To Want Women-Only Restroom?

I don't mind individual joint cubicles/little rooms, like prezzos, where it is a single loo, accessible to all, but I do not like the thought of shared multi cubicle lavs, as a teenager I would have been mortified, especially at the time of the month, and as a DV victim, I found the ladies the only place I could safely hide from my violent ex if I happened to see him on a night out

This is a fun thread, and I find myself agreeing with Jingle again - yes, those magic flushes you only have to wave your hand at.

Galen - I gulped my first sip of wine because your post made me larf

Hi MariClaire! We have visited the States a lot (we have an "adopted" family out there, who live in Nebraska but have a cabin on a lake in Minnesota) So that's two states; I love Minneapolis, by the way.

So: Illinois, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, New England, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachussetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, California (San Diego, San Francisco..) Florida (Miami, Key West, and yes, Orlando) Colorado, Louisiana, Arizona, (DH, when on the army, did a trans America bike ride so can come up with a much more impressive list..)

Some of this is to so with our work with Rotary International, but a lot of our travels there are because we enjoy the States so much.

Oh, time to go again! Nice "visiting with you"!

I visited an extremely state of the art restroom out in the desert in the US with gleaming stainless steel,shining mirrors and spotless hand basins. While washing my hands I read the notice on the wall." Beware of rattle snakes. They lurk in the basins." My departure would have envied by the cartoon Road Runner.

MariClaire thanks for clarifying what 1/2 a bath is, I had heard that term in the US and wondered, I kind of envisaged a shrunken sized bath, but now I know it's what we call the cloakroom.

I'm really lucky to have been to the States quite a few times. First went when the children were young, we had friends who lent us their condo in Palm Harbour nr. Tampa and did the obligatory Disney experience. We also took them to Fort Lauderdale and Miami, plus a three day stop over in New York. Our youngest child has also accompanied us to Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston and Cape Cod, but alas all lost on him at the time. We were on a beach on Cape Cod looking at the ocean when I asked him "where's the best place you've been so far?" thinking that one of these wonderful places might have made an impression on him. He replied "Camden!", this is a somewhat seedy and rundown area of London, he was sixteen at the time though, he might not say that now. Without the kids we have been to New York again for a week where we got Amtrak down to Savannah (13 hours) via Washington and also visited Charleston. I'd love to go back to both of those cities thought they were spectacular.

I love visiting the US MariClaire and find Americans very hospitable. Don't like your coffee or cheese though. No complaints about the "restrooms", possibly they could include the odd chaise longue or comfy sofas so visitors could actually rest, but then maybe there wouldn't be enough room for the toilets themselves! Hey they could be adjacent with the wording Lavatories or Toilets!

I do find mothers in America who drive around with stickers in the back of their car pronouncing "I'm a soccer/hockey/baseball mom" slightly funny, insomuch as anyone would want to make such a statement that would suggest they are living vicariously through their offspring. I think there should be "I'm a couch potato kid's mom" sticker to counteract such smugness!

Oh, no offense taken! It is a silly euphemism we use for public facilities (as you say). In our homes, we call anything with a toilet in it the bathroom, and usually only one has an actual tub for taking a bath! We differentiate actual facilities with numbers: 1/2 bath is a toilet and sink, 3/4 bath add in shower; full bathroom also add in a tub. In other parts of the country they call this a 2-piece, 3-piece, 4-piece bathroom.

I have no idea what to call the unisex bathroom with toilet, sink, urinal! (Awful?)

I digress but where in the States did you visit? I'd love to learn your impressions of us!

No need to be as drastic as a stab, Galen A slap on the back would be quite enough to spoil their aim and water their shoes,.

I've found these quite common in France. It seems strange to pass a line of men hunched over the urinals. I always get the urge to stab them in the back!
(Note to self! Stop having homicidal thoughts)

When I first arrived in the US the family I was staying with asked if I'd like to use the Restroom. I told them I'd rested for a long time on the plane, thank you. I didn't have a clue that it meant visiting the toilet. ( I think I mentioned this on another thread some while ago)

Hi MariClaire, I guessed you were from the States because you used the term restroom. Please don't take this personally, but when visiting the USA, which I love, I find it somewhat amusing that a euphemism such as "restroom" is used instead of toilet of lavatory. Does anyone actually go into a room designed for the purpose of two essential bodily functions to actually rest!

Haha! Too bad we have no icon for that. Yes, hand-wave flushes!

)

Takes the MariClaire? Surely you mean takes the piss? (on this thread, anyway, if not elsewhere

My ideal is a supply of seat covers in every lav.

And those flushes where you just wave your hand in front of it, should be mandatory.

Hi, ladies. The restrooms didn't have a name (such as Family) only icons for women, men, handicapped which I should have considered. Hence, the shock. It is becoming common here on the West Coast to have more and more family restrooms, usually not exclusively, however. We start a lot of nutty things out here, some bad or good, mostly environmental initiatives (great). This one takes the

NO men are not in there with me, dear god in heaven. Just a single stool urinal, sink. I must say, though, that restrooms here in California are tightly regulated so seat covers and hot water are required. Just keep the guys separate!

iam64, that happened where I worked too, one washroom turned into unisex; needless to say not many (if any) of the women used it! We made it quite plain that we wanted the others to stay as they were!

Definitely not an activity to be shared with men! Is nothing private any more?
(I walked into the Gents in Sainsbury's a few weeks ago... )

Where I go to Art History classes at an education centre for retired people the loos are unisex- there are 5 cubicles 1 of which is designated for men, one for either sex ( reflecting approximately the balance of men/women) and 3 for women. Apparently by law bins for sanitary towels/tampons have to be provided in female loos ( staff may be of that age) . However many of us women.will happily use either depending on availability. Note - these are not urinals!

I worked in an over crowded office, and the powers that be decided to turn the one washroom, containing two toilets, on our floor, into a "unisex" lav. There was no prior discussion it just happened, overnight. It lasted less than a month before the women got organised. Not wanting to be overly critical, but the men just didn't seem to care about smells, wet patched on floors, etc. We reverted to having the washroom upstairs for women, and the downstairs one for men. Relief all round.

I am with JBF on the wrong door theory. I did that once - the men were more horrified than I was!

So do women have to see men using the urinals? Surely not?

The big problem with keeping urinals reasonable is Men's inability to aim straight and not splash.

Original poster lives in US, according to profile.

Let's hope it doesn't catch on over here. Sounds unpleasant.

I don't understand this (1) because I thought urinals were fairly continuously flushed automatically so it shouldn't be obvious that they had been used (they are there to be used anyhow, presumably), (2) because it suggests that the sit down toilets were open too instead of being in cubicles otherwise how would you be "facing" the urinals when you were sitting on the loo? Surely you'd be facing a cubicle door?

Are you sure you went in the right door?

Perhaps they mixed the signs up on the doors?

If that is the way they have built it, then I would be complaining.