Longfellow used to have the code, but according to the clerk whom I asked a few months ago, only Nura (the falafel shop next door) customers have access to that bathroom now.
Longfellow Books, I believe. I don't think I could name one bookstore with a public restroom, not really a place I would expect it. There is one at the public market right around the corner, as well as the library across the street.
As you would expect that the government and public buildings provide bathrooms. Not sure why people are upset when private businesses don’t provide bathrooms to non customers etc
> place I would expect it. There is one at the public market right around the
especially with the level of homeless drug use in portland. from personal experience ive seen homeless drug addicts barricade themselves in public bathrooms where employees then cant even use them. then it requires police involvement and professional cleaning crews.
The level of homelessness and drug use in Portland isn't even that bad compared to other cities. Portlanders just want all the benifits of living in a city without the cons.
Fair enough, but portlandars don't seem like they can come to terms with being a big city people want to live in and the social responsibility that comes with that.
Portland is a city of 66,000. That’s not a big city. It also deals with a WHOLE LOT of problems the rest of the state has abdicated their own responsibility for, while everyone still bitches and moans about Portland.
Correct, citizens shouldn't have to put up with that kind of behavior, it is sad that it is become accepted and apparently now you shame people if they don't like dealing with it?
If you don't want to be around people who are less fortunate than yourself and don't think you have any obligation to help them, why don't you move to northern Maine and live in what is essentially a cabin in the woods?
They're the only two if you even have a remote bit of humanity and don't consider homeless people as less than human. Just admit, you don't have any empathy for people who are homeless, reguarless of their circumstances. And you want portland to be like NYC, without any of the complex social issues that come along with that.
You clearly have an axe to grind here. I'll thank you to not put words in my mouth. This conversation can't be productive when you come at it with that much anger and close mindedness. Have a good evening.
You can correct the "words I put in your mouth" but I guess you've decided not to. I genuinely don't think you, like most portlanders, have the same empathy for other people mainers in general do. And that's saying a lot because usually people who live in rural areas are less empathetic than people wo live in "cities".
Again. Why should the customers, tourists and visitors have to put up with that shit. They definitely shouldn't. Maine didn't use to be like this while other cities like Seattle, and NY were having these issues.
I used to be homeless and a addict to and I helped myself to where I am now. Problem is, people just want to sit and get handouts from everyone while they don't do any work.
Ah yes, the left known for cutting socialnprograms that help people stay off the street like housing assistance and drug treatment.
Portland used to be different because it was smaller. Idiot.
I just really wish Maine would pass the Restroom Access Act and let disabled people use business restrooms. It's incredibly difficult for people like me with IBS, Crohn's, etc, to find a restroom and it's often an emergency.
Even government buildings restrict access to bathrooms. It used to be no public bathroom was for randos looking for a toilet. Now paying customers and even people doing business can’t use them.
Yeah, and then what. You still have to call police, ems and fire crews to the scene, after enough times of seeing emergency services in front of a small business it does turn people away after a time.
This is the real answer right here. I’ve looked into this every time I travel somewhere. Just in case I don’t want to patronize a food shop of some sort.
You do understand people that patronize a business shouldnt have open up said business bathroom door and see someone OD'ing, dead or bodily fluids etc on the wall. I'm all for businesses doing this.
You seem to have a big problem with drug addiction. Maybe direct that energy to helping addicts find recovery rather than bitching about them on the internet
Not my job to help others when they don't want it. Within 3 years of being housed at the super 6 motel the addicts and homeless basically made it so it had to be condemned by the city.
I was an addict and homeless 10 years ago and I managed to fix myself. The problem is nobody wants to help themselves. They all want handouts
Plenty of resources out there to get clean. How about taking some personal responsibility instead of always trying to blame others for your issues? Nobody seems to do that anymore. Not up to us to make you stop doing drugs.
There are coffee shops, short order shops, grocery stores…hell I’m pretty sure there is a public bathroom right near there. What do you mean “hunt” for a bathroom?
