My Support Forums - View Single Post - I was discriminated because of my appearance

nonightowl · Jan 16, 2023 at 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BubonicPlague

They used to let people in to use their restrooms, and I doubt they were for employees only.

Once I went to Rite Aid to ask if I could use the restroom. It must have been the look on my face, as it was an emergency, lol. The cashier let me in to use the employee's restroom.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Discombobulated

Lol you’re right, it’s not a very precise method. Every colleague would judge slightly differently.

In my case I would say anyone older than me, and I’m in the middle! I’m so glad I don’t have to make that judgement anymore though as I felt for anyone in that situation and you are so right about lack of public restrooms - many cafes around here say their toilets (public not employee like ours) are for customers only I guess there just isn’t the drive to fund public ones.

Hence the judgement comes into play.

And each person would use their own judgment. Being that I'm over 10 years older than you, I guess they would let me in.

I read in some article once that it's the government that should make more public restrooms available. But that would involve a lot of funding for construction, maintenance, and security. I think it's awful to have to buy something to be allowed to use the restroom. That reminds me of those pay toilets I saw once, at the airport I think, decades ago!

And speaking of pubic restrooms, skip the next paragraph if you just ate or are about to eat

:

This was over 40 years ago and I can't "unsee" it. I was a teenager. We were on vacation and on the way to some state park and stopped at a gas station in a small town. It was in the middle of nowhere. It was not just for gas but for the restrooms. One look in there and I decided to wait till the next station or rest stop. The toilets were backed up, and there were roaches on the floor, both dead and alive. No way was I going to get even an inch closer to that. And I never forgot it.

I'm sure the guy at the register had an employee restroom he uses that wasn't visible or accessible to the public. My dad told me the men's room was even worse when I said what it looked like in the women's.

I didn't even want to hear about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Discombobulated

Totally. I remember being in my casual jeans getting looked at like I was a lesser form of life in Fortnum and Masons buying expensive cookies for my family back home. Roll into that my northern accent and the poor man behind the counter just couldn’t seem to handle it.

How people of different racial origins cope with that sort of attitude idk.

I still remember that too. I was the same customer with money to burn in her purse, but because I was dressed differently I wasn't greeted the same way. My hair was disheveled too since it was casual Friday and I felt lazy that day lol. SAME store!

Those black men that weren't allowed in Starbucks for the restroom said if they were white, they would have been allowed in. I hate to say it but I agree. Or if they were OLD men. Or white women. Or black women. Anything but what they looked like: Threatening, dangerous black men.