Washroom etiquette

[Lucifers_Ghost]

What exactly is proper washroom etiquette?

Here is the setup. I work in an office building that has about 7 floors. Each floor has, give or take, 300 people. There are 2 mens and 2 womens washroom's on either floor. In the men's washroom, there are two stand up urinals, one regular stall, and one handicap stall.

I will say now that in the several months that I have worked here, I have never seen a handicapped person.

So, here goes.

This morning I go into the washroom. Both urinals are being used as is the regular stall. I only had to go #1, but since the urinals were in use, I went into the handicapped stall. I did what I had to do and came out. Out of nowhere, this guy in a wheel chair starts tearing me a new ******* because I was in a handicapped stall. I politely told him that when I came into the washroom, all the other facilities were in use. He said it didnt matter and that these stalls are "reserved" for handicapped people. I apologized and said I disagree. They are public washrooms and are not reserved for anyone. I said that by default I will NOT use a handicapped stall if something else is available but in the event that nothing else is available, I will use it. He then proceeded to call me ignorant. I didnt know how to respond to that so I said in a smug tone "then in punishment, you can run over my toes" and left.

I mean seriously ... am I in the wrong here? ARE the handicapped stalls reserved for wheelchair bound people? Should I have stood there waiting for another facility to become available in the off chance that the ONE handicapped person out of 2000 people in the building happens to come into the same washroom that I am in at the same time?

Just want some thoughts here ...
LG

[gadgetguy]

IMO you have the proper attitude and your actions were perfectly acceptable. I know of no requirement that handicapped stalls are to be reserved, only that they be made available for handicapped use.
Of course, I don't live in Canada so I don't know the rules there.

[stiltman]

I feel the save. In the US they have these stall because it's a law to provide for the disabled. They are not "reserved" for them, just merely available, and in most cases in the past it was because the law said they had too. Now a days, developers just include them by default, since the disability act took place

[Xylob the Destroyer]

Agreed.
You did no wrong.

[adam]

Handicapped stalls and ramps and such are accommodations, not reservations. I think only parking spaces are reserved.

You shoud have let the air out of his tires.

[ViRaL1]

[rant]
I'm guessing it would be rude to kick open the door and take a dump in his lap next time your paths cross. Had it been anywhere other than work, I'd probably have made the comment that karma seems to have caught up with him, followed by something to the effect of 'DID I PUT YOU IN A WHEELCHAIR, A**HOLE?!?'
[/rant]

I could see if you were taking a dump. How long does it really take to piss? As was said before, it's an accommodation, but it's not reserved. If you two had come in together, etiquette would say to let him use the accessible stall, or if both were open and it was just you to use the non-accessible stall. My local Wal-Mart has a restroom on either end of the store, each with 2 urinals and 1 accessible stall. By this jackass's rationale, non-disabled men can't take a crap at Wal-Mart.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

I guess the next time this situation comes up, you should just piss in the sink....
Or in his trash can.

[Noahtuck]

He was just being a self rightous @$$hole....

My local Wal-Mart has a restroom on either end of the store, each with 2 urinals and 1 accessible stall. By this jackass's rationale, non-disabled men can't take a crap at Wal-Mart.

Exactly!! i have been in many public bathrooms where there was a couple or few urinals & only ONE stall, it was handicap accessible, but only one none the less..... so all these places no one is allowed to use the toilet

And i never heard of handicap stall's being reserved, but designated handicap parking spot's are reserved and will earn you a ticket if caught using one and you do not have either a handicap plate or a handicap sign that hang's from your rearveiw mirror

A couple of places i have worked i've seen people that look for just that, they actually have people that just drive around parking lot's looking for violators & write citations, legal tickets & you get smacked with a good fine, not sure how much around here as i've never been dumb enough to get one

One time i saw these guy's pull up into a handicap spot at target, literally jumped out of the car, it was a convertible, walk up and into the store.... the one guy came right back out less than 5 minutes later & i yelled from my car... Hey.... it must be mental because you seem to walk alright
He just gave me a dirty look and got into his car and left

[budz]

You shoud have let the air out of his tires.