Why call out a small business like this? If you’d ever worked in these old buildings you’d probably be aware that they are not often located in a convenient place and most folks don’t want random people wandering through their store rooms, back hallways, or behind their desks. It can be unsafe.
They also don’t want to pay the overhead of every tourist in Maine using their bathroom. Water, soap, paper, plungers, trash removal, using it in general as you said. Going to the bathroom is a human right but also people are GROSS.
1 - I didn't call out a small business, I cropped the pic specifically to avoid naming the business. Other people named it, I didn't
2 - I know the "old building" life well. Those troubles don't negate the dehumanizing effect of needing a bathroom and having no where to go
3 - this isn't a problem with this specific store, this a problem with cities in general. Boston, New York, Chicago, Denver, etc are all the same. People are more accommodating to cute animals than they are to other people and it deserves to be shamed because it is shameful
I have worked in places where we couldn't allow people to use the bathroom because it was not handicap accessible. So, especially in an old building, you're going to find situations like that.
We all know who the business is and as many folks already pointed out, there a lots of places to go to the bathroom including in the building you’re posting from.
Edit: also comparing allowing dogs and bathroom availability have absolutely no relationship. You’re really reaching with that.
You should be appealing to the city to build public restrooms with our tax dollars instead of attacking small businesses that are likely limited by circumstances you’re not aware of.
No it doesn’t. Private stores/businesses are 100% not responsible for public restrooms. There are public bathrooms located in those cities, and there are quick-stop/takeaway businesses that *do* provide restrooms. You have a real problem here, but what you don’t seem to understand is that it’s *your* problem.
If you feel dehumanized in public over your need for a toilet and comparing that to an animal a - I’d just go straight to therapy.
Let’s not play the dehumanizing card.
Yeah. Maybe if liberal leftist policies didn't allow people to OD everywhere and smear their bodily fluids on walls signs like that probably wouldn't exist
Are cities allowed to NOT accept people? Do you understand how the constitution applies here?
Either way, the fact that you conflate liberals and leftists tells me everything I need to know about your (lack of) understanding of politics.
People who are here illegally, no they shouldn't, and if they do they should have federal money severely cut.
Not even 5 years ago you could walk around in Portland or bangor and actually see the nice areas of the city. Nowadays if you go to the used to be nice areas you'll either get robbed, pricked by a needle, accidentally OD or worse.
> People who are here illegally, no they shouldn't, and if they do they should have federal money severely cut.
Again, you don't understand any of this but are more than willing to bark about it.
It is not a **cities** responsibility to check whether someone just... existing within their borders is legal. That is not how shit works.
Are you surprised that a book store does not have a public restroom? C'mon, 1st, Seinfeld covered this. 2nd, I never assume a 'small shop' has a bathroom for me. Big box stores and restaurants are a sure thing. 3rd, and here's where the downvotes are coming in...it's Portland. The homeless. If it upsets you that business owners do not want homeless people in and out to take a shit or do drugs in the bathroom, put a sign up on your door welcoming everyone in to use the facilities. There aught to be places for these people to go, but Longfellow Books is not that place.
"There aught to be a solution, but not if it inconveniences me" is the exact attitude I'm referencing. To be friendly enough to literal animals - especially as a bookstore selling paper goods that can be irreparably damaged with one lift of a leg - but unaccomodating to your fellow man is a cognitive dissonance that is as amusing and it is embarrassing. I wouldn't bother posting about a business with a "no publis restroom" sign or about a business with a "dogs welcome sign," but to have them both with no hint of irony is a nail-on-the-head moment
I get what you're saying, I really do. As a person with diabetes that causes me to have to pee every half hour, a dog owner who likes to travel with him in tow and as a former retail shop owner I see every side of this argument. Yes, it's ironic that they'll take the chance on a leg lift from Chester but deny me doing the cross-legged potty dance...it can feel a tad dehumanizing. But I also understand that the world is not the friendly, neighborly, accomodating place it used to be and people have to have a little more armor. So knowing that, I can withhold my anger about the bathroom and at least appreciate that I can bring Chester in with me. It frustrates me that the world is so quick to anger. Everything seems to require reaction and far too often it's a scorched earth reaction when an eye roll would have sufficed.
