Toilet code? Is that what I think it is?

[Alley_Dweller]

What are you supposed to do with your food while you are in the toilet?

[lingyi]

I like the idea. Better than having to ask and be given that gallon can or giant ladle (yes, I’ve seen both) that let’s everyone know, "Hey I’m going to the bathroom! clank clank!

[PatrickLondon]

@Alley_Dweller

What are you supposed to do with your food while you are in the toilet?

Let your digestion do its job

[Senegoid]

Here’s a variation I saw:

A certain mid-size airport I know of has a restroom in an open-to-the-public place but it has a keypad on the door to make it accessible only to “authorized” users of that airport.

The fence surrounding the restricted area has gates here and there with keypads, so only people who know the code can get in. But on the inside of the gate, the gate code is posted openly in plain text. This is a common practice at many smallish airports.

So anyone who flies into the airport from elsewhere can get out (say, to go to a nearby restaurant for their $100 hamburger) and then get back in to their airplane. (Uh, you did think to take note of the number, right?)

So at this airport, they simply made the loo code the same as the gate code, and posted a sign inside the gate saying so.

[Die_Capacitrix]

Almost all Starbucks in Switzerland have toilets with codes. In Switzerland, as in many other European countries, most of the public toliets require payment. So fast food restaurants sometimes have a big problem with non-customers using their facilities.

This is not the same as a formal restaurant where the bathroom is usually at the far side of the restaurant. Non-customers will stand out if they try to use the restaurant’s facilities.

[Broomstick]

@WildaBeast

The only places I encountered it were fast food places. So pretty much the first thing you would do would be go to the counter and order and pay for food, at which point you would receive a receipt.

Actually, when going into a restaurant the bathroom really is the first place I tend to go, to both relieve myself AND wash my hands. I really prefer to wash my hands before I eat, even if I don’t need to use the toilet. I really don’t want to have to carry my food into the bathroom. Can’t leave it on the table in a fast food place or cafe because there’s a probability of it being cleared away as “abandoned”. If I’m with someone we can take turns watching each other’s food, but if I’m alone (and I do travel alone a good portion of the time) that won’t work.

Seriously, it’s downright nasty if you can’t wash your hands before eating.

[I_Love_Me_Vol.I]

@Die_Capacitrix

Almost all Starbucks in Switzerland have toilets with codes. In Switzerland, as in many other European countries, most of the public toliets require payment. So fast food restaurants sometimes have a big problem with non-customers using their facilities.

I don’t understand. Isn’t that why they require payment? So that a non-customer must pay to use the WC? And why is there a code if you have to pay?

[Novelty_Bobble]

Ha! wouldn’t you know it, we were just out for a walk in town, stopped at a coffee shop and there on the bottom of the receipt we were given was a toilet code.
It was a chain coffee shop and I hadn’t seen it before but my wife was perfectly familiar with it.

[Bayaker]

I am a bit flabbergasted by this, at least for the posts referencing American stores/restaurants. (I understand different culture, when in Rome, etc. for Europe) I thought “customers only” bathrooms went the way of the dodo decades ago. I don’t know of a single fast food place, convenience/grocery/department/discount store, even repair shop that has restricted access to their restrooms. Most have prominent signs pointing the way and you don’t need a key or code or anything.

Is it just some neighborhoods or cities where this is common, and I have been lucky where I choose to “go”?

[doreen]

@Bayaker

I am a bit flabbergasted by this, at least for the posts referencing American stores/restaurants. (I understand different culture, when in Rome, etc. for Europe) I thought “customers only” bathrooms went the way of the dodo decades ago. I don’t know of a single fast food place, convenience/grocery/department/discount store, even repair shop that has restricted access to their restrooms. Most have prominent signs pointing the way and you don’t need a key or code or anything.

Is it just some neighborhoods or cities where this is common, and I have been lucky where I choose to “go”?

It might be the city/neighborhood, but it also might be the particular places you’re going. For example, convenience stores and retail stores in my area typically do not have prominent public restrooms nor do supermarkets. I’ve seen supermarkets in other areas that do have them - but they also have cafes with seating, which the supermarkets in my area don’t have. Fast food places depend- a large Panera or McDonald’s usually has restrooms that don’t require a key or a code but a Subway or Dunkin Donuts with the three tables might. If I had to guess, I’d have to say it depends on a combination of how likely it is that a non-customer would come in to use the restroom ( can’t imagine it happens very often at a mechanic’s shop) and how difficult it is to restrict access ( very difficult at Target, not so much at the Dunkin Donuts with three tables)

[Kimera757]

@Bayaker

I am a bit flabbergasted by this, at least for the posts referencing American stores/restaurants.

