Bathroom rights

Posted by iKan2

Last night I made a quick dash to the local convenience store to pickup up a few things. As soon as I grabbed the first item, I felt that uncomfortable pressure that can only mean one thing. I wasn't going to make it through my shopping experience without a bathroom break.

I made a bee-line to the indoor restrooms. By the the time I got inside and locked the door, I was past the point of no return. That was when I noticed there was no toilet paper or even hand towels. The only thing left to do at that point was to relieve myself and then figure out what do next.

I know it's gross and should make you really wonder where someone's hand has been before shaking hands, but the only option I could come up with was to wipe myself with my hand and rinse it off in the sink. I guess the other option was to just pull up my pants and head for home

I've encountered this and many other travesties in the 20+ years I've dealt with Crohn's. However, this experience begs the point, will there ever be special laws made to ensure better bathroom facilities for Crohn's patients? According to all definitions, I'm disabled, from the Veteran's Administration and from Social Security. So special accomodations for conditions should be required, right?

While various laws now require stores to provide special parking spaces and ramps to enter stores, shouldn't they also be obligated to keep their bathrooms in optimal working condition? I guess the question comes down to whether the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation has enough political clout to apply any pressure on congress to do anything about our suffering.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons: Rooney.

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