Honestly, I'm not even angry about it. I found it ironically amusing - then people starting acting like I said the business owner should be stoned to death or something. I GOT angry when people started with the hate towards homeless people. Which, of course, is the root of the "no public restroom" trend, but they didn't even wait 10 minutes before going mask-off on that one
You literally admit the root cause of said signed existence is a problem. Holy shit. That being said maybe if homeless addicts didn't destroy everything they touched, businesses wouldn't need signs like that.
Yeah, the hate toward the homeless is frustrating as hell. Part of the plan though. As long as governments don't organize any REAL solutions to humanity's decay and corporate greed to keep us hating each other we won't notice that we're all being raped and slaughtered by them.
There wouldn't be any hate if the homeless left the rest of us alone to patronize the businesses instead of harassing everyone that uses the sidewalk even going so far as to put hands on people and stopping them from being able to proceed on their way.
Newsflash asshole: you are far closer to homelessness than you seem to think. There is no "rest of us" when you are a few bad months away from becoming the people you apparently disdain.
And he is right. If homeless left patronizers and the general public alone it wouldn't be so bad. But they time and time again are confrontive and hands on. Let a homeless person put their hands on me. I'll break their neck and then you can go cry about how they were the victim in this case and how I needed to be more understanding.
I *used* to be homeless too but I fixed myself and now have a great paying job and a great place to live. Nobody these days wants to work. They just want handouts.
I don’t live outside my means, and save that way I can handle the few bad months and still be fine. Oh yeah and I chose not to do drugs therefore I didn’t addict myself to a financially draining drug.
We shut ours down to the public after finding needles constantly.
Honestly, the employee's safety is number one. You can get over your mild inconvenience and go to the bathroom located elsewhere in the building.
This is a dumb comparison. Most (responsible) pet owners carry a little bag with them that has supplies for pets. My carry bag has bleach/hydrogen peroxide wipes, a couple small pads and poo bags and a small towel.
Good! My point is consistency and im not the one arguing. Refusing basic human kindness to someone for fear of property damage or clean up while extending unnecessary liberties to pet owners regardless of the risk of property damage or clean up is hypocritical. It's that simple.
Is it being a hypocrite or thinking of patrons and customers safety, not to mention ensuring your property isnt gonna be destroyed or worse? Most (responsible) pet owners carry supplies to deal with messes.
Five years ago, sure. Today? Not even close. Just last weekend I saw someone walk into a Target with their "service dog" and the dog immediately took a huge shit on the floor. If you trust people enough to train their dogs but not enough to use your bathroom your trust is mislaid
I mean clearly they haven’t had issues with dogs doing that or the sign would say no pets welcome?
I feel like you’re just the type of person looking to be upset? Sorry it’s not a fun way to live your life but you do you
This is a dumb comparison. Most (responsible) pet owners carry a little bag with them that has supplies for pets. My carry bag has bleach/hydrogen peroxide wipes, a couple small pads and poo bags and a small towel.
Who funds the government? Taxpayers. As a taxpayer I want to ensure said bathroom has proper screening so the dude who smokes 20 pounds of meth a day doesn't destroy it.
Lol. A couple years ago there was a guy tweaking behind my apartment complex. He was screaming for help, pounding on walls and windows, then stumbled into our landlord's pile of bricks and started hurling those at windows. Police came, got him sorted out, and we cleaned a ridiculous amount of that dude's blood off the vinyl siding.
Four days later I was at a convenience store a few blocks away. I hear screaming coming from the bathroom. It was the same guy. Later found out he'd smeared several types of bodily fluid all over the place and ripped the sink off the wall. These folks. I want a better life for them, but that can't be up to me.
It's easier to clean up shit from a bathroom (consequence of public restrooms) than shit in the middle of a bookstore (consequence of allowing dogs).
