Does anyone ever ask women they don't know for a tampon/sanitary towel in public toilets?

[TurtleyLost]

I'm nearly 40 and I've never done this, or had anyone ask me. Friends yes, strangers no.

Is this something that women really do?

Never been asked. Saw all the messages - which included JY actively wanting to ask for tampons surely if you're worried you'll be in a situation where you need to ask for one you prepare by taking some with you?

The whole thing makes no sense to me.

@BertrandRussell that is such a sweet story!!

I have never asked or been asked, even in the days before dispensing machines were installed in loos.

I’ve been asked once & was very happy to be able to help.

Yes I have asked (once) and been asked on a few occasions

Sometimes our periods are not regular

And what the issues a woman bleeds

JY is asking women (and girls) for tampons - ffs this is why females need female only spaces I don’t want a male asking me such questions one because they absolutely don’t need to and secondly I don’t wish to discuss anything about periods with a man I don’t know unless it’s medical - I am comfortable discussing or being asked for products with women

Or JY is being asked by women and girls for tampons while in a public toilet - yeah right we are meant to okay into these delusional ideas (or perverse ideas)

Either way it’s fucking ridiculous we are meant to put up and shut up with this and many of us are not

It is probably more common in a club those machine are usually jammed with coins. Before the supply ladies were available in the bathroom drunk people often ask for deodorant etc.
not that I have been in a club for many years now

I've been asked by a colleague once who was sat next to me. Other than that no. Nappies however I seem to always run out or giving them out.

No and no. And I never would ask a stranger either. Have also never heard anyone ask a complete stranger.

However, DS's girlfriend unexpectedly started her period recently while we were in a huge zoo. We were about an hour's walk away from the exit.

Must have been the first time in many years I didn't have anything on me. Didn't ask a stranger, neither did she - she told DS who asked me. I asked a female staff member at the restaurant we were in if they had a sanpro machine on the premises or if there was a shop anywhere within the zoo that sold sanpro.

She was sorry to say no but offered to ask her female colleagues if they had something. As the poor girl was in floods of tears, I accepted the offer, but DS's GF couldn't actually use the tampon that was so kindly found for me. So in the end I gave her a packet of tissues instead.

Which is the other reason why this claim that women constantly ask complete strangers in public loos for tampons is so ludicrous.

We don't all use the same products because we don't all have the same bodies coming with the exact same periods. I'd never ask for a tampon because I can't use them anymore. Like my DS's GF, I couldn't use one as a mid-teen either. I therefore wouldn't expect a stranger to be able to help me out with what I need.

But as this recent experience showed, women are indeed more than willing to help out even complete strangers because many of us have been caught short and those who haven't can still quite easily understand how horrible that could be.

Last week in fact in a pub in Liverpool lovely lady not from the area (by her accent) burst in looking upset and just asked the whole room if anyone could help her. She had white jeans on and was mid menopause with nothing for months and she’d just felt something give below. The whole queue reached for bags. She had a veritable choice of pads and tampons and horror stories of similar happenings to boot. No one flinched

Mummyoflittledragon
Yes, I was absolutely serious.
I don't live in the UK.
I'm not on social media.
I don't buy The Guardian newspaper, but have the app which i glance at occasionally.

No one flinched

You are missing the point of the thread. Of course no-one would flinch if this happened in real life

The question was predicated on the false premise that we are all girls together and that asking, or being asked by, a complete stranger is just a normal part of being a woman.

In reality the vast majority of women don't ask or get asked. Of course we would all help out in an emergency , if it were in our power , but very few of us actually ask for ourselves.

Never asked (probably because I always have spares in my handbag) but can think of a few occasions I was asked when I could offer help: schoolfriend asking for another schoolgirl; total random in a pub toilet; flatmate; colleague; customer.

FWIW, I am regular enough to not really need to carry spares, but panicky enough to need to know I have them.

As for toilet paper as an alternative... Pretty sure wadding a full roll in my pants for the 10 mins it would last would attract much more attention and embarrassment than quietly asking a stranger.

I have used a mooncup since I was 14 but have tampons "just in case" in all my handbags and backbags - both for myself and if anyone else needs one. I keep a box visible in the bathroom for the same reason, just in case a guest gets surprised or doesn't want to awkwardly grab one from her handbag before going to the bathroom. DH is a feminist and wouldn't blink twice if a woman said "sorry guys need to grab thing X", neither would any of the other men I let in my house, but I like to offer them at least one discreet option if I can. The tampon box does empty without me touching it, I think we average about a pack of "normal" and "super" lil lets every 3 to 5 years?

I have been asked a handful of times when out and about, never had to ask myself, see above. Toilet paper wouldn't stand a chance against my period, so better safe than sorry.

Haven't had a period in 6 years but still have a (probably decomposing) emergency pad in the bottom of my handbag - doesn't everyone else? Never asked or been asked.

No, i’d Be mortified 🤦‍♀️Saying that, I gave an ST to a colleague once and the world didn’t collapse so perhaps I should lighten up!

Never asked for one, but have been asked a few times - I used to work in a town centre nightclub which had a uniform, I think women saw that I was staff and thought I was more approachable.

Most women don't do this.

However, it's a massive fetish in some sections of the community. Yuk.

Never asked or had to ask a stranger but friends , yes occasionally.

I've asked my DSis and my MIL, but never needed to ask a stranger. I've been asked a few times - several times by students. I was also open about my desk drawer stash that was available to anyone.

I did once have to ask for a nappy - nice NT cafe so had lots of offers!

I have been asked at work by people I know and have heard it in clubs.

I have never asked or been asked.
I only ever carried what I needed for myself, when I needed them. I was on the pill for many years so had regular periods.
Since coming off the pill I have only used washables and a mooncup so not something I could ever offer.
There wouldn't be any drama if anyone asked, it's not a big deal, but it happens incredibly rarely.

Never done it myself... Prefer the wrap a whole shed of loo roll round my hand and fashion it into a pad approach myself.
You know a loo is fancy when there's free San Pro on the sink and it is still there.
There are of course dispensers that sell a tampon for a pound. Scandalo!
But on that Aisling Bea sitcom which I loved she cadged a sanitary towel as if it was a fag. I obviously haven't lived...

Was asked by a stranger in a bar once...

Not in the toilet she actually came over to our table, 4 of us on a girls night out. I gave her a tampon and 15 minutes later she came over with a bottle of prosecco with 4 glasses.

I still can't quite believe it happened.