Everyman Cinemas and toilets for 'everyone', a woman's review. AIBU?

[bigbadbadger]

Apologies if this seems frivolous, I know that women have bigger fish to fry in terms of oppression but this pissed me off so I thought I would share.

I thought it would be nice to have a treat and go to the fancy Everyman cinema in Leeds to watch the bum numbing 3 hour Avengers End Game. The film was great, the seats were great, the food and drinks lovely, all fantastic. The toilets were absolutely revolting and utterly unacceptable.

Designed as a unisex block with a closed door labeled 'everyone' you walk into a long corridor with enclosed cubicle/sink units on each side, every toilet seat and floor was covered in urine. I had to clean the toilet before my daughter could use it and it absolutely stank. I needed to go during the film and walked in as a woman forcefully pushed out past me looking distressed. In the second cubicle was a man urinating with the door wide open, shouting to his friend. I turned to leave and heard him loudly fart and shout 'there goes another one', I am not sure if he was referring to his fart or another woman being forced to leave the toilet. I found a female member of staff who said she could not do anything but would 'pass it on to management'.

The thought of DD12 going into the toilets to be confronted with that is quite upsetting to me, and parents who had not visited the toilets themselves might be unaware of the situation as the toilets are hidden round the corner.

I used the disabled facilities which I feel upset about doing. I am not a selfish inconsiderate person. When I exited there were 2 women waiting, looking embarrassed.

I wrote and complained when I got home. The reply basically said "That's the way they were designed and that's how they'll stay. If we refurb we'll take your views into account".

So the Everyman cinema expects it's female customers to be unpaid cleaners for them, and offers no increase in frequency of cleaning, have staff check cleanliness, have staff trained to deal with poor behaviour etc. It's just tough shit women, if men want to piss on the floor they can, and we expect you to clean it up.

AIBU to think that the Everyman should not expect it's female customers to work as unpaid cleaners when they visit?

The unisex thing is the main beef for a woman who wants cleanliness. The proof is we never have to put up with this systematic disgustingness in a women's only toilet!

I would disagree about lack of disgustingness in women's only toilets, it's something I see pretty regularly, especially in certain kinds of places. But I still would not say the the question of mixed sexes is the same as the question of cleanliness, even if men's are always worse.

The men's toilets also should be cleaned often enough that they are sanitary. If men's, women's, or unisex toilets are that gross, it means they aren't cleaning them as often as they need to. Or, to put it another way, the frequency of cleaning is supposed to be based on how dirty they get in a given period of time.
If they want unisex toilets but aren't cleaning them often enough, they aren't doing themselves any favours. Chances are they weren't cleaning the men's enough before either.

Call environmental health. I bet that would affect their hygiene rating and they would act then if they would lise money from food/ drink.

I worked in hospitality for decades - pubs, clubs, hotels, restaurants and conference centres. Yes women’s toilets can be disgusting, usually in public toilets and trains toilets etc, where women tend to squat, hover or stand rather than sit, or in places where people get pissed. But women’s toilets are rarely as gross as men’s. I know there are exceptions and yes I too have seen faeces on the wall/blood smeared on the seat etc from time to time but it is not a common experience and more often than not women’s toilets are clean and left as they were found.
I had a day out at Alton towers on Friday, immediately following the trip to the cinema. We talked about the difference in women’s toilets which were clean and tidy and the men’s where there was urine all over the floor even by the sinks.
Even on an anecdotal level women regularly complain their sons make a mess and not there daughters, so this is a difference between the sexes and I am complaining about them having unisex toilets unsuitable for women. If they have these toilets, with no attendant and few cleaning checks then they are expecting the female clientele to clean the toilets. If they will not police male behaviour they are expecting women and children to put up with obscene behaviour.
Having read the comments on this thread I am now even more certain that what I experienced on Thursday was entirely predictable.

I was in the ladies toilet at my local Vue cinema last week - I had to go into three different stalls before I found a toilet without piss all over the seat. Women can be just as dirty as men.

I’d also suggest that ALL cinemas are experiencing increased customer attendance levels with the popularity of the new Avengers film. This means there’s also more customers using the toilet - often in a rush as they dash out in the well-documented bladder-busting 3 hour long Avengers film.

Coupled with staff likely serving customers at ‘front of house’ I’d suggest that might be the toilets are less clean than usual? I’m absolutely certain that neither Everyman (or Vue, or any other establishment where piss is found on the toilet seat) is expecting their customers to clean their toilets for them.

