To be annoyed at the lack of bathrooms

[Applecharm25]

I have my period. I can feel that i need to change my tampon.

I'm out walking round my city. There are no public bathrooms anywhere near me.

I see a sign for a bathroom in a small shopping centre near me. I walk in. The bathroom is actually in a shop. I'm told that the bathroom is only available for paying customers.

So now I have to get in a long queue and wait further and buy something while I really need to change my tampon.

Surely there should be better toilet services available.

@JandamiHash
No, that's absolutely fair enough, you have a genuine need. I also have a chronic back condition, which is sometimes worse than others. When I need to use my stick, I need a toilet that's a little bit higher than the norm. If I'm doing ok, I'll use the general toilets. I don't abuse the system.
But I'm talking about people who get them purely because it's convenient for the space to move around in, the general privacy or so they don't have to leave their goods and family outside waiting! 🧡

Thank you! My DS has a bowel disease that isn’t corona or colitis but I wonder if they would help, I’ll look into it!

Oh I’ve been accused of being a ‘Karen’ using my child to wangle my ways into the disabled toilets. I do a passive aggressive “Sorry I don’t understand - are you saying neither of us are disabled? Why do you say that?”

Yes, let us be shameless! Rip the arse out of things! What else are you going to recommend - fill your pockets with free tampons if you are on a trip to Scotland and walk into the pub?

I have a regular enough itinerary when out and about. Different places but I go to those places often enough. I have made sure that I know where I can use the loo on my travels, that's part of the research along with train, bus and tram times and routes! So where I go, I'm usually fine and know I'll be ok.

For information that would be big shops, hotel lobbies, a certain cafe, and a big public library.

If I'm going somewhere new, it's a case of figuring out the route, and more importantly finding out where the loos are!

There is an app called "Flush" that shows the nearest loo to your current location. I use it abroad and although hit and miss it's a godsend sometimes.

This. It is bloody pathetic. Everytime someone uses a term that some posters think is only used by Americans they start railroading the thread with their faux not able to understand.

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.

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

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.

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.

That is absolutely not my experience at all.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Perhaps they think it's silly but harmless?

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).

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.

"release a chocolate hostage" made me lol😂

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

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.

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.

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!)

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.