What’s the deal with so many public restrooms using tamper-resistant screws? Either tamper-resistant Torx or one-way screws. Is there really such an epidemic of people unscrewing things in bathrooms that these are needed?
Tamper-resistant bit sets are easy to come by these days. So what are they trying to prevent? Bored people sitting on the toilet with a pocket knife that might have a Phillips or flat-head screwdriver?
Ah restrooms are a favourite place to hide drugs for pick up.
A man goes in, unscrews something then leaves a small pack of coke, then screws it back in.
Everyone else just sees the toliet paper holder or whatever as being a “little off” or not screwed in all the way.
A day later the pick up guy comes in and gets it. Virtually no one would think to unscrew it all the way to look and the drop and pick up make sure that maintanence is the kind that takes a day to fix anything.
Ah, when I was a wee lad, I used to unscrew stuff in the bathrooms (handles, outlet covers, those little hooks to hang your coat on) just to fuck with the school. Then they got smart and put those tamper resistant screws on.
It’s a pain to have to find new bolts and nuts every week to fix the bathroom that the people not using markers on the partitions have removed. Those special bolts and nuts made a big difference where I worked with the public.
I just got back from the bathroom here at work. I noticed the partitions themselves were held together with regular screws, but the locks and coat hooks had tamper proof screws. I guess anyone who really wanted to could walk out with a partition, but I imagine they’d have a hard time getting it past security.
Of course, but people who do this are just bored. Nobody plans his day around dismantling a toilet stall. So, putting in tamper-resistant screws prevents nearly all of the vandalism.
Since I am generally a respectful, law-abiding citizen, and what’s more, I appreciate having purse-hooks and a stable place to do my business, I don’t engage in vandalism. I will admit to having scribbled on a few bathroom walls when I was a teen, but that’s about it.
Having said that, I always carry a mini multitool with me, on my keyring, except when I’m in an airport or some place like that. It’s just something that I carry around with me, and I’m sure that I could cause a lot of damage if I was bored and feeling destructive.
I always carry a couple of paperback books with me, so I don’t get to feeling bored and destructive.