As for the man using the stall with the door open, it might be worth recommending some signs are put up?

I’ve visited the Everyman in Leeds on a couple of occasions and would have to say I think their unisex toilets are very well done, with floor-to-ceiling solid doors with sturdy locks and individual sinks / hand driers / sanitary bins in all stalls. I’d say the unisex toilets are more family friendly as it allows dads to take younger children to the toilet without issue if needed. That said, the venue does have an alcohol license (unlike most cinemas) so likely attracts a more adult audience, especially in the evening.

I personally think it’s a great cinema - one that I like to visit as an occasional treat for special events.

Some women’s toilets are gross, sure, but mixed/men’s are gross in a different way.

Firstly, male piss smells stronger/different - that’s a mammalian fact, and it’s as true for my DS and my DD as it is for greyhound Dog and Bitch.
When I used to run a pub it was near impossible to eradicate that male piss smell, despite the use of strong smelling disinfectant blocks in the urinals. Even if men and women both behave impeccably in the bogs, there is always this baseline difference. I don’t want to smell strange man piss if I can help it (and I certainly don’t want to have to clean it up while my daughter crosses her legs and waits for a dry seat to sit on).

Secondly, urinals are a practical solution to male anatomy- they are quick to use and minimise splashing - the target is closer to the penis than a toilet is. Making men use unisex toilets created for the needs of women (all cubicles, all toilets) just makes it take longer for everyone to get done (as well as the affore mentioned splashing problem).

Add in the fact that men are used to standing at urinals with their backs in plain sight of others, and we end up with the cultural/habitual issue of men not closing cubicle doors.

Either all men have to learn to sit and pee (and mixed toilets are cleaned more often with powerful chemicals to kill the smells) or we have to stick with separate sex toilets (better for the environment).

This is without taking any criminal intent into consideration (voyeurism/setting spy cams etc are much easier in facilities that you are permitted to enter).

Mixed sex loos are just a horrible idea all round. Men’s, women’s, accessible and a few extra single occupant cubicles (for those who aren’t comfortable using one of the previous three categories for whatever reason) is the only way to meet everyone’s needs.

Our local one has ‘everybody’ and ‘everygirl’ On the loos. My husband came back from the toilet saying a woman had been in the men’s and they’d both found it embarrassing but I don’t think he had realised they were supposed to be unisex.

@EndoplasmicReticulum Thankyou for mentioning that. I'm in Harrogate and have never been to Everyman. I was just about to sweat them off for life!

Haven't had time to read all the responses but when I stopped off at a and out-of-the-way service station one day and found all the loos filthy I videoed them, opening the doors and filming each disgusting loo pan. It was quite late at night and there was only one other woman using the facilities and she was happy for me to do it. Management got back to me swiftly after I sent it to them...

I find the NAMALT/'Women are like that too' aspect of this thread interesting. Yes, some women are gross, but it is not as often, also I am more willing to accept the gross behaviour of my own biological sex. I wonder if a woman has ever left blood on the seat of the unisex toilets or a used sanitary towel in the unisex toilet. How would men react to this? I imagine a 14yo boy would find that pretty offensive, but a girl less so.

The Vueis a budget chain which is very cheap and understaffed. The one in Halifax often has only 3 member of staff selling/ripping tickets, sorting refreshments and resolving any issues, they are young and inexperienced. I chose not to go to the Vue because it is often dirty in the main cinema and the seats covered in food, I have seen some really bad behaviour go unchallenged and prefer to go somewhere more expensive with a higher staff ratio.
The Everyman is billing itself as a luxury experience. They sell themselves as a bar, restaurant and cinema venue so you can reasonably expect, at £13.50 a ticket, for the toilets to be regularly cleaned and for them to address poor behaviour of their customers. They are heavily staffed and staff give out food and drinks during the film and make an announcement at the beginning about mobile phones etc. It would not be a stretch to have staff check toilets and train them to deal with anti social behaviour.
The reply stated: "I am sorry that certain individuals on your visit chose not to use these facilities appropriately."
They did not apologise for not tackling the behaviour and clearly have no mechanism or procedure for doing so when the unisex facilities and serving of alcohol will give rise to this sort of incident again and again.

Whilst women's toilets can be disgusting, that is not the focus of this thread, it is the specific unisex nature of these toilets that caused the problems myself, my daughter and many other women that night had to put up with.

