Obligatory SNL "Oops I Crapped My Pants" clip: [www.nbc.com]

That was really shitty of the manager to laugh at her. What a crap thing to do.

What the hell is Plaid Pantry, anyway? I'm imagining a store that only sells plaid items, but that's just crazy.

They were rude to her, no doubt. But why didn't she have some sort of emergency items in her car? What does the OP do when driving in an area with no businesses & therefore no bathrooms?

Ok you know what? I sympathize with this woman, I really do , but if she came into my store, she would have gotten exactly the same treatment. Our bathroom is for EMPLOYEES only and we can be fired for letting anyone who isn't on the clock into it.

Not every store is required to have a public bathroom. It's unfortunate this customer got stuck in one during an emergency but I am not angered by the company's decision to not let her use the facilities.

@dragonfire81: Ok to clarify on "Exactly the same treatment", I wouldn't have laughed her out of the store or done anything inappropriate, I simply would have told her our bathroom is employees only and she'd have to go elsewhere to use one.

As a person who as suffered from IBS for years, I deeply sympathize with this person. I always, ALWAYS fear that I end up in her position and this has caused me to curb my social life significantly.

So, kudos to you for not letting the disease run your life. Don't be overly embarrassed as shit happens from time to time...quite literally.

And Plaid Pantry...whatever the hell that store is...has made my list. My bad list.

@dragonfire81:

You sir/madam, should be flogged and beaten. Common decency trumps rules and regulations, but it seems that you're on the side of the indecent and inhumane.

I suspect that Plaid Pantry is similar to a 7-Eleven. That's not a public accommodation. Weren't there any gas stations in the vicinity? I mean, she says she tries to use a restaurant when this problem arises. Typically, restaurants are not public toilets (although I've eaten in some that might qualify) and save their facilities for customers. Hell, look for a gas station.

@TimeToChange2000: Please take the time to read the Q&A I handily provided in the post.

@dragonfire81: Where do you work?

I'd like to let my brother-in-law with Chron's know where to avoid.

@dragonfire81: What state do you live in? That policy may be illegal.

AND I'm willing to bet that most managers/store owners would overlook letting the customer use it that one time. We're talking about a medical emergency, here.

@TimeToChange2000: If you read the post above, you'll find the answers to your questions.

@H3ion: When you're in a situation like this, you don't have time to look for a gas station. There is no logical reason why anyone would refuse a person to use a fucking bathroom. Hell, I'd probably let someone use the crapper in my house if they needed to. It's just basic fucking human decency people! What the hell has happened to us when we would deny another human such basic needs? I just don't get it...

As someone who ran a store BESIDE a major coffee chain (one which is usually considered the provider of "public toilets" in Canada), I'd often tell people that no, the toilets in my store aren't for public use, please step 30 steps to the nearest ones.

Of course, the customers KNEW those toilets were there because my store fronted onto a DRIVE-THRU for this coffee store! They had to walk through it (Yes, I know this is a hazard, I discussed it with the landlord and his insurance covered anybody getting run over in the drive-thru).

If someone were desperate, I'd let them use it, although they'd be told the hot water was busted (which it was), that there was no soap, that the toilet would normally stuff up (which it did, we kept a plunger beside) and that it flushed itself every 10 minutes or so.

Why this policy? Not only did I not intend to fix or clean a bathroom I didn't care about, and not only did I not want to risk someone getting hurt (it was in the back storeroom with lots of heavy things hanging on shelves), I would have people ask a few times EVERY DAY--none of them desperate enough to use it legitimately (especially when told of the situation in the bathroom). That despite a "NO PUBLIC WASHROOMS --> USE THE ONES IN (coffee store name)" sign. *sigh*

...And some of them were such jerks they wouldn't even plunge! WTF?!

But yes, for this emergency, sure. If you're desperate enough to use a toilet in this shape, you must actually be desperate.

@dragonfire81: try this, be a f*cking human.

@H3ion: Over half the gas stations in my city don't have a bathroom. A couple don't even have one for employees. Unless you know every gas station on your route, it's not smart to stop at one expecting to use the facilities.

Stores need to get some common decency. I can understand a bathroom only for employees. I can't understand not letting someone use the facilities due to a medical emergency. And yes, this is a medical emergency situation.

@HFC: The manager laughing makes me mad, too. Too bad she didn't crap inside the store.

For those who would say the Plaid Pantry need not have let her use their facilities:

1. That the store was not "legally obliged" to, doesn't mean they "could not have" done so. A lack of a legal obligation to do something, does not equate with a mandate never to do it.

2. It's one thing to refuse her. It's quite another to laugh in her face. While the former is understandable, if still inhumane, the latter is inexcusable under any conditions.

