# Local McDonald's removed all the doors to their public restroom stalls, illegal? \[fixed title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2022, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755 "2022-09-18T12:57:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/61 "2022-09-21T23:58:58Z")
Because it’s meant to be a single-user restroom, just like the more common ones that don’t have a urinal. I can only guess, but that urinal must be there as a water-saving device because if it was _meant_ for two people to use at once, there would be a stall with a door. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/62 "2022-09-21T23:59:41Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > It may be a problem if children use them and they would be exposed to public viewing. Unless there are surveillance cameras aimed at the stalls or the local building code specifies how much privacy users require _within_ a single-sex restroom I don’t see what the legal issue would be. “The public” in this scenario is merely other users of the restroom, not all of the customers of the restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/63 "2022-09-22T01:34:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Why would the “purpose” be only one dude at a time? I don’t get it. Because sometime the dude is a dudette. It’s a unisex restroom. Yes, I’ve been in many multi-user unisex restrooms, but they typically have serious partitions. Not something your McD’s or Subway is going to undertake… Nevermind - I see up above you are calling out male specific rooms. Either way, these type rooms should all convert to unisex. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/64 "2022-09-22T02:17:08Z")
My college has two unisex single-stall restrooms, next to each other. One has a urinal, the other one doesn’t. They had previously been a Men’s restroom and a Women’s restroom, and were changed to unisex for various reasons (and why not?) ---
**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:** [September 22, 2022, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/65 "2022-09-22T11:16:01Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Why would the “purpose” be only one dude at a time? I don’t get it I was in a very trashy dive bar that had one bathroom. A crudely made sign on the door said, “ONE AT A TIME YOU FILTHY ANIMALS”. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/66 "2022-09-23T15:26:46Z")
We ran across both aviation-style latrines in our trek at Philmont back in the 80s. Pilot-to-copilot: [Two holes side by side](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zq2yp30I5q8/UAW_-QZcSgI/AAAAAAAABHc/W8VsVYgeqew/s1600/2012-07-10_11-47-02_101.jpg) The most common sort. Pilot-to-bombardier: [Two holes back to back](http://www.pwiin.org/pwiinholt/images/pilot&bombadere.JPG). The one I remember some joker had placed beside a not quite cliff, so that the people using it were visible for a long way away. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/67 "2022-09-23T16:30:39Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Another rule, possibly related, explicitly banned masturbating in the showers. The RA said something like “We may never know if it was shampoo or jizz.” If it exfoliates your scalp well, does it really matter? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/68 "2022-09-23T16:34:14Z")
It’s not the product; it’s the production. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/69 "2022-09-23T16:40:21Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Pilot-to-copilot: [Two holes side by side](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zq2yp30I5q8/UAW_-QZcSgI/AAAAAAAABHc/W8VsVYgeqew/s1600/2012-07-10_11-47-02_101.jpg) The most common sort. > > Pilot-to-bombardier: [Two holes back to back](http://www.pwiin.org/pwiinholt/images/pilot&bombadere.JPG). At least I haven’t heard stories of getting real weird of something like [“Rowboat”](https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-man-and-woman-rowing-in-their-boat-on-the-sea-90352825.html?imageid=4D9E90C1-07C7-42DF-A5E9-70B6D357056C&p=104564&pn=1&searchId=9948f6967102dbda96be6a95ee675b8b&searchtype=0), where the holes are front to front, so you get to stare your neighbor in the eyes as you do your business. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/70 "2022-09-25T13:10:16Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > The pit toilets in some Boy Scout camps (like Philmont) were primitive two-seaters. They were called “pilot and co-pilot”. On the Appalachian Trail there is a 2 seater privy called 'Your Move". Between the 2 seats is a cribbage board. It was never really intended to be used by 2 at the same time (and the board is a joke to admire when one does their business), though I’m sure it happened at times. It was done this way to increase the capacity of the privy and thus last longer before maintaining it as hikers will have to chose one of the other, and thus spread the wealth between 2 areas in the pit (or composting pile) Never being at Philmont, but at other BSA camps, I know those privy’s get serious usage and perhaps they were 2 seaters for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/71 "2022-09-25T13:22:51Z")
I feel obligated to post this. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/avb1XbO0EIs/maxresdefault.jpg "The Love Toilet - SNL") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avb1XbO0EIs) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/72 "2023-02-20T12:35:25Z")
There was a tandem toilet at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. > **[The mysterious case of Sochi’s double toilets and other Olympic memories](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/08/05/the-mysterious-case-of-sochis-double-toilets-and-other-olympic-memories/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjI3NTYyODAwIiwicmVhc29uIjoiZ2lmdCIsIm5iZiI6MTY3Njg2OTIwMCwiaXNzIjoic3Vic2NyaXB0aW9ucyIsImV4cCI6MTY3ODE2NTE5OSwiaWF0IjoxNjc2ODY5MjAwLCJqdGkiOiI3ZjMzMTYwNy04Y2U3LTRkMWItYWZlMy03Zjc3NDQ4YzNjMWEiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZHZpZXdzL3dwLzIwMTYvMDgvMDUvdGhlLW15c3RlcmlvdXMtY2FzZS1vZi1zb2NoaXMtZG91YmxlLXRvaWxldHMtYW5kLW90aGVyLW9seW1waWMtbWVtb3JpZXMvIn0.TiadwHKO99J1N6zJDjbxgGiXO81PalZ1lzytyK6BmA4&itid=gfta)** > > Rio, take heart! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/73 "2023-02-20T23:48:12Z")
> Side-by-side toilets in a single bathroom caused a social media sensation when they were discovered at the biathlon course of the Sochi Olympics. Maybe that was just a mistranslation of “biathlon”. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/74 "2023-02-28T19:16:06Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > I don’t think I’d want to use wide-open toilets, but apparently they were not uncommon - at least once upon a time. I’ve never seen this in any kind of business establishment, but throughout my years in the L.A. public schools (1963 - 1975) the stalls in the boys’ bathrooms never had doors. In all that time, I used a stall maybe twice, when I just couldn’t wait until I got home. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/75 "2023-03-01T03:03:49Z")
Oops – already said that a few months ago… ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755/76 "2023-03-01T03:19:13Z")
wow so did I [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-mcdonalds-removed-all-the-doors-to-their-public-restroom-stalls-illegal-fixed-title/971755.md?page=3)