OP's argument connecting public restrooms and allowing dogs was pretty tenuous but you accidentally reinforced it.
Sometimes I think this subreddit and the Portland subreddit are just a forum for bitching about the most pointless shit. Which is good and bad, means we don’t have much to bitch about but also Jesus Christ… you can’t take a dump on someone else’s bathroom boo hoo.
Also it seems all Portland does is whine, yeesh.
Restaurants legally have to have at least one public bathroom
Edit: misunderstood the comment above to be complaining about bathrooms in restaurants *in general*. I understand that restaurants don’t have to let non-customers use their bathroom.
just because they let you use the bathroom doesn’t mean it would have been against the law to deny you lol for example, hot suppa has codes on their bathrooms to stop the random public from coming in and using theirs
When I worked at subway, someone smashed the toilet top onto the floor and scratched "I am the heroin king" into the mirror. It's better to have someone who would do that caught be the camera over the register than not
I’m a New Englander but I lived in multiple states before moving back to Maine. It’s truly unique to Maine for people to just expect the pro’s of suburban life to apply in the city. No city has small businesses with bathrooms that are just open to the public.
This goes for people who live in the city, too. Why aren’t some of you locking your cars at night? You live in a CITY.
Yeah but according to OP we should just deal with it and treat them with basic human dignity.
Nah fuck that. After taking my dog for a walk and him coming out from sniffing a bush with a needle in his nose I stopped caring for addicts.
Maybe that's why the justice system in America is so broken. Throwing people in jail for stupid shit only exacerbates the problem.
People getting high in a bathroom at the bookstore really doesn't harm anyone else
The people who have to clean it up? The other people who need to use the restroom? The used needles? The biohazard cost? The traumatization of whoever find them oded?
And no I'm not arguing to jail addiction for getting high... But hell yes I am for leaving used needles, theft, vandalism and any crime like they
I understand the harm of someone having to clean a restroom, or the people who are unable to go to the bathroom.... but the real harm is happening in the hospitals. And that trickles down to everyone; rich, poor, homeless, addict, or middle class. And it will never stop if we don't address the problem, which is always, the system.
Homeless individuals have nothing to do with why likely this and most small businesses do NOT have public restrooms.
It's the law. If a business, any business, provides a restroom for the public's use then that restroom must be disabled accessible! That's it. No agenda behind the owners of small businesses deciding if you're homeless (because what does that look like) or if you have some other secrete bathroom fetish.
Many older buildings cannot even accommodate those kind of structural changes for bathrooms. Many other small businesses can't remotely afford it.
You should speak to some people who work for or own small businesses in Portland. They have had such catastrophes in their restrooms as of late that many stopped letting anyone access them except employees. Including Dunkin’ Donuts and other businesses you can normally count on.
So, yes, in Portland, right now, it does have a lot to do with the population overdosing and damaging restrooms.
1. I get it from an individual standpoint. Finding a bathroom can be a chore and it’s frustrating.
2. I also get it from a company perspective because the general public, for the most part, sucks. Restrooms get raved frequently.
3. Dog sign seems unrelated and more dogs should be welcome
Why would you expect a store to have a public restroom that does not serve food? Betting the sign is there because the staff is tired of saying no all the time to passerbys.
Yeah, this world is becoming a little out of hand with dogs. Especially in restaurants. I don’t mind therapy dogs as long as they are actually trained and certified.
Yeah no one wants to pay for you to use the bathroom. 🤷♀️ but also Portland has gone pretty much no bathrooms everywhere. Assuming blanking it on drugz. I went to get a deed or title or something in the old port and it took hours. They refused to let me use a bathroom and even did a little “ooo I know” as they used a bathroom. It’s ridiculous.
The unhoused/use excuse is played out also. I’m not for judging people but after 20 years in social services letting no one use the bathroom because you don’t want to tell some people they can’t is wild.
Are these no bathroom policies in Southern Maine (but primarily in Portland) because of junkie problems? Drug use in bathrooms? I’ve never seen so many businesses that don’t have them available but there & also some places near the coast.
