Public restroom-be very aware of your surroundings

[Moliphino]

Good point. I only noticed that American chains in Europe charged for the bathroom (i.e. you had to buy something). I remember being in Nuremberg and buying the smallest cup of coffee at Starbucks just to get the bathroom code because I had to go that bad. I remember cities like Prague also charging for public bathrooms and they had the bathroom attendants too.

I remember turnstiles to get into the bathrooms in the train station in Munich. There was also a change machine nearby if you needed it.
In St. Emilion there were only a couple paid port-a-potties and we had to go to the visitors center to get change to use it because we only had bills. Of course that was the one time I had to pee badly right when getting off the train. I think there were free bathrooms available when we toured one winery, but I didn't have to go then.
I have learned to use available bathrooms if you have the slightest need to pee because you don't know when the next one is coming.

Well, it’s not like WDW everywhere, in NYC there aren’t a lot of public bathrooms, and businesses require you purchase something to use theirs. The hotels we’ve stayed at in Philadelphia require a room key to enter the lobby bathrooms (if your room isn’t ready the front desk can buzz you in). In that case it’s to keep out the homeless.

I didn't say it was. Cities anywhere can be tough.

 

[DLgal]

I few decades ago, my BFF went to Russia for a semester college exchange program. He had to bring his own toilet paper everywhere. It wasn't even supplied at public toilets.

Most people have 2 good hands. Who needs toilet paper? My husband has some stories from his time in Iraq and Afghanistan...

 

[QueenIsabella]

Maybe this is why they kiss each other on the cheek instead of shake hands?

The real irony was, the mini-fridge was just outside the water closet. They could have easily put in a small sink right there...but they didn't. There was a walk-in closet next to it, too, so you couldn't argue that there was no room. And the main bathroom was quite large. I was really flummoxed. I mean, a 300-year-old farmhouse having primitive facilities, at least you can understand.

 

[Mysterian]

I few decades ago, my BFF went to Russia for a semester college exchange program. He had to bring his own toilet paper everywhere. It wasn't even supplied at public toilets.

Yikes. I can see why Mikhail Baryshnikov left that place fast. When you've got a burning desire for ballet, you can't be bothered to deal with second world problems like carrying your own TP.

 

[Kimkimba]

I can’t believe anyone would attempt to justify the man’s actions. In strange places my husband waits for me because he loves me. I read a lot of true crime and know what can happen.

 

[Moliphino]

The real irony was, the mini-fridge was just outside the water closet. They could have easily put in a small sink right there...but they didn't. There was a walk-in closet next to it, too, so you couldn't argue that there was no room. And the main bathroom was quite large. I was really flummoxed. I mean, a 300-year-old farmhouse having primitive facilities, at least you can understand.

I've seen that in a few hotels, too. Once in Munich and once in France. In Brussels there was a tiny room with a toilet and a tiny sink and a separate room with the tub/shower and large vanity with sink. The shower room door was glass with just a strip of it frosted, luckily it was down a hallway that could be avoided when someone was in there.

 

[thinkerbell]

The OP was TL/DR. I lost interest when she said her husband usually accompanies her to the restroom and stands outside “for safety.”

Sure, practically every husband has done the same. But almost all stand 10 or more feet away, not right outside the entrance.

So what does this husband do for “safety?” Interrogate every woman who enters after his wife? Give dirty looks to everyone who passes within 5 feet? Sounds like Karen (Kyle?) behavior.

And then the one time he doesn’t watch supposedly something bad happened. Pffft. Not buying what she’s selling.

Please… it isn’t like that. Of course he doesn’t stand right outside the door interrogating every woman going in. He is just in the general vicinity of the restroom like a normal person.

 

[DLgal]

I can’t believe anyone would attempt to justify the man’s actions. In strange places my husband waits for me because he loves me. I read a lot of true crime and know what can happen.

If you read a lot of True Crime, you should know that your husband is statistically most likely to be your killer...

 

[CdnCarrie]

If you read a lot of True Crime, you should know that your husband is statistically most likely to be your killer...

This is true!
I don't need my husband to stand outside the washroom to show that he loves me. I'm actually out more without him than with him.

 

[Marrila]

This is true!
I don't need my husband to stand outside the washroom to show that he loves me. I'm actually out more without him than with him.

