Recently, I read a post entitled,  Please Don’t Use The Accessible Bathroom If You Don’t Have A Disability by Lauren Berglund on TheMighty.com. In the comments section it was clear that this is a very important issue.  So much so, that the readers got into a lengthy and heated debate about who has the right to use the bigger stall in the public bathroom. After reading all of the comments, (some of which were quite vulgar and rude), I did what I always do when I don’t know the answer; I went looking for the truth.

 In my search, I was surprised to find that quite a few people have written articles passionately about why they feel justified in using the larger stall, while others feel it is only for the disabled.  The comment was made that ” while it maybe handicapped assessable, it’s not handicap elusive, especially if no disabled person is there. But is that true? And since not all disability is visable, how can that be assumed? The first step is to understand the reason why is there is a larger stall in a public restroom. 

The larger stall didn’t always exist in public bathrooms. It certainly was not there when I was a child or even a young adult. Therein lied the problem. Disabled persons, ( particularly those in wheelchairs) couldn’t use public restroom very well, if at all. But before I give that history, let me share with you a vivid childhood memory.

 I was seven years old.   The place was a downtown department store.  A young woman in a wheelchair need to use the restroom. Her companion had to go ask the store manager to shut down the public bathroom. I’m assuming this was because because they had to use the open area of the restroom so the young woman could be helped to relieve herself.  The restroom was near the shoe department where my mother was buying me a new pair of shoes. We had to wait for our turn to be served, so I sat patiently for my new shoes. That was a real treat that happened only twice a year, a big, busy sale, before school and before winter, so I was very excited. When I got excited, I usually had to go to the bathroom, so I was watching this whole scenario with the store manager play out, eagerly waiting my restroom turn while my mother choose my Mary Janes. Meanwhile, I watched the store manager put out the OUT OF SERVICE sign. The young woman in wheelchair and her companion went into the restroom as the helpful store manager stood guard.  Whenever someone approached, he quietly informed them in a respectful and sympathetic tone that, ” A woman in a wheelchair is being assisted in this restroom. Please wait or use another one of our restrooms on another floor. ” Not one woman got upset. Even if they were elderly or had a child, they simply accepted it with an understanding that being in a wheelchair was an unenviable situation and followed his direction. Of course, in those days, that’s what we did. We accepted and followed that there was a social protecol to be followed. You dressed up to go out.  Everyone wore a hat, especially to shop and so did their children. With that attire, came polite manners. So I sat there, holding it, with my eye on the manager. I asked mother about what I saw and she told me, as she paid for my shoes,  “Janice, being in a wheelchair is a difficult life and we all ought to feel sorry that poor woman has to go through such an indignity.”

When she and her companion finally came out, a half hour later, my mother and I had just finished at the shoes and made a beeline to the restroom! I remember walking as fast as my little legs would carry me whilst trying to keep my bladder from letting go. The woman in the wheelchair saw us coming and looked embarrassed as she sheepishly offered apologies. My mother touched her shoulder and as she went past her said, ” That’s alright dear. This is life.” And in we went. My mother took the opportunity to teach me to feel grateful that my legs could take me into the toilet to relieve myself. “That woman doesn’t have your freedom,” she told me. And instead of being stressed out that I had to hold it, my mother made me feel fortunate that I had the choice. Legs and feet with new shoes. Grateful indeed. 

Now, back to legal American history. On July 26, 1990,  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law.  It thus mandated that requirements be made to accommodate people with disabilities in public places. According to the ADA National Network Disability Law Handbook, created by Jacquie Brennan, Esq., “The  ADA defines a person with a disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity. This includes people who have a record of such an impairment, even if they do not currently have a disability. It also includes individuals who do not have a disability but are regarded as having a disability. The ADA also makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person based on that person’s association with a person with a disability.”

The handbook answers the question: 

“Do All Bathrooms Have To Be Accessible? 

If a business has a public restroom, at least one toilet room must be accessible and must have a sign that says it is an accessible toilet. There are very specific measurements and provision in the 2010 Standards regarding accessible restrooms.”

From personal experience, I rarely see a sign. I think this is the root of the confusion over the intended provision and use about the larger restroom stall.  As I read the ADA guidelines, my understanding is that the larger stall, which has very specific requirements, was an provision by law to provide an accessible toilet for disabled individuals. If that sign was there, it would make it clear that, that is it’s purpose. It is BECAUSE of a LAW that provides quality of life for disabled to have access to many things, including the ability to enjoy the freedom of a private restroom stall in the same way that non-disabled Americans always enjoyed without having to do with the young woman was forced to do when I was a child. That caused disabled and non disabled people a lot of trouble. Disabled persons had the right to have their own stall. So, that is why the larger stall is there. 

Its original purpose was not for any other reason. The owners of the public building did not go through considerable expense to comply with the ADA to make the lives of non-disabled Americans more convenient. And yet, non-disabled people usually find ADA compliant guidelines offer them even MORE freedom than they had formerly, so they revel in it, and in the very short time between 1990 and the present day, we all have become so accustomed to the ADA compliant America, larger areas, automatic doors, motion sensor faucets, that it seems, at least in the public restroom, that we’ve  lost sight of the preciousness of able-bodies, gracious manners and looking out for your fellow man. 

Like so many other examples today, so many feel entitled and justify that their wants and rights are more important than, in this case, that of their fellow disabled American. This makes some disabled Americans angry. They fought a long time and put up with a lot of unfair treatment before the ADA. Does it make sense that they should continue to receive the same unfair treatment BECAUSE the ADA compliant restroom so pleasing to use? 

Many comments are made about people lashing out in the use or misuse of ADA assessable areas. Some, who were at first, so full of righteous indignation over the abuse of assessable areas, have now become judge and jury over anyone who “doesn’t look disabled.”  “May I help you?” as been replaced with naming calling and retaliation because they feel in do so they are protecting the rights of the disabled by calling out the preps. They’re not. They’re breeding hatred. I blame the media for their sensationalism  in their exposes on people who abuse ADA assessable areas like parking spaces, for creating  poorly educated whistle-blowers.   

If the Constitution of The United States, The Bill of Rights is to be believed and accepted as applicable for all Americans, that means then, no American has the right to discriminate or take away the rights or privileges of any other. Not even in the “privacy” of a public restroom. The  same principle applies in restrooms as it does in the parking lot. If you’re not the person who falls under the guidelines of the ADA, that place is not for you. 

The addition of baby changing stations in public restrooms was a great idea, but, putting them in the ADA assessable stall worked against the original purpose of the stall because that allowed for not only the changing of a baby, but the changing of the mindset of the parent and children that this was now to be considered a place for families. If a mother and child or children are in the stall and a disabled person needs that stall, it puts us right back to where we were when I was a child. A disabled person has no place to go. I don’t have an answer for this one expect to say that having family restrooms everywhere  that also included a assessable stall would be ideal. 

If you can honestly say that the government guidelines for the larger public restroom stall apply to you, then it is there for you. Use it with gratitude.  If not, consider yourself grateful for other reasons and use the retro stall that was has always been there for you when you need it. Its not ideal, but, it’s not exactly a porta John, or an outhouse. May the privilege and freedom of being able to use that stall never be taken away from you. Use it in good health. And try to look at the public restroom as an opportunity to be mindful of the commonality we are share. Relieving ourselves is personally important. We all have do it several times a everyday. Whether or not you’re a principled person, you shouldn’t have any trouble understanding the importance of a stress-free elimination experience. Embrace humanity and choose your stall wisely.