Bathroom user

[Eireann]

Yesterday, I was at a restaurant owned by a friend of mine. The restaurant has an outdoor seating area, where people often sit in nice weather (as it was yesterday). So, sometimes, a person will come inside and the staff won't know if s/he wants to sit inside, or is already sitting outside and just wants to let them know about it.

The restaurant was empty, except for me and the staff. It had been a busy day, so they were cleaning, restocking, and all the usual things. I was the only one in the dining room when a woman entered and went straight for the bathroom.

They've had a problem with this before; at one point, my friend had to keep the bathroom key at the bar so that people would have to ask for it before they could use the facilities. When the waiter came out of the kitchen, I let him know that someone was in the bathroom.

We waited, and after the unmistakable sounds of the woman fumbling with the key to open the door, she came out. The waiter called to her:

"Hello! Are you here to eat something or drink something, or are you just here to use our toilet?"

"...what?"

"Would you like something for to eat or drink?"

"Uh... do you have Pepsi?"

She bought a couple of cans and left. That's when my friend staggered out of the kitchen, bent over and with a red face, and said, "That was EXCELLENT!"

So NICE to see someone getting called on that sort of behavior, and with the owner's approval!

[PepperElf]

to be honest i've done this before. although most establishments that have a "buy if you want to use our toilet" policy usually have it posted. unless it's a country where it's the status quo already

[HappyFun Ball]

I have had to do this a few times myself (IBS).. But I will go back and patronize that place at a later time.

[Eireann]

I've done it before, too, at fast-food places. My friend has a small restaurant with only one bathroom, so if a non-customer is in there, the paying customers have to wait. He started keeping the key at the bar because so many people were using his (CLEAN!) facilities.

[ADoyle90815]

I've done that at fast food places since my S/O has IBS, and I'll often go in and buy something like a drink or cookies while he's in the bathroom.

[RealUnimportant]

Here in the UK it's possible to get a card from your doctor that can be used to ask permission to use toilets in establishments without the need to pay for goods/services; it's not a perfect system but it's better than crapping your pants.

[Mystic]

This might not be a popular reply, but I do it and I do so without remorse. It's a human function we all have and when you're out and about, regardless of the reason for being out, and you need to go, it's either going to be in your toilet or on the side of your building. I choose the much more sanitary and respectable way of doing things and simply use the bathroom.

While most of the time I buy nothing when this happens, one thing is for sure: if you give me crap about it, then you pretty much guaranteed yourself that I will never buy anything from your store in the future either and that I will be posting about it on FB or other portal of social networking so that others can know what a douchenozzle you are.

Now mind you, this isn't something that happens on a regular basis, and when this does happen, I usually end up somewhere like a Barnes and Noble or Walmart rather than a small independent shop. I simply don't feel that there should be a price for using the toilet since it's not exactly a choice matter.

[Kheldarson]

That's an understandable feeling, Myt, but you're a reasonable customer. Problem is the unreasonable ones. The ones who come in just to use the toilet and then mess it all up. So should the money from more reasonable customers be used to fixing a god awful mess someone else left? Or should they have to buy something to help pay for their mess? That's the gist of the "paying customers only"; that people will make less mess if they have to pay.

[RealUnimportant]

Mystic, in an ideal world it wouldn't be a problem; as this site attests, we don't live in an ideal world. The minority fuck it up for the rest by abusing privileges by confusing them with rights, and so we move to a system where unless you're contributing towards the upkeep you can't make use of the facilities.

[Sparky]

I'm always a bit embarrassed when I go to a restaurant alone and the first thing I want to do is use the restroom. Not only do I have to go, but I want to wash my hands before I eat. If I sit down and order first, I'm afraid someone will think my table's free and claim it while I'm gone. But if I head straight for the john I worry that the wait staff will think I just came in for that purpose.

Ah well, it all works out.

[Laund-o-rama Mama]

This is why I try my hardest to, if I must, use facilities on places like Dunkins or McDonald's where no one cares.

[judecat]

Some Municipalities have passed legislation specifically mandating that non-customers be accommodated unless there are stand alone public restrooms available. So IMO not only is it rude to try to embarrass a non customer for using the restroom, it may be illegal.
And I really don't see how it's costing extra money to clean no matter who uses the restrooms -- around here they are supposed to be cleaned every two hours anyway, even if they are not "trashed".

[Mystic]

That's an understandable feeling, Myt, but you're a reasonable customer. Problem is the unreasonable ones. The ones who come in just to use the toilet and then mess it all up. So should the money from more reasonable customers be used to fixing a god awful mess someone else left? Or should they have to buy something to help pay for their mess? That's the gist of the "paying customers only"; that people will make less mess if they have to pay.

Truth.

Once upon a time I worked at a convenience store in Michigan doing graveyard shift on July 4th weekend. Someone came in at some point and put a whole fucking potted plant in the urinal.

I just kind of eye rolled and locked the bathroom. Manager wasn't too pleased that I didn't bother to clean it but frankly, I was already tired and my give a damn meter was broken from all the stupidity I had to deal with that night. :P

[Mystic]

Some Municipalities have passed legislation specifically mandating that non-customers be accommodated unless there are stand alone public restrooms available. So IMO not only is it rude to try to embarrass a non customer for using the restroom, it may be illegal.

I thought that was a pretty common law everywhere now due to the fact that people shouldn't feel the need to reveal that they have something like IBS. I could be wrong on that.

[Eireann]

It isn't just the possibility of someone making a mess. More than one bathroom in this city (I was in one today) has blue light. Why? To keep people from shooting up. The blue light prevents you from finding your blue veins.

Yes, it is a problem. Coupled with the fact that so many people have used the facilities in my friend's restaurant during nearby events, I can see why the waiter reacted the way he did.