Most of us don't need our husbands standing outside the ladies room as a testament of their love and devotion.
When we do this for one or the other partner it's for our own convenience. We leave together and get on with our happy day.

 

[Kimkimba]

If you read a lot of True Crime, you should know that your husband is statistically most likely to be your killer...

Obviously you don’t know MY husband.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Most of us don't need our husbands standing outside the ladies room as a testament of their love and devotion.
When we do this for one or the other partner it's for our own convenience. We leave together and get on with our happy day.

Yes we do too as I've said. Out walking in a mall, theme park, etc we would stop while one pops in to the washroom.
At a casino or a restaurant where we are already seated we would just stay where we are and one partner would go off and do their business and come on back.

and I wasn't the one to bring up love = waiting outside the bathroom.... I was just commenting on that comment....

 

[QueenIsabella]

I'm not going to judge the OP on the issue of her husband waiting outside the restroom for her. She may have health issues, or anxiety, or may be recovering from trauma, or just like him to do this. Personally, I wouldn't expect my husband to do this, but we don't know their dynamic, and if it works for them, who cares?

I used to work with a guy whose wife was a SAHM. She let her driver's license lapse, and never bothered to renew it, which means that he had to do 100% of the family driving. Grocery store, soccer pick-up, doctor's appointments--it was all on him. There was no health issues. It seemed insane to me (still does! This wasn't in 1950!). I can't begin to imagine being that dependent on my husband that I couldn't make a grocery run without him. Even though their kids were in school, if the wife was sick, he'd take the day off to be home with her. I found it very weird. But, hey--different strokes, I guess, and so long as I didn't have to pick up his slack at work, it didn't impact my life.

 

[Colleen27]

When I went to Japan, I was very surprised to see that even in public places like train stations and malls, the bathrooms all had a "washlet" (it's like a combination of a traditional toilet and a bidet). Having the toilet be heated was surprising too lol

The buttons on Japanese style toilets are... a bit much. When my daughter went abroad with an exchange group, they had a whole unit in their orientation session on using the toilet. We've since encountered a couple of Japanese toilets in Japanese restaurants or lodging here in the US and I understand why the kids needed a lesson in how to work them.

There's also a trend of not having vents in hotel bathrooms. Combined with doors that don't shut. It's kind of gross.

That's the one that really bugs me. Not just because of toilet activities but because I have a teenage daughter who could use up all the hot water in a thousand-room resort and I hate when the rest of the room gets all steamy! Those vents are essential, especially in rooms without windows that open.

someone had posted that a friend went to Turkey and the bathroom was literally a hole in the ground
along those lines a friend of mind is going crazy cause she has a chance to go to Tanziana and shes explaning how parts of where theyre going the bathroom is an actual hole in the ground--shes laughing over this but it sure isnt somewhere Id want to go--
my DH would tell me stories when is was younger that there family trip was to northern WI and they had to use an outhouse--no thanks to that too--

this same friend said that a few years ago we took a terrific cruise to europe and Im telling her all the places we went and she says thats some place I would never want to go--yet shell go where theres no indoor bathroom and thinks its fun--

Ah, pit toilets. I must admit, I've sort of gotten used to them over the last few years as we've done more camping and hiking. They're an unfortunate necessity of seeing so many interesting places, but at least they are a place to go. I have friends who travel in places/ways that require packing out your own solid waste and used TP, and that's where I draw the line of what I'm willing to do in the name of adventure.

 

[White Cat]

Please… it isn’t like that. Of course he doesn’t stand right outside the door interrogating every woman going in. He is just in the general vicinity of the restroom like a normal person.

I always wait outside for my wife, just do, and she waits for me. It’s something I never thought about.

And as an aside, I won’t leave her alone at the table while out for dinner, it’s just not the right thing to do, that is to leave a lady alone at the table.

 

[DLgal]

Obviously you don’t know MY husband.

I'm sure his mother would say he was such a good boy.

 

[DLgal]

And as an aside, I won’t leave her alone at the table while out for dinner, it’s just not the right thing to do, that is to leave a lady alone at the table.

What?

 

[lisaviolet]

Thinkerbell,

So very sorry that happened to you

And your restraint is crazy incredible. I so need some lessons.

 

[Living42Day]

I'm sure his mother would say he was such a good boy.

Who pooped in your Cheerios? Yeesh.

 

[DLgal]

Who pooped in your Cheerios? Yeesh.

I'm JOKING. Sheesh.