to wonder how I was supposed to use this toilet?

[sleepingdragons]

DD and I got drenched in the rain today, proper torrential rain! DD's skirt was soaked through.

We were on our way to meet family for lunch, so we headed there and I took DD to the toilet.

DD was freezing. My plan had been to strip her bottom half to her pants in the ladies and hold her skirt under the hand dryer for as long as I could.

But when I got to the toilet I found it was unisex. There were a bunch of cubicles coming off a busy communal sink area, with a couple of middle aged men in there when I got there, and more men coming and going while we were there.

What would you do in this situation? What do you think I should have done?

Also - AIBU to think that restaurants and cafes are going to use the new trend for unisex facilities as a cost cutting measure, so we're going to see loads more of this kind of thing?

It means that a male who needs some level of supervision when using the toilet can now have that without someone complaining about him being in the ladies

And it means dads don't have to take their daughters into the men's, where there might well be urinals.

It was always a place you could take a moment to wash and refresh yourself

Mostly in the past rather than current times. I wouldn’t want to linger in a public toilet, female or unisex, in order to “refresh” myself. We aren’t Victoria ladies in corsets needing smelling salts any more.

I would have tied her jacket/jumper around her waist to cover her up slightly and had her stand beside me while drying her skirt if you didn't want to clog up the cubical.
Or actually I wouldn't have bothered unless she was bothered as pants cover as much as swimming costumes anyway, she's only 5 and most men aren't paedophiles.

From an adults point of view I agree that there should be separate toilets though but nothing is going to happen to a 5yo girl who's with a parent in a busy toilet.

Agreed. Unisex toilets aren't designed by people to provide men with the opportunity to assault women.

They're so that anyone can be accompanied to the toilet that needs to be without being judged. It's so that no one feels uncomfortable having to choose which toilet to go into

Unisex loos are better for parents with kids of the opposite gender to them. They're better for disabled folk and their parents or carers. They're better for trans folk. I'll happily accept that they're not better for women who prefer to do their makeup in private or who feel uncomfortable peeing when men are in the vicinity. But public amenities are all about balancing the needs and interests of many people, and I think the balance of convenience in a lot of places is going to lie in favour of unisex loos. It'll take some getting used to, but it's going to be ok.

@TheShapeofEwe. Very well said

Unisex toilets aren't designed by people to provide men with the opportunity to assault women.

What an strange comment! What kind of place IS designed to provide men with the opportunity to assault women? Or to deliberately build in any risk? None I'd think.

Should we tell people not to bother with any health and safety, as long as they're not deliberately designing in risk, it's fine?

Precisely none is. The point is unisex toilets aren't evil places.

I see the potential for problems. Sometimes toilets do get used for getting changed or cleaned up - I had a seagull crap on me once, luckily I had a change of clothes with me, but there is a limit to how long you can occupy a cubicle in a busy toilet, and if you're covered in something disgusting you will need to clean yourself up.

Lemonysnicket
Catch an eyeful? Follow you home??
I think men would probably be inwardly embarrassed and terrified this random woman that can't control spillages was going to be mentally accusing you.