being referred to are private property. So I would have thought anybody who is not coming on the premises to do business with you (buy a drink, clothing etc) can be refused the use of the facilities.
If you need to pee maybe go to the town hall, police station, fire station, library or any other public buildings?!

Pollyana

It is still the case in Australia. Found it very odd when I first came here.
In the large shopping malls very few of the bars have their own facilities, and because of the size of the malls it can be a 15 minute round trip to get to the nearest washrooms - certainly puts a downer on meeting up for a quick drink!
Went to a restaurant once where the toilets were a ten minute walk away on the other side of an open air shopping centre. Rather ruined the meal as it was tipping with rain outside and by the end of the evening mist of us were soaking wet.

sharkus

The story I read the other day about this made no reference to her being somewhere else whose washrooms were being used, and then popping into the other establishment and asking to use the washroom.

My spider senses are tingling and I feel that her entitlement is showing. Someone had the bare faced audacity to forbid her to do something, and so she's waving the little disability card as a means to get what she wants. Quite what she expects from launching this lawsuit I don't know.

If she had been at the bar as a patron then this would be quite a different matter, but she wasn't. One also wonders if she had popped into the coffee shop to just use the washroom, or was she actually going to buy something there.

caretaker

I remember some wicked little stairways to bathrooms, but thought access legislation had made them obsolete. Our bar needs x number of facilities per sq foot, wheelchair access in both bars or the license doesn't go on the wall, and plans are being made to build a gender-neutral washroom. It seems spiteful of her to sue since the employees did relent and let her use the stairs, but without knowing just how it was at the time hard to judge. I was on crutches a few times and it slows you down, and that doesn't help wnen you're looking for somewhere to pee, or worse.

plasticcanuck

I think you'll find, at least in Ontario, a law dictating a washroom is necessary if you run a sit-in restaurant, regardless of size.

magnumpi

I open a chip truck then

Anything is better than being sued for letting someone use the wash room, eventually, or not letting them use the wash room, either way it's a lose lose situation

Shakyuk

I worked in this sector as a student and got some training, the law is/was in the UK something like if an establishment seats more than 12 they must provide a bathroom.


I can understand Beckie's point of view about access to toilets, I think in public places the local government should supply more public bathrooms. Years ago in the UK there were many in the UK at least, many with a small fee of 5 or 10p to use. It's like everyone is in denial that humans need to use a toilet, the law says I can't take a piss in the street but I guess it's ok to piss my pants if I can't find a toilet. It's borderline ridiculous really.

Aviator

This is a social problem to be remedied by the government at tax payer expense, not one for private business, or individuals at their own expense. It may be a courtesy to allow non customers, but not a right. Private premises have private facilities.

I suffer with a digestive condition, but seem to managed for several decades without the necessity of taking a dump in the street.

Food and water is a basic human right, but grocery stores don't give it away just because one is hungry or thirsty. Homeless need facilities too, is that the responsibility of private business or the govt?

caretaker

Good for you, if you were disabled and had mobility issues you might not have been so lucky. I took a look for Ontario handicapped advocacy and didn't see much that appeared relevant so applying to the Human Rights Commission is probably the only channel available for her to try outside of litigation, which isn't her objective. I thought there might be some sort of special ombudsman for the disabled but maybe the HRC is best. The one Saskatchewan HRC investigation I gave a statement in left me impressed with their methods, and the complainant won. Maybe the result here will be nothing, maybe a recommendation for more public toilets, maybe she won't be approved for an inquiry at all. If the other patrons in the coffee shop had been polite enough to let her cut in the line in the first place none of it would have happened.