@dragonfire81: I think "person with medical condition about to shit their pants" falls into the "Be a &@$%ing human" category. Sometimes you have to make an executive decision, and walk someone back to the employee bathroom.

@PsiCop:

Since when does the government have to say that someone needs to be 'legally obligated' to be a decent human being?

Oh right, I forgot that this took place in the US. Nevermind.

@cgraham: When you make an exception for this one illness then everybody will come into the store claiming to have Crohn's disease. I can't blame the store for refusing her, they don't know her and have no reason to believe her. Would you let a strange woman into your home to use your bathroom just because she claimed to have a disease?

@Fishy007:
Comment aimed at the people touting 'legal obligation' not at PsiCop.

Grr. This issue really ticks me off. The severe lack of human decency is apalling.

@YOXIM: I don't know you, I don't know what you're planning on doing in my bathroom, so there's no way in hell I'm letting a stranger into my home or business to use the bathroom. Taking care of your personal needs is your responsibility, not mine.

We have some bathrooms by our library that can get in pretty rough shape. Students are barely human, of course, so it's no surprise to find a toilet pretty much demolished. It is a minor blessing that the toilets have motion-sensing autoflushing as who knows what sort of dread rot one could catch by touching the toilet with unprotected skin. Thus, when I stopped into the bathroom to do my business a week and a half ago, I counted myself lucky that the stall I first picked seemed to only be suffering from a lack of flushage.

I flushed, but the amorphous wad of toilet paper did not go anywhere. The water level in the bowl rose slightly, which is a sure sign of a clog. That's fine, I thought, I'll just go to the next stall and notify maintenance about the clog when I was done.

So I did, and it was fine.

While I was occupied, I heard a student enter the restroom and head to the stall I had just both evacuated and failed to evacuate in. He performed the same test I did, flushing, and must have experienced the same result - the water level rose, but the clog remained. Since I was in the only other stall, his options were to either wait or lay some chocolate icing on the clog-cake. I guess his need was urgent because he chose the latter, trying another manual flush in vain.

I bet you see where this is going.

The motion-sensing autoflush is a strange beast. Sometimes, it does not trigger at all. Sometimes, it triggers when you lean forward, say to grab a wad of toilet paper or when you stand up.

And so it did. Both.

From the next stall over, I hear the sound of a flush and the drip-drip-splatter of a toiletbowl slightly overflowing. I hear the student's surprise as he no doubt stood up to try to shuffle away from the leaky bowl.

I hear his cry on anguish as his rising triggers another flush, causing the toilet contents to flood. As I rise and move away from the expanding pool of toilet water drifting from under the stall, I hear the student wail, "Oh God! It's in my pants!" Not on his pants. In his pants.

He had managed to flush his own turd right back into the safe, if damp, cradle of his underwear.

I flee. Partially to keep from laughing, partially to tell maintenance that they have a clean up in the men's room.

For the rest of the day, I kept my eye out, but no student with soggy, crap-cradling pants came by.

I had two occasions where I was in a small store and my young daughter "had to go right now!". One of the stores I had never been in before...they refused, and I never went back! I made sure all my friends and neighbors were also told about their hospitality. In the other (a Catholic book store where I had spent hundreds of dollars over the years), I was refused. I also never went back to that store again. So store owners and managers---if you decide that in an emergency situation, as in the above story, you will stick to your guns and not allow a non-store employee use your facilities, you will be labeled as uncaring and inhumane. Your choice!

For those of you who would like to tell Plaid Pantry Mgt what a sh#tty policy they have in place here are the contact areas:

[www.plaidpantry.com]

@dragonfire81: I don't buy that "we'd be fired" argument. Not even for a second. That's completely ridiculous.

Just out of curiosity, could it have been more of an insurance problem? If you declare a bathroom to be employees only, your insurance may only cover employees to go into the bathroom (or behind the counter or whatever is traditionally "employees only"). If the toilet just overflowed, and Joe Customer goes in and slips and breaks his neck...the company is now liable 100% and the insurance company will just point out they shouldn't have let a customer into an employee only bathroom.

@dragonfire81:

....which is why you're part of the problem.

@dragonfire81: I worked in a place that had the same policy, but when a small girl was about to pee her pants in the middle of my store, you can bet your ass we let her use the bathroom.

@harvey_birdman: If she were standing in front of me, begging to use the bathroom, and insisting that she was going to have an accident - yes, without question. It takes some guts to admit that you're about to have a bowel movement that's out of your control. Someone doesn't do that unless they're serious about it.

Also - she may have or can get a medical bracelet indicating that she has Crohn's. They don't usually issue those unless the medical affliction would leave the individual unable to communicate it to medical personnel in an emergency (think a diabetic in shock).

@HFC: It's a grocery store, apparently.