I’m not. Frequently when going to McDonald’s, I will see people asking for the key to the bathroom. I don’t think they need to prove that they bought anything, but having to ask reduces the number of people who try to use the bathroom.

[Jackmannii]

@Bayaker

I am a bit flabbergasted by this, at least for the posts referencing American stores/restaurants. (I understand different culture, when in Rome, etc. for Europe) I thought “customers only” bathrooms went the way of the dodo decades ago. I don’t know of a single fast food place, convenience/grocery/department/discount store, even repair shop that has restricted access to their restrooms.

I don’t know about repair shops, but yes, I’ve never seen a fast food place, supermarket, gas n’git or department store that had any restriction on who could use their bathrooms. As previously mentioned, I might have to go and/or wash my hands before eating, and I’m not about to take a tray of food into the bathroom.

I’d expect a fancier sit-down restaurant place to maybe raise an eyebrow if someone came in and headed directly to the restroom, but if you explained the situation I doubt they’d object.

[Eyebrows_0f_Doom]

I’ve seen this in many fast causal type places in NYC. It’s very common here.

[Voyager]

@nearwildheaven

I do some transcribing of secret shopper receipts, and this is exactly what was on the bottom of a British receipt. Is this the modern version of a pay toilet, most likely to keep unsavory characters and illegal activity out of the restrooms?

Has anyone else ever seen anything like this?

So, they’ve done away with spending a penny?

That’s the euphemism I heard from a nice British lady on the QE2 in 1980.

[installLSC]

@Bayaker

I am a bit flabbergasted by this, at least for the posts referencing American stores/restaurants. (I understand different culture, when in Rome, etc. for Europe) I thought “customers only” bathrooms went the way of the dodo decades ago. I don’t know of a single fast food place, convenience/grocery/department/discount store, even repair shop that has restricted access to their restrooms. Most have prominent signs pointing the way and you don’t need a key or code or anything.

Is it just some neighborhoods or cities where this is common, and I have been lucky where I choose to “go”?

At least in the Northwest, restrooms that require codes or permission to use are more the rule than the exception. For example in dowtown Seattle the only ones that come to mind are government buildings, department stores, and large tourist spots like Pike Place Market. They are less common in the rest of Seattle and are fairly rare outside of downtown in Tacoma. Of course, in densely packed areas a lot of shops and corner stores don’t have restrooms to begin with.

[Green_Bean]

I’ve seen it in the receipt in NYC, though only recently. Controlled access bathrooms have been relatively common for as long as I can remember, though.

@DPRK

The problem with that reasoning is, while certainly many cafes and restaurants and pubs stipulate that the toilets are for customers only, why would I get a receipt before I actually pay for my coffee or beer or meal?

I often want to use the bathroom before I order. If there is a code or key, I just ask a cashier. I’ve never gotten pushback.

[installLSC]

@installLSC

For example in dowtown Seattle the only ones that come to mind are government buildings, department stores, and large tourist spots like Pike Place Market.

Sorry, that should be “the only freely accessable bathrooms that come to mind”.

[Melbourne]

@Voyager

So, they’ve done away with spending a penny?

That’s the euphemism I heard from a nice British lady on the QE2 in 1980.

You only had to spend a penny to sit down. This discrimination was one of the excuses used for closing public toilets. (Another excuse was “no disabled access”).

In Melbourne (and, from the examples I’ve seen, in London), both forms of discrimination are now reduced: you can’t find a public toilet even if you are a fit, non-handicaped male.

[UltraVires]

@Bayaker

I am a bit flabbergasted by this, at least for the posts referencing American stores/restaurants. (I understand different culture, when in Rome, etc. for Europe) I thought “customers only” bathrooms went the way of the dodo decades ago. I don’t know of a single fast food place, convenience/grocery/department/discount store, even repair shop that has restricted access to their restrooms. Most have prominent signs pointing the way and you don’t need a key or code or anything.

Is it just some neighborhoods or cities where this is common, and I have been lucky where I choose to “go”?

I’ve seen it in a couple of places while traveling. It is usually an excellent sign that you’ve found yourself in a bad neighborhood. The place has problems with people coming in to shoot up and then pass out in their restroom.

[Mk_VII]

Most businesses here don’t want people just coming in to use the john and then leaving again. In fact most businesses wont let even customers use the john, unless they are restaurants/cafes. Big supermarkets will usually have one anyone can use, small ones not likely.