[Lucifers_Ghost]

Awesome. Thanks everyone. I already had assumed I wasnt in the wrong, but I just wanted some affirmation.

I couldnt believe the attitude on this guy. It was insane. Im glad to see that I wasnt/am not the only person that thought the same thing.

Thanks a bunch.
LG

[SquirrelDip]

You shoud have let the air out of his tires.

And walk back in the stall and piss on the seat.

(you did no wrong)

[Noahtuck]

Okay... totally forgot about this one until today....

There is a small medical facility i go to every week.... they have 2 public restrooms, 1 for women, 1 for men, the men's bathroom has two sink's, ONE urinal & one stall that is handicap accessible.
For the last three weeks the urinal has been out of order, just today when i went in to go to the bathroom some guy was there finally fixing the urinal, they are those one's that auto flush when you walk away so you don't even have to touch them,
so again, i used the handicap accessible stall.... what are you supposed to do ? use the women's restroom
Take a dump in the sink or urinal

I'm sure if i came out of the stall and someone in a wheelchair went off on me, i'm sure i would have had some serious profanity to spew at them

[ZAPPER]

The ADA deals with accessability, not the facilities being reserved. First come first served. HC parking spots are calcutated by building codes and often highly enforced, violators should be hobbled! (I do think that I will try to use the mentally handicaped line when I get a chance)


I used to think that the ADA and Life Safty Codes were kind of over kill, but it really doesn't take all that much examination to see where they are pretty important.

[ViRaL1]

From ventriloquist Jeff Dunham and 'Walter'

Walter:My wife and i couldn't find anywhere to park in this stinking' joint and some jerk pulled up in a brand new mercadez right in the handicapped spot, he get out of the car and there's nothing wrong with him! Don't you hate that?

Crowd: Yeah!

Walter: So I ran his ass over. I made an honest man out of him. Then, his mother came out swinging' her crutches at me. Took her out with the door.

[Lucifers_Ghost]

UPDATE: What a maroon this guy is.

I walked into the bathroom today and took a leak at one of the stand up urinals. I washed my hands and as I was leaving, the dude rolls in .. literally.

Me, being the nice guy that I am, looked at him and said "hey" in a not so happy go lucky way. He looks straight at me, smiles and says "Morning. How are ya?" like the rant in which he tore me a new ******* a week earlier never happened.

I guess he reams out so many people its like a fog in his brain.

What a plick!!!

LG

[BJ_M]

many "normal" sized stalls seem to be getting smaller and smaller --

it takes a contortionist to shut the door without standing on the toilet -- and im not THAT big

[sg2007]

I have read some pretty good comments here. My stomach is hurting from laughing so much.

But on a semi-serious note, I dont know about you all but when I have to go reallly badly its kinda like being handicapped. I can't walk straight, I have to make frequent stops to gain control in route to the washroom, etc....so technically couldnt you say that you were temporarily handicapped?

[ZAPPER]

So true.


While we are sort of on the topic....

A guy at work the other day used a line that cracked me up. You have to understand that he looks like "Ernest" (Jim Varney) and typically acts just about as smart as the "Ernest" charactor. He is a "good ole boy" through and through. And while he is one of our best foremen, I often underestimate him because of his "country charm" shall we say.

So... He comes up to me, and in kind of a low key, serious voice, asks if I have ever delivered a baby. With all of the crazy stuff that can happen at work I fell for it, thinking that some woman in the mall was about to pop! Kind of nervously I asked "why?" He then tells me that he has been at three centimeters since break time and now he thinks he is at five! He is "crowning" and if he dosen't make it to the bathroom his water is gonna break and he will deliver a ten pounder right on the spot!

I laughed like hell as he waddled away.