- Jul 14, 2010
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Obviously, people shouldn't be pushing past someone else to get to any particular stall -- unless maybe they are about to vomit all over the floor, in which case I doubt most of us would object (so long as they aren't actually knocking into people or knocking people aside).
However, don't make the assumption that one person has more of a right to use any stall than another. That's simply not the case. If other stalls ARE available and you are able bodied, without small children along or some other reason that you need to use the handicapped stall AND someone who is clearly in need of that stall is around then obviously, the polite thing is to step to the other stall and let them have the only one they are able to use.
However, don't assume that when you look at someone and don't SEE a disability that they don't have one. For example, I have a friend who LOOKS perfectly healthy. However, you can't look at her and see that even in her 20s, her joints were so bad that she sometimes fall down on public sidewalks. She has been treated AWFULLY by people in parking lots who look at her and "see" what they think is a perfectly healthy 20-something year old woman who looks like she is in prime physical health. In reality, walking from the handicapped parking place to the building is often difficult for her. By the same token, she might well feel the need to use a handicapped stall to make it easier for her to maneuver and to pull herself up from the commode. You can't tell that to look at her and she sure shouldn't have to wait for other people who "look" more disabled before she can go to the bathroom. Nor should she be expected to explain her disability to ANYONE in line or in a store or anywhere else so that she can use the toilet. It is simply not their business.
Now, let's say that there are two bathroom stalls & one is handicapped accessible. There are 20 people in line waiting for those two bathroom stalls, when someone enters line in a wheelchair. Just because that person is in a wheelchair doesn't mean that they get a free "pass" to the front of a line. It means that when they get to the front of the line they can actually get INTO and USE the facilities. It doesn't mean they bypass everyone else because of their disability. Now, it's a matter of personal choice if the person in a wheelchair is second in line and the accessible stall opens up next. If the person who is first in line wants to "trade places" in line and let the person in a wheelchair go in front of them, then that's fine. However, they aren't required to and I won't think less of them if they don't.
It's sort of like wheelchair entrances for a building. Buildings have to have a wheelchair accessible entrance. However, not every entrance has to be wheelchair accessible. And, no one would say that only disabled people can use the accessible entrance.
However, don't make the assumption that one person has more of a right to use any stall than another. That's simply not the case. If other stalls ARE available and you are able bodied, without small children along or some other reason that you need to use the handicapped stall AND someone who is clearly in need of that stall is around then obviously, the polite thing is to step to the other stall and let them have the only one they are able to use.
However, don't assume that when you look at someone and don't SEE a disability that they don't have one. For example, I have a friend who LOOKS perfectly healthy. However, you can't look at her and see that even in her 20s, her joints were so bad that she sometimes fall down on public sidewalks. She has been treated AWFULLY by people in parking lots who look at her and "see" what they think is a perfectly healthy 20-something year old woman who looks like she is in prime physical health. In reality, walking from the handicapped parking place to the building is often difficult for her. By the same token, she might well feel the need to use a handicapped stall to make it easier for her to maneuver and to pull herself up from the commode. You can't tell that to look at her and she sure shouldn't have to wait for other people who "look" more disabled before she can go to the bathroom. Nor should she be expected to explain her disability to ANYONE in line or in a store or anywhere else so that she can use the toilet. It is simply not their business.
Now, let's say that there are two bathroom stalls & one is handicapped accessible. There are 20 people in line waiting for those two bathroom stalls, when someone enters line in a wheelchair. Just because that person is in a wheelchair doesn't mean that they get a free "pass" to the front of a line. It means that when they get to the front of the line they can actually get INTO and USE the facilities. It doesn't mean they bypass everyone else because of their disability. Now, it's a matter of personal choice if the person in a wheelchair is second in line and the accessible stall opens up next. If the person who is first in line wants to "trade places" in line and let the person in a wheelchair go in front of them, then that's fine. However, they aren't required to and I won't think less of them if they don't.
It's sort of like wheelchair entrances for a building. Buildings have to have a wheelchair accessible entrance. However, not every entrance has to be wheelchair accessible. And, no one would say that only disabled people can use the accessible entrance.
