I will always choose the handicap stall because I like the space between myself and the next stall. It seems like the US bathroom system encourages games of battle shits and I’m not willing to play. I’ve only had one instance where I walked out and a person who actually needed it was waiting. I felt terrible, but it was only once out of hundreds. Does anyone else do this?
This may be unpopular, but the stalls are handicap accessible, not reserved.
I do try to be considerate. I keep time short and at work, where I am aware of where people who would have a greater need than I are located, then I go to the restroom they’re least likely to use.
Yes, for my own physical needs.
The default stall is frequently so small that I tend to get my back twisted or smacking a knee on the bowel trying to navigate the inward opening door that almost hits the toilet in a stall barely wider than my shoulders. I’m not even a big person, extremely average. But normal stalls in the US are built like airplane seats.
Work stalls are a little bigger than businesses so I use the regular ones there.
So yes, if the normal stall is tiny I use the big one and that is generally the case. In all my decades I only held up someone who needed it once, but was in there because the other stalls were taken.
if the other ones are nasty dirty. sure. or if it’s the only one available.
but given a choice of equally-suitable poop receptacles, i’d choose the ‘regular’ one–especially if it sits lower than ada height
I usually go for the non-accessible one first, but if that one is occupied or dirty or something I readily use the handicap accessible one.
I do, but I’m handicapped.
ETA: I don’t really care if a non-handicapped person uses it.
I only use the handicap stall if all the others are already occupied and I am literally about to shit myself. Otherwise I’ll just wait for a normal stall. I don’t wanna be the reason someone with a wheelchair couldn’t get a stall in time and shat themselves.
People taking away resources meant for people who actually need them just because they feel like it are assholes.
Ensuring there is a stall large enough for someone with disabilities is not the same thing as car spaces for the disabled. The larger bathroom stalls are not reserved.
Not to mention that in a lot of bathrooms there is a single stall and the law ensures that one stall is large enough for anyone to use.
Fair point. In my workplace, I’ve never seen it being used by someone who needed it. It is either taken by people who prefer it or when the other two stalls are filled up. Understand your point though.
every time first
It’s a morality choice for me. People who need a handicapped spot should not be inconvenienced by me ever. I don’t care how far out I have to walk or how quick I plan to stop, I will never take up those spaces. At work I drive a truck with EX plates and I don’t even park that in the handicapped stalls. There is no justification.
He’s talking about basically bathroom stalls, not parking spots. No one should use the parking spots if they didn’t need them and there are even fines for doing so. Bathroom stalls are a little more ambiguous.
Ooooooooh I’m an idiot. Also the stall closest to the entrance is usually cleanest because fewer people use it.
Ha, good call on the closest stall, I’ll have to keep that in mind. That said, i will use the accessible stall if all others are taken, since i wouldn’t necessarily use a public restroom if it weren’t at least moderately urgent.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have had to poop in a lot of places, so if it’s not totally scuzzy I’ll happily put down one of the free cowboy hats and go to town.
Where I live, “accessibility” often means the paper dispenser is so far away from the seat you almost fall to the floor trying to reach it. If you do reach it, you almost certainly will fail to tear it from that distance and the paper will roll out all over the floor. And the roll that should be on the side bar is always missing.
Not my pic but this demonstrates the issue.
I avoid it whenever possible.
No. I don’t need it, other people do.
I usually only use it when I need it. Be it when I am having a hard time with mobility or it’s the only one left. Doesn’t really bother me if someone else that may or may not need it is using it (you can’t always tell just by looking).
Do you also park in handicap parking spots?
That’s different, at least in the US. Stalls are accessible, not reserved. Parking is reserved for handicap identified vehicles only.
