AIBU to feel uncomfortable with a male cleaner in women’s toilets while they are operational?

I'm a cleaner myself and have to clean all genders. I don't go in the men's if there is anyone in there and am as unobtrusive as possible in the others...it's their private time.
Equally we have to get round a lot of work in a very short time and have to make checks.Hence why we fuss over toilet roll, we get in trouble if we ever run out of that or hand-wash.
Re the gents, if someone is in there I slap a notice on the door...Do not enter...and do a bit of dusting nearby, then nip in when he comes out.Ive rarely walked in on anyone.

In answer to your original question ‘what would you do?’ In your shoes I would

Go to the toilet before I left work.

Get petrol somewhere else (it’s notoriously expensive at motorway service stations).

Do my shopping elsewhere (for the same reasons as above).

Try to sort out meals/mealtimes so that you’re not spending 1-2 hours eating service-station food really late at night.

You’ve said that you’ve stopped going there so it seems that you may have done all the above. If that’s the case then you may see benefits to your health, your mental heath & your budget.

We all have things that make us uncomfortable and if you’ve done what you need to that’s a good step for you.

if it were me I’d have gone to the toilet and just gone home as I’m always in a rush to just get the job done.

Why would you be worried about a male toilet attendant?

This wouldn’t bother me.

How tf did you know all the toilets all already had toilet roll in them? I can think of no setup where you could've known this without going in all of the toilets to check. You sound as though you were acting like a total weirdo and he was possibly slightly alarmed or suspicious, so was watching you to make sure you weren't doing anything dodgy.

I have been in so many similar situations and never bat an eyelid. A man taking his daughter into a restroom and loudly announcing himself and apologising because he didn't want her near urinals. Male plumbers or electricians in a women's refuge. Male cleaners on a female only hospital ward. That's just life and it is perfectly ok, OP.

Absolutely mental take, leave the man alone.

If it's got 30 cubicles, then cleaning each cubicle and restocking loo roll is going to take a lot longer than 40 minutes.

You seriously waited 40 minutes to use the loo because of a male cleaner? Were you in the toilets watching him the whole time waiting for him to leave or did you go back out to the restaurant but keep an eagle eye on the toilet door waiting for him to come out? The bathroom was very busy so you weren’t even going to be alone in there with him? Also how much ‘peace’ do you seriously expect when using a public loo? Surely it’s in and out as quickly as possible? What were you planning to do in there that was so precious that it could not be interrupted?

If there is a sign I don't see the problem.

Why would I need to? That’s not what happened. I don’t think men are often worried my predatory female toilet attendants are they?

Where I work there is public access to much of the building and have used the toilets on the ground floor which are used by the public. Some women are filthy - drop toilet paper and period products on the floor and can't be bothered picking them up and putting in the bin provided. The poor cleaner (usually male) has to then pick everything up before starting to clean.
Male cleaners do not apply for these jobs because they want to be in a ladies toilets for perverted reasons plus the pay is not great.

I'd strongly suggest you have a wee before you leave work if it triggers you so much.

I’m most definitely female and I’d rather have the toilets clean rather than worry about who is cleaning them.
Are you suggesting the toilets are closed every time they needs cleaning by a member of the opposite sex? That would cause a lot more people physical inconvenience.

I'd rather have him in cleaning than deal with the mess that some women leave the toilets in

Sorry, I can't be bothered reading this while thing. But you were watching him for 40 minutes?

Snort 😀 literal toilet humour

Thus has always been the case for as long as I’ve been peeing in public bathrooms (over 4 decades!)

They are cleaning the loos. They are earning a living and paying tax.

Doesn’t bother me. As long as there is a sign. I prefer male cleaners to dirty bathrooms.

I would prefer they have female cleaners but if they don’t have any available then I prefer a clean bathroom.

ThIs story has so many inconsistencies thst i think it's a load of crap, a tissue of lies.
You sound a bit tapped in the head spending far too long hanging round the toilets spying on him.You submitted a complaint about him and give him the stink eye every time your in there.
No wonder the poor guy is pissed off! Your behaviour is enough to drive anyone around the U bend

Well I don't think the OP was in the gents to know if the men needed help.... obviously she wouldn't dare enter the male bathroom for fear she may be jumped after staring at someone and sending daggers for 40 minutes.

You lot?

just think its weird that someone…anyone had to show multiple women how to use the taps 🤷🏻

and no one needed in the gents showing the men

Should I be complaining about the female cleaner who showed me how to work the sensor on the taps in the loos at Birmingham New Street, or is not creepy because she was a woman?

We are not going back to boy and girl jobs no matter how much you lot try to make us.