To be annoyed at the lack of bathrooms

Yes my husband is very happy with the library provision and I get to look at books while I wait. Very civilised. They do seem to be clean and well looked after as well.

You and your husband are just one case. I am just speculating that on average, it seems like women do wait longer in queues for access to public toilets. It's also a fact that women have one additional reason to use toilets than men. I might say two additional reasons, given that it's more likely to be women taking their kids to the toilets than men. Of course women are disadvantaged.

I also don't see why you have to point this out? It shouldn't be a disadvantage contest!

I've had 4 babies the smallest being 9 lbs. Having a baby might have affected your bladder control but don't pretend all women are the same. I'm sick of being lumped together with women who claim we all live in fear and have poor bladder control.

Well I'm in my 70s and today I had a wee went to catch a train and hour later changed trains and then went shopping before visiting friend so 4 hours till I needed a loo. In that time my husband would have needed a loo at least twice maybe 3 times. It is ridiculous to keep on about women being disadvantaged. Some people need the loo more often than others and no one should need to wee behind a bush.

This regularly winds me up. Women are disproportionately affected by the lack of public toilets. Since having children, I can’t go as long without peeing as I used to. I actually have to factor in if I need to not drink anything at all if I’m going somewhere I know there are no toilets. It’s ridiculous and inhumane.

I don't see why. Enough toilets for everyone men women children the disabled I honestly can't see the point of some game about who needs loos more or whose happy about men weeing in public.

Maybe I'm lucky but in my town there are 2 shopping 'malls' with reasonable toilets (one better than the other) plus places like Wetherspoons (2 of them) and Marks & Spencer with decent toilets, and several chain and independent pubs with just-about acceptable ones. But I'm not arguing. More are needed for women and girls everywhere. It's not only the need to change tampons, it's the fact that we can't just unzip and point at a tree or a wall. (I'm not suggesting that men and boys should need to do that but they can do!)

this is a good idea, as is the council encouraging use of bathrooms in buildings they already own, like libraries, or museums, thus encouraging people to make use of them as well.

tbh I also wouldn't mind if paying a token amount (like 20p) was re-introduced if it meant there were more (and better cared for) public toilets. There would have to be a card scanning option nowadays though because so many people (me included!) don't carry cash!

While I appreciate people think it's a piss take (sorry for the pun) to use pub toilets without buying anything, nobody has time to sit and wait for a whole meal to be served and then eat it every time they need a pee, and even if you "just" bought a drink surely you'd then need the loo again within an hour or so, thus defeating the purpose.

The thing is, the issue would have disappeared if OP hadn't insisted so aggressively that they are always called bathrooms and she never sees references to public toilets. It simply can't be true.

I've never had a tampon be so full that I worry about standing in a queue for too long, but that didn't cause any mess at all when being changed. Not even a drip.

Also, I'd put money on the fact that no where in England has Bathroom signs instead of W/C, toilets, restrooms etc unless selling bathrooms

"release a chocolate hostage" made me lol😂

I change tampons standing up. I then generally sit down to wee, even if I didn't go in there primarily for that purpose. It makes sense rather than having to come back an hour later.

Just download the app called "Flush". It will show toilets in your vicinity.

You won't be short taken again.

(I mentioned this above, but might have got lost in the period debate).

Perhaps they think it's silly but harmless?

Right, but if you can feel you need to change it, and it feels so urgent you're bothered about standing in a queue to buy something first, that would suggest the tampon was full/starting to leak? So it's surprising that you say there's no spill and no need to clean up.

I live in a small town (pop: 15,000) community volunteers run the public loos which were previously closed by LA.
It's a great amenity to have and well used.

Now I know you have absolutely no idea about menstruation or anything to do with it.
Ever heard of “period poo”? The uterus isn’t connected to the bowel, but period poo is a real and quite unpleasant thing to have to deal with.

All the public loos near me have closed (cost cutting for the council). The knock on effect is other toilets are seeing more use and actually being closed too. The one in local Co-op has shut. Everywhere has signs up to say customers only. I’ve got bladder issues and I find it really tough as I work out and about. Often I just don’t drink or eat till 4pm and am heading for home.

It refers to any room where you have toilets / or showers / or a bath.

Nope. A room where there is only a toilet and basin is a toilet. Or a Ladies' or Gents', or a loo/bog or other similar diminutive. Ditto when there are several toilets and basin.

It’s never been my experience either. Makes me wonder which orifice OP is shoving the tampons in.

That is absolutely not my experience at all.

Obviously. Nevertheless, if I'm out and about and need to change a tampon, I'm going to take the chance to have a wee also, rather than risk needing to wee an hour or two later while I'm still out and about and having to interrupt what I'm doing for a second time to find a toilet.

Actually, I’ve found that toilet provision has improved recently in many places. A city local to me has a scheme whereby local cafes and pubs make their toilets freely available to the public. I expect they gain some extra customers that way, out of goodwill.
Agree that the use of “bathroom” is an Americanism, and I’ve never seen signage as such. But perhaps the OP moves in more sophisticated circles than I do. Also - tampon changing rooms? Bonkers.

I usually head for the library who welcome the public to use the loos.

Some councils have a Community Toilet Scheme where they pay a business, say, £1000 per year to put a sticker on the door saying "Please use our loo, no purchase necessary". Newham used to have such a scheme (maybe it still does, I was there 10+ years ago). I remember one of the places you could go into was the McDonald's on the Leytonstone High Road.

This is a win for everybody. The council doesn't have to run (so many) public toilets, the company gets a little bit more water usage but a lot of people will go "you know what, I fancy a McFlurry" on the way out, and people get more toilets that they can use without feeling like they are stealing something.