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.

But there's no bath or shower in public toilets so why call them bathroom? If I know I'm going to be out a few GH hours not able to get to a toilet. I double up with a pad and period knickers.

What about women who use both, they would need to shuffle between two different rooms!

Yes, I have one due to my IBS. Not sure you can get them for periods though. But there do still need to actually be loos in order to use them!

I agree there should be more public toilets. Accessible public toilets were a big part of independence for women, it's a shame they're declining.

But who is the "they" who should be installing/managing them? Councils are skint - I'd also like to see more youth centres, libraries, public swimming pools etc, but we don't for the same reason.

An genuinely fascinated by all the standing up tampon changers though! Is it not awkward if you're wearing trousers? Does blood not get on anything? How do you keep your hands clean?

I've always done it sitting down - and yes, I understand my uterus and my bladder function independently, but when I am sitting down on the loo with my pants down anyway, I generally take the opportunity to have a wee also

That’s being pedantic, If I were to ask someone whilst out walking the dog, did they know if there were any public bathrooms nearby, I’m sure they would understand and not assume I was looking for one with the intention of taking a bath

The bath in bathroom doesn't literally mean there is a bath here .

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

As pointed out , many people have a room with just a shower in their house. But they will call it a bathroom.

It's a word in the English language for that room!

They are for people who require the use of disabled toilets OP.

You can't use them for changing your tampon.

Why would you call it a bathroom... a bath is one fixture a public toilet WON'T have...

Someone visited my house just yesterday and said "can I use your loo?". Not bathroom. I mean, they can use the bathroom, I don't mind, but I'd think it was an odd way to ask for the loo and would genuinely wonder what they wanted to use it for.

They're anatomically very close, and when a tampon is removed, the bladder tends to relax.

But the OP must surely know that.

I didn't say it was. I presumed it was something that was helping someone else in some way.

I'm glad that woman has something to help her.

I've never seen the word bathroom used in the UK, it's loo, toilet, WC, public conveniences, or even restroom. Oh and ladies' powder room!

Anyway, whatever you call it, you are absolutely right that there aren't enough of them. And it is something that is discriminatory as it has a disproportionate effect on women, the disabled and the elderly.

Local authorities are flouting the public sector equality duty as well as the Equality Act.

Except when it's just a loo, like in public.

You can!
Accessible toilets don't require you to announce what you're intending to do in them.

Unless you were in Bath or Buxton, maybe

Nobody is suggesting they are connected. They are saying it's very odd not to take the opportunity to have a wee even if you don't feel your bladder is particularly full at that very moment. It's just common sense.

It doenst matter if the bladder relaxes, if you haven't drunk enough in the previous hour, to need to pee, does it.

Anatomy 101.

Your tampon could be filled up.

But you might not even have drank any liquid that morning

You will need to change your tampon.

You won't need to pee.

I have a separate wet room and toilet with a handbasin. The wetroom is just the shower. The toilet is the toilet. I know people with an additional downstairs toilet as well as their main bathroom. That's just the downstairs toilet. I don't know anyone who says bathroom. It's an American saying.

But sure if you don't need to pee , you can't force yourself to pee.

It makes me embarrassed to be British tbh. Whenever we're in Europe or the USA/Canada there are always plenty of (well-kept) public toilets around
We were in London just before Christmas and I had just recently had gynae surgery and needed to find a toilet in a hurry. We ended up nipping into Harvey Nichols and I just walked confidently into their restaurant area and used the toilet.
It does make days out unnecessarily stressful though

You can use them for whatever you like. It's getting the key that requires you to explain why you want it. I have one, but I'm not an arse about it. I wouldn't use the disabled loo to change my sanitary protection. And I don't use it if other loos are available.

I use it if I have an IBS attack and all the other loos are in use and I'm desperate.

No it's not.

The Americans that I know say restroom!

Have you been to America? They have signs for the restroom

I can always manage a pee if there's a toilet available and I know I might not find another one any time soon. It's really not that uncommon

Don't do this. We see you and think "what a cheeky fuckerl" every single time. You do not fo unnoticed.

If you ask politely if you can use the toilet, we always said yes.

Now somewhere like a McDonald's that is usually rammed won't care or notice.

If you know it's going to be an issue maybe check the location of toilets before you go out? I did this when pregnant. There are more than you'd think.

It's not ok to go into a pub, cafe, hotel or other hospitality venue and use their toilets unless you are a paying customer. They are private businesses, running on increasingly tiny margins and they are paying the water, cleaning and waste disposal bills.