@robocop_is_bleeding: "Oh god, it's in my pants!" is one of the least comforting things to hear in a public restroom.

@harvey_birdman: it is so sad, that you are so scared of the people around you.
do i stop for hitchhikers? no, buddy obviously has nothing but time on his hands
do i stop at an accident on the side of the road? Yes, because it's an emergency!
by the way, i HAVE let someone use the bathroom in my house right off the street. do you know what happened? they used the bathroom! they even flushed!

We were in line at at Rite Aid in Virginia a few wears ago when we witnessed almost the exact same incident. The woman sadly had an accident as she shuffled out of the store. Our friend crudely dubbed it "The Rite Aid Shuffle".

Though it didn't happen to me, when I got to the counter, I let the clerk know how wrong I felt that was and decided never to patronize that Rite Aid again.

Bathrooms rules for employees can sometimes be broken. This was definitely one of those circumstances.

@HFC: It's like a 7-11 that always smells like stale beer because they do the bottle deposit program in their back room instead of outside.

@harvey_birdman: You're full of all kinds of sunshine and light, aren't you?

If it's really about "personal responsibility," then why have a number of states passed laws REQUIRING businesses to open their bathrooms to individuals with afflictions such as Crohn's?

Also - have you ever had an involuntary bowel movement? I haven't, but I surely would never wish it on someone else.

I worked in a pizza joint in college that was take out and delivery service only (no in store dining and no public restrooms). The store had the same policy about not letting people use the employee bathroom or we could be fired. When I asked why this was they said it was for two reasons...

1. Insurance. The restroom was in the back where the person could not be supervised. If they tripped and fell or even claimed to have sustained and injury, that puts the store at risk.

2. Some rotten apples out there would pretend to have a bathroom emergency and ask to use the employee facilities at local businesses. Then while they were in the back of the store they would case the place for a future burglary or steal things while unsupervised.

So I feel for the people on both sides of the situations but the store employee should have been more professional and not laughed.

@Chris Walters: "It's escaped! Run! RUNNN!"

@dragonfire81: I wouldn't either. When I was in high school I worked at Dollar General. Some lady came in with an emergency and used the employee bathroom and didn't make it onto the toilet. Just the seat and everything else and some how about a foot over the toilet. Of course she didn't say anything and just left. The manager had to clean it up because everyone threatened to quit if they were made to.
Unless there is a law, SOL.
This was in IN in 2000.

@harvey_birdman: You know what? The only thing that would happen if you started letting just anybody use the bathroom is that people wouldn't think you're a jerk. Also, maybe you'd have to buy more TP. OR you could let someone have her dignity and not have to justify her need for a bathroom. Most people who DON'T have an emergency, would take the "employees only" line and leave.

At least she has a sense of humor, having posted the story under the name "plaidpantryshitter".

I'm kind of on Plaid Pantry's side on this one, other than the laughing. If a business isn't legally required to have a bathroom then they don't need to make it available to any customer. I'm sure they're glad of the hassle it saves them of cleaning it. And if one person has an emergency and uses it then they may as well let everyone use it. I'm sure Consumerist would be harping about a business picking and choosing who can use their restroom and scream discrimination.

@harvey_birdman: Do you really think that would happen? Are there really that many people out there who want so badly to take a dump in a "Plaid Pantry" employee restroom that they're going to be lining up around the block, claiming they have Crohn's disease?

@ryan89:

It probably is the case that their insurance would balk at covering a claim in the circumstances you describe--which, in practical terms, is why one wouldn't let the general public use the toilet, the risk of letting a particular person w/ this condition use it? A pretty remote risk, I'd say.

@YOXIM: Insurance companies happened, and they're not exactly bastions of human decency. That's one logical reason I can think of to deny someone the use of a bathroom. The business' insurance may only cover customer injuries in common areas of the store; backrooms may not be included.

Our backroom at the record store, while not a minefield, was not the best place for a customer to be, so I can see how it would be easier for a customer to be injured than an employee (who is also covered by the store's policy). Of course, that didn't stop us from saying fuck it and letting someone in dire need use the bathroom, which happened on a couple of occasions.

@robocop_is_bleeding: You have quite a talent for story telling. That's all I can say.

@harvey_birdman: What would you do if someone was bleeding and needed a sink and a paper towel? Would you turn that person away too to attend to their "personal business?"

I feel awful for this woman, but I'm said to say in my store we've been told to say we have no employee bathroom. At another job my boss had, she let a pregnant woman use their employee bathroom and she ended up robbing the stock room, because the bathroom was there.

I'm sorry, it's too much of a liability. I wish all people were awesome people I could trust and I wish I could help when they have a serious medical condition, but we're not LYING when we say we could get fired for letting a customer into an employee only area. It's employee only for a reason.