# Does anyone else find this odd? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 29, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678 "2017-05-29T23:01:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/21 "2017-05-30T12:54:04Z")
I said this in a separate thread, but I think instead of separating public bathrooms by external anatomy, there should be a urinals bathroom and a stalls bathroom, and if you want you can separate sets of stalls with a dividing wall. We’d get used to that quickly enough, and I can’t see them being any less safe than the current arrangement, but it would eliminate this level of confusion for parents, kids, and the increasing transgender set. Pick what suits your plumbing. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/22 "2017-05-30T17:30:49Z")
> [@Telli](#): > > There was a man in the woman’s washroom with his young daughter. He was helping her in the stall. > Is this an ok thing? I would think the logical thing would be to take her with him into the men’s washroom. Meh. The labels on the washroom doors are increasingly more of a guideline than a rule, these days. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/23 "2017-05-30T18:09:34Z")
My 5 year old niece was with me in Target, and I had to take her to use the restroom, and I suggested we use the Men’s room, but she refused quite adamantly. So I had to use the ladies room with her. I made sure it was empty first. A lady who came before I could leave was understanding. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/24 "2017-05-30T18:19:59Z")
Sometimes kids have their own idea of how things should be done and insist that because they are a girl they must go into the girls room. Getting into an argument may lead to the child having an accident, so you pick the best possible solution in that scenario. Besides it’s fine so long as he identifies as a female for the few minutes that he’s in there. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/25 "2017-05-30T21:38:08Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > Besides it’s fine so long as he identifies as a female for the few minutes that he’s in there. I laughed. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/26 "2017-05-30T22:52:43Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Well? Don’t leave us hanging . . . 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/27 "2017-05-31T16:37:14Z")
I’ve only been in one restroom, and I’ve seen men bring in both girls and boys to the men’s restroom. I’ve occasionally happened to be going to the restroom at just the right time (or be waiting on someone to come out) to see a mom take a girl or boy into the women’s restroom. I’ve never seen a man take a girl into a women’s restroom, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. I admit, I’d internalized the idea that it depended on the gender of the adult. It makes more sense to me, since it’s the adults that people worry about. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/28 "2017-05-31T16:43:31Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’ve only been in one restroom, and I’ve seen men bring in both girls and boys to the men’s restroom. I’ve occasionally happened to be going to the restroom at just the right time (or be waiting on someone to come out) to see a mom take a girl or boy into the women’s restroom. I’ve never seen a man take a girl into a women’s restroom, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. > > I admit, I’d internalized the idea that it depended on the gender of the adult. It makes more sense to me, since it’s the adults that people worry about. People are so over the top with that shit. A friend-of-friend on the internet was once lamenting that thanks to trans bathroom laws, men can take little girls into the restrooms (horror!) and she said she once saw two men take a three year old into the men’s bathroom and the little girl was shrieking at the top of her lungs and the staff told her there was nothing they could do. It appears she was certain that the two men (probably her parents) were sexually abusing a toddler in a public restroom while allowing her to shriek at the top of her lungs. Because shrieking for no goddamn reason is something kids _never_ do. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/29 "2017-05-31T16:53:34Z")
I think it would have been better for them to actually tell her that, if they didn’t. “Children scream all the time, ma’am.” Though I do understand why, when someone violates what you think is the norm, you are inherently more suspicious of them. That’s why people who are actually bad people try to blend in. I’m not saying I agree with the woman at all. But I do get it. What I don’t get is why people hold on to these “norms” as if they are sacred. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/30 "2017-05-31T17:43:03Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > I think that people need to get around to taking their own dumps without stopping to stick their nose in anybody else’s. > > People: There aren’t any truffles in there & you aren’t Howard Stern. But how else am I gonna get truffle butter? ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/31 "2017-05-31T18:27:39Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > It appears she was certain that the two men (probably her parents) were sexually abusing a toddler in a public restroom while allowing her to shriek at the top of her lungs. Because shrieking for no goddamn reason is something kids _never_ do. I think most parents have at least one memory of being out in public somewhere and their small child pitched such a fit over something minor in a way that must have had bystanders reasonably wondering if the child was being kidnapped. This is fresh in my mind because it just happened to me over the weekend. As to the OP, I do not find it odd at all. It’s parenting. And you never know what might have happened just prior to witnessing this – maybe the dad had tried the men’s room, and found a mess or a clogged toilet, and the women’s room was his plan B. It doesn’t really matter, though. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/32 "2017-05-31T18:38:11Z")
> [@ANWR -- Down in Flames, Baby!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anwr-down-in-flames-baby/104530/73): > > A friend-of-friend on the internet was once lamenting that thanks to trans bathroom laws, men can take little girls into the restrooms (horror!) Yeah, that’s particularly idiotic because trans bathroom laws are a complete non sequitor to that situation. When were little kids not allowed in the bathrooms of their parents gender? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/33 "2017-05-31T18:42:18Z")
I’m a man, and couldn’t care less who else is using the same public restroom as me. Have 2 daughters and one son - all adults now. It never would have crossed my mind to take one of my daughters in to the women’s room - at least if we are talking about a communal rest room. If we are talking about single toilet individual restrooms, I could readily imagine using the one designated women if the men’s was occupied. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/34 "2017-05-31T18:48:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **BigT** : > > I’ve only been in one restroom… It took me a while to figure out what you meant by that-- It sounds like you’re saying that you never go out in public, or something, or at least never use the facilities outside of your house. But I think you mean you’ve only ever used assorted mens’ rooms, not ever a womens’ room? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/35 "2017-06-01T00:52:36Z")
I can’t recall a time I’ve taken my daughters to a male or female restroom, it’s always been either a handicap room or parents room. If I did have to, I’d take them to the mens. When they were small going to swimming lessons I’d get them changed in the mens, but that is a different situation. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/36 "2017-06-01T01:18:21Z")
I’m a 59 year old male. I cannot recall _ever_ seeing a man’s penis in a men’s restroom. Ever. In my life. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/37 "2017-06-01T15:13:38Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’m a 59 year old male. I cannot recall _ever_ seeing a man’s penis in a men’s restroom. Ever. In my life. So what kind of penis do you have then? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/38 "2017-06-01T15:40:19Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > So what kind of penis do you have then? 😃 Ahhh, yes. _Other_ than my own impressive member. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/39 "2017-06-01T15:45:32Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Ahhh, yes. _Other_ than my own impressive member. Sorry couldn’t resist, but that could of gone so many different ways of bad. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678/40 "2017-06-01T15:47:58Z")
You would have to expect that most women would be accepting of a man trying to care for his daughter. I wouldn’t want to hang around the stall until she finished. That might be awkward. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-this-odd/787678.md?page=3)