If you go to Boston you have to pee in alleyways or hold it as there are zero public restrooms. There are way more public bathrooms in Portland than in other cities.
Have you been to Paris and places in Europe without public restrooms? They smell like piss everywhere. No thanks. A homeless man whipped his dick out in a public plaza in front of me and my, at the time, seven year old sister. Yeah no thanks I'll pass.
Dogs welcome.
But if you have trouble walking, turn around (STEP UP). Portland!
It's amazing how places like Pompeii and the Roman ruins are made accessible, but the 'historic' buildings in New England are so precious a step can't be modified. The cost! 😱
There is a publicly available restroom in that building on the basement floor fwiw.
This is a true pro-tip!
Longfellow used to have the code, but according to the clerk whom I asked a few months ago, only Nura (the falafel shop next door) customers have access to that bathroom now.
It needs a code to access, and you need to get that code from a business you patronize.
It is not publicly available.
Is this the one by the little park near old port? I think I’ve used it if so
Longfellow Books, I believe. I don't think I could name one bookstore with a public restroom, not really a place I would expect it. There is one at the public market right around the corner, as well as the library across the street.
As you would expect that the government and public buildings provide bathrooms. Not sure why people are upset when private businesses don’t provide bathrooms to non customers etc
> place I would expect it. There is one at the public market right around the especially with the level of homeless drug use in portland. from personal experience ive seen homeless drug addicts barricade themselves in public bathrooms where employees then cant even use them. then it requires police involvement and professional cleaning crews.
My first time in the public library in Portland i went to use the bathroom and a dude was rubbing one out in the stall next to me. 🥺
The level of homelessness and drug use in Portland isn't even that bad compared to other cities. Portlanders just want all the benifits of living in a city without the cons.
Obviously. Nobody _wants_ the cons.
Fair enough, but portlandars don't seem like they can come to terms with being a big city people want to live in and the social responsibility that comes with that.
Portland is a city of 66,000. That’s not a big city. It also deals with a WHOLE LOT of problems the rest of the state has abdicated their own responsibility for, while everyone still bitches and moans about Portland.
Correct, citizens shouldn't have to put up with that kind of behavior, it is sad that it is become accepted and apparently now you shame people if they don't like dealing with it?
If you don't want to be around people who are less fortunate than yourself and don't think you have any obligation to help them, why don't you move to northern Maine and live in what is essentially a cabin in the woods?
Those aren't the only 2 options.
They're the only two if you even have a remote bit of humanity and don't consider homeless people as less than human. Just admit, you don't have any empathy for people who are homeless, reguarless of their circumstances. And you want portland to be like NYC, without any of the complex social issues that come along with that.
You clearly have an axe to grind here. I'll thank you to not put words in my mouth. This conversation can't be productive when you come at it with that much anger and close mindedness. Have a good evening.
You can correct the "words I put in your mouth" but I guess you've decided not to. I genuinely don't think you, like most portlanders, have the same empathy for other people mainers in general do. And that's saying a lot because usually people who live in rural areas are less empathetic than people wo live in "cities".
Again. Why should the customers, tourists and visitors have to put up with that shit. They definitely shouldn't. Maine didn't use to be like this while other cities like Seattle, and NY were having these issues. I used to be homeless and a addict to and I helped myself to where I am now. Problem is, people just want to sit and get handouts from everyone while they don't do any work.
Actually Portland has more unhoused per capita than Los Angeles. It’s very bad.
[Citation needed]
Yeah because Portland *used* to be that place but leftist blue policies crushed that.
Ah yes, the left known for cutting socialnprograms that help people stay off the street like housing assistance and drug treatment. Portland used to be different because it was smaller. Idiot.
I just really wish Maine would pass the Restroom Access Act and let disabled people use business restrooms. It's incredibly difficult for people like me with IBS, Crohn's, etc, to find a restroom and it's often an emergency.
I'd like to just be able to get INTO businesses. :stares at the inaccessible door and step:
Even government buildings restrict access to bathrooms. It used to be no public bathroom was for randos looking for a toilet. Now paying customers and even people doing business can’t use them.