It does seem from this thread that the length of the film has compounded the problem, which again is interesting. Maybe we need an interval!

I am interested to know if anyone agrees with my thought that removing the toilet block door and having the cubicles open directly into the main area of the cinema would be better - I think it would. These floor to ceiling doors/unisex arrangement are used at several museums I've visited with no problem. I think the door - creating a 'room' and the boozy/bar atmosphere create a different atmosphere. My suggestion to them would be take the door off, open up the corridor and make them just 'toilets'. They'd shut the bloody door then at least!

Can you not Twitter shame them? I'm sure it would put a lot of women off going if they know that the toilets are vile

As long as most men pee standing up I do wish to share public toilets with them.

I don't agree that replacing men and womens toilets with unisex cubicles off the main corridor are the answer in a busy venue, they can only fit a few toilets in using that design.
It works if they are in addition to the mens and womens toilets.

That sounds horrible OP. If I’m picturing it correctly, there is a door to the toilets and through that door there is then the corridor with cubicles?

If that’s right I think this is potentially unsafe for women / children (esp girls) - so, leave cinema mid-film to go to the loo, walk through door into toilet area. Any man can also legitimately have walked through that door. Any man --with his dick legitimately out-- can then grab your child and pull them into a fully enclosed floor to ceiling cubicle. Yes yes I know nice men won’t do that. But why give the other not-so-nice men the opportunity? Why not just keep those toilets segregated. It’s so simple and it’s so frustrating that the woke-world is leading this.

Also lol at imagining calling the W Yorks police about this. Last time I called their 101 options menu listed trans-hate as an option ahead of reporting a crime being committed!

@BillywilliamV - I absolutely agree, in Europe where there are unisex toilets there are posters instructing men to sit! It is a cultural thing around toileting and the UK has a way to catch up!
@BigRedDoor - yes, a door sign posted 'everyone' and thru the door a corridor of fully enclosed cubicles. Its a fairly tight corridor and if they took the door off and opened it up it would feel less claustrophobic and I am sure it would moderate male territorial behaviour!

I don't have twitter or any social media really, I don't think anything I say or do will make an impact as a middle aged mother of 2, but I was annoyed and wanted to see the reaction of other women on MN so started this thread. I might send them a link.

What's everyman cinemas? Is it some cheap doss house cinema chain? Never heard of them, but will avoid of they ever come to my area.

I am interested to know if anyone agrees with my thought that removing the toilet block door and having the cubicles open directly into the main area of the cinema would be better - I think it would

From what you have described- yes it would.

3 hours with no interval is ridiculous. Films can have intervals. Barry Lyndon and Gone With the Wind are shown with intervals. I'm sure there must be others.

Anyone follow Hollie McNish on Twitter? She posted saying she was pro unisex toilets but having used a piss-soaked one, wasn’t sure any more. The thread is interesting.

I go to the Everyman in Leeds weekly and have never had a problem with the loos, they've always been clean. Each cubicle is a separate room and you wash hands etc in there, so it doesn't feel unisex IYSWIM. I don't like the idea of facilities for all, but always thought this was an example of one that could work.

Sounds like you had a horrible experience though.

The Everyman in Chelmsford isn't like that.
And it's bloody expensive.
Toilets are def men and women separate
I haven't been for ages and now hoping its hasn't changed to "everybody"

That sounds absolutely vile! The Everyman next to me has separate facilities so it's not a nation-wide/company-wide policy. How awful for you sounds disgusting

The Everyman next to me is lovely! Really great facilities, design, food... I went yesterday to baby club there. Only ever had a positive experience and I go every week.... just want to say this to those who are put off Everyman. They aren't all like that.

See this is my only real objection to unisex loos. I dont actually have a problem with just having unisex toilets as long as they are individual cubicles, not whole toilet facilities.

However, I live in a house with 4 men which tells me everything i need to know. Peiple with penises dont really need to care what state a toilet is in as they can, and do, just stand back and aim vaguely in the direction of the toilet. Doesn't matter to them if it gies all over the floor or seat. Women have to get much closer in to hover or, got forbid, sit.

I dont actually have a problem with just having unisex toilets as long as they are individual cubicles, not whole toilet facilities.

YY. They wouldn't leave the door open if it was in an open corridor so why do the fuckers think they can do it in a unisex toilet block?