If there is a line, and someone in line uses a wheelchair, he can go ahead of me. If there is a line and no one in line uses a wheelchair, I use it.
Many establishments have only one stall, and it is a WABS, so unless I need the urinal, there is essentially no choice.
Regards,
Shodan
ETA: When my back is out, I don’t usually go out in public. But the one time that I did, the grab bars were very useful, plus I could not stand up straight for long, so in that case, I used the WABS by preference. I do not have a handicapped sticker or anything. But I needed to use that specific stall, more than a regular one. ISTM that most people are reasonable, fortunately.
I chose “I would use a WABS anytime” but it would be more correct to say “I would use a WABS almost**** anytime”. In our office there are no handicapped workers so I use the WABS without a thought. In a restroom where there is little or no “traffic” I would also use a WABS. In the case of a restroom with high traffic and plenty of stalls I would not use a WABS.
What about handicap accessible hotel rooms? If that was the last room left in the hotel, and the front desk assigned you that room, would you refuse it, if you were not handicapped?
When I had the cast on my arm, I learned to hate people wo use the handicap stalls when others are available. Since then, I only use it if it’s the only one available and no handicapped person is waiting (#2)
For all the people saying “of course, if a disabled person showed up I’d happily give it up for them”… how exactly do you plan to do that when you’re in the middle of taking a shit?
It’s 2 and 4 for me, I’ll use it anytime but defer to a handicapped person. ISTM that many bathrooms are 50/50, but the population is no where near that.
Do handicapped people not have the ability to wait until the person in the handicapped stall ahead of them is done? Are their bladders and digestive systems different from a non handicapped person?
I use the WA stall in my office building all the time, because there are no wheel-chair bound people who work here and there are only two stalls. If I were in a place where there might be handicapped people around, I’d only use the WA stall if it was the only one left (and no one was waiting for it).
If I’m shitting in a public restroom, it will take less than a minute; if it’s less urgent than that, I’ll hold it.
As noted above, some handicapped folks can’t wait a minute, but if they have an accident every single time they’re delayed by a minute, I presume they must be used to it by now.
Yeah, I don’t get this. How often are people only a minute away from a bathroom? If this were an issue for someone, I could certainly see why they wouldn’t want to go out, even if the WABS was always free.
For men’s rooms, where I hang out stalls are less occupied than ladies rooms. Most places, outside of airports and conference centers, have 2 - 3 stalls max, one WABS, which is a lot higher percentage than would be required. (Of necessity, of course.) If people avoided WABS stalls altogether it would be a major waste of resources, usually futile. Now, if you see someone in a wheelchair heading to the bathroom, only a jerk would grab the WABS stall, but if no one in wheelchairs were in sight I hardly think it is a terrible thing to do.
I suppose someone needing this sees the situation 100% of the time, but the rest of us see it very rarely.
No, I don’t accept that. If they’re that badly incontinent, they have options, like adult shields or diapers, which would give the the freedom to leave the house. It’s their choice, not my fault.
As I said before, I’m cognizant of the ramifications of incontinence, and I’m more than willing to accommodate them in a reasonable manner. But, and I’m sure this sentence is making your blood boil, but it’s true: they’re handicapped accessible, not handicapped reserved. When an architect designs a building, she’s not counting the required stalls and adding one for the handicapped folks, the handicapped stall is one of the minimum required stalls. It’s meant for use by everyone, and has added features like grab bars and more room for those who need it (this was posting in a similar thread by an architect the last time we had this conversation.)
Shields and diapers are far from perfect solutions. They don’t always work as well as advertised. And they don’t help with the smell.
That’s a good point - if there’s only one toilet it needs to be handicapped accessible. If there is more than one, then at least one must be wheelchair accessible. In some places - hospitals, for example - ALL the toilets/stalls in certain areas may be wheelchair accessible.
I’m certainly NOT advocating that the able-bodied never use a WABS. Just that they should be cognizant of the fact that the disabled are supposed to have first dibs on it. So, if there’s someone in a wheelchair they get it before you do. If there are no disabled people about then go ahead and use it - but don’t be a hog. Frankly, I’m a little puzzled at the notion that people would willingly camp out in a public toilet and spend any more time in there than absolutely necessary, but whatever.
Absolutely, I’ll grant you that. Neither are catheters or ostomies or surgery or (as we see) handicapped stalls. The blunt truth is, incontinence sucks. There *is *no perfect solution, and that is a shame, but it’s still not my fault your (general your, not your your) body doesn’t work the way you’d prefer it to.
The smell isn’t instantaneous, however. A shield or a diaper *will *buy you some time to get into that handicapped stall and clean yourself up. People who housebound themselves because they can’t see another option other than having a handicapped stall reserved for them at all times are caught up in woe is me drama, not reality.
It does indeed depend on the person. Some people are temporarily using wheelchairs due to injury or surgery, others are going to use wheelchairs permanently but have no problems with incontinence or urgency, some apparently able- bodied people will need the grab bars and other apparently able-bodied people will have problems with incontinence/urgency , whether it is an ongoing problem due to muscle damage or some other medical condition, or a temporary problem such as a food intolerance , It’s simply not possible to tell by looking if the person in the wheelchair or the person who is walking has a greater chance of soiling him or herself.
If I’d posted yesterday I would have said oh sure, I use them all the time because I like how roomy they are, and if there’s no one around who seems to need it what’s the harm?
Today I walked into a public bathroom just as someone was latching themselves into the disabled stall even though there was one regular stall available and I realized that if I had needed the larger one I’d be pissed.
It seems obvious to me now that using the larger stall should be a last resort.
Everyone talking about “there are no wheelchair users where I work” need to remember that there are people with disabilities that you cannot see who may need to use the accessible stall because the toilet is higher, or because of the grab bars. They may not even walk with a visible limp or anything that would cause you to be aware that they have a disability. And people are not required to disclose their disabilities to you.
Being willing to give a wheelchair user priority to the disabled access stall is nice, but it’s not the be all and end all of making sure that all of the people who need the features of that stall are able to use them.
How do we know to let someone who might need the stall go ahead of us into it if they won’t tell us that they have need of the stall? Having a condition where you might need it is not shameful, and if someone wants to keep it a secret (their right) they should expect to be treated like everyone else.
Someone where I used to work was in the middle of a sex-change procedure, and it was announced that s/he was at the stage where using the mens room was appropriate. No problems at all thanks to everyone knowing the situation.
stalls are less occupied than ladies rooms. Most places, outside of airports and conference centers, have 2 - 3 stalls max, one WABS, which is a lot higher percentage than would be required. (Of necessity, of course.) If people avoided WABS stalls altogether it would be a major waste of resources, usually futile. Now, if you see someone in a wheelchair heading to the bathroom, only a jerk would grab the WABS stall, but if no one in wheelchairs were in sight I hardly think it is a terrible thing to do.