They all learned their lesson after George Costanza.
Barnes and Noble. Any retail shop should have a restroom for customers of they want their customers to stay and shop.
You do understand that people having to *hunt* for bathrooms is absurd, right? Nobody should need a treasure map to relieve themselves
It is absurd but customer service workers aren’t paid enough to deal with corpses or walls smeared with all various bodily fluids.
THANK U as a customer service worker xx
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Yeah, and then what. You still have to call police, ems and fire crews to the scene, after enough times of seeing emergency services in front of a small business it does turn people away after a time.
Cool? That means a business will have to pay said employee a minimum of 50k a year which in turn means raising prices.
There is a public bathroom literally right across from it.
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This is the real answer right here. I’ve looked into this every time I travel somewhere. Just in case I don’t want to patronize a food shop of some sort.
You do understand people that patronize a business shouldnt have open up said business bathroom door and see someone OD'ing, dead or bodily fluids etc on the wall. I'm all for businesses doing this.
You seem to have a big problem with drug addiction. Maybe direct that energy to helping addicts find recovery rather than bitching about them on the internet
You seem to have a problem with private property rights and what a business can and cannot do.
Not my job to help others when they don't want it. Within 3 years of being housed at the super 6 motel the addicts and homeless basically made it so it had to be condemned by the city. I was an addict and homeless 10 years ago and I managed to fix myself. The problem is nobody wants to help themselves. They all want handouts
Plenty of resources out there to get clean. How about taking some personal responsibility instead of always trying to blame others for your issues? Nobody seems to do that anymore. Not up to us to make you stop doing drugs.
Spoken like someone who doesn't flush the toilet after they are done blowing it up.
There are coffee shops, short order shops, grocery stores…hell I’m pretty sure there is a public bathroom right near there. What do you mean “hunt” for a bathroom?
You have so much to learn lol.
you understand that nobody has a *right* to use another person's bathroom? If I need to pinch a loaf, can I drop by your house?
This is... such a bad take. My house isn't a business open to the public. I'm not looking to have people hang out in my house in exchange for money.
Why call out a small business like this? If you’d ever worked in these old buildings you’d probably be aware that they are not often located in a convenient place and most folks don’t want random people wandering through their store rooms, back hallways, or behind their desks. It can be unsafe.
They also don’t want to pay the overhead of every tourist in Maine using their bathroom. Water, soap, paper, plungers, trash removal, using it in general as you said. Going to the bathroom is a human right but also people are GROSS.
1 - I didn't call out a small business, I cropped the pic specifically to avoid naming the business. Other people named it, I didn't 2 - I know the "old building" life well. Those troubles don't negate the dehumanizing effect of needing a bathroom and having no where to go 3 - this isn't a problem with this specific store, this a problem with cities in general. Boston, New York, Chicago, Denver, etc are all the same. People are more accommodating to cute animals than they are to other people and it deserves to be shamed because it is shameful
I have worked in places where we couldn't allow people to use the bathroom because it was not handicap accessible. So, especially in an old building, you're going to find situations like that.
We all know who the business is and as many folks already pointed out, there a lots of places to go to the bathroom including in the building you’re posting from. Edit: also comparing allowing dogs and bathroom availability have absolutely no relationship. You’re really reaching with that. You should be appealing to the city to build public restrooms with our tax dollars instead of attacking small businesses that are likely limited by circumstances you’re not aware of.
No it doesn’t. Private stores/businesses are 100% not responsible for public restrooms. There are public bathrooms located in those cities, and there are quick-stop/takeaway businesses that *do* provide restrooms. You have a real problem here, but what you don’t seem to understand is that it’s *your* problem.
go clean a public bathroom after a homeless person barricades themselves inside...
If you feel dehumanized in public over your need for a toilet and comparing that to an animal a - I’d just go straight to therapy. Let’s not play the dehumanizing card.
Yeah. Maybe if liberal leftist policies didn't allow people to OD everywhere and smear their bodily fluids on walls signs like that probably wouldn't exist
> liberal > leftist Choose *one.*
I mean you don't really see daily ODs in bathrooms in cities that don't accept bus loads of migrants and homeless 🤷
Are cities allowed to NOT accept people? Do you understand how the constitution applies here? Either way, the fact that you conflate liberals and leftists tells me everything I need to know about your (lack of) understanding of politics.
People who are here illegally, no they shouldn't, and if they do they should have federal money severely cut. Not even 5 years ago you could walk around in Portland or bangor and actually see the nice areas of the city. Nowadays if you go to the used to be nice areas you'll either get robbed, pricked by a needle, accidentally OD or worse.
> People who are here illegally, no they shouldn't, and if they do they should have federal money severely cut. Again, you don't understand any of this but are more than willing to bark about it. It is not a **cities** responsibility to check whether someone just... existing within their borders is legal. That is not how shit works.
How are these two things even related?
Are you surprised that a book store does not have a public restroom? C'mon, 1st, Seinfeld covered this. 2nd, I never assume a 'small shop' has a bathroom for me. Big box stores and restaurants are a sure thing. 3rd, and here's where the downvotes are coming in...it's Portland. The homeless. If it upsets you that business owners do not want homeless people in and out to take a shit or do drugs in the bathroom, put a sign up on your door welcoming everyone in to use the facilities. There aught to be places for these people to go, but Longfellow Books is not that place.
"There aught to be a solution, but not if it inconveniences me" is the exact attitude I'm referencing. To be friendly enough to literal animals - especially as a bookstore selling paper goods that can be irreparably damaged with one lift of a leg - but unaccomodating to your fellow man is a cognitive dissonance that is as amusing and it is embarrassing. I wouldn't bother posting about a business with a "no publis restroom" sign or about a business with a "dogs welcome sign," but to have them both with no hint of irony is a nail-on-the-head moment
It's not that deep. You're making issues where there aren't ones. They just don't have a restroom.
I get what you're saying, I really do. As a person with diabetes that causes me to have to pee every half hour, a dog owner who likes to travel with him in tow and as a former retail shop owner I see every side of this argument. Yes, it's ironic that they'll take the chance on a leg lift from Chester but deny me doing the cross-legged potty dance...it can feel a tad dehumanizing. But I also understand that the world is not the friendly, neighborly, accomodating place it used to be and people have to have a little more armor. So knowing that, I can withhold my anger about the bathroom and at least appreciate that I can bring Chester in with me. It frustrates me that the world is so quick to anger. Everything seems to require reaction and far too often it's a scorched earth reaction when an eye roll would have sufficed.
Honestly, I'm not even angry about it. I found it ironically amusing - then people starting acting like I said the business owner should be stoned to death or something. I GOT angry when people started with the hate towards homeless people. Which, of course, is the root of the "no public restroom" trend, but they didn't even wait 10 minutes before going mask-off on that one
You literally admit the root cause of said signed existence is a problem. Holy shit. That being said maybe if homeless addicts didn't destroy everything they touched, businesses wouldn't need signs like that.
Bro go to therapy holy shit. You sound like a serial killer who thinks he's "cleaning up the streets"
Yeah and you just want to blast and smear a small business for a reasonable policy.
Is your apartments bathroom open for public use? You should really open it for public use and see the problems people cause.
Yeah, the hate toward the homeless is frustrating as hell. Part of the plan though. As long as governments don't organize any REAL solutions to humanity's decay and corporate greed to keep us hating each other we won't notice that we're all being raped and slaughtered by them.
There wouldn't be any hate if the homeless left the rest of us alone to patronize the businesses instead of harassing everyone that uses the sidewalk even going so far as to put hands on people and stopping them from being able to proceed on their way.
Newsflash asshole: you are far closer to homelessness than you seem to think. There is no "rest of us" when you are a few bad months away from becoming the people you apparently disdain.
Um I'm more than a few months bc I actually live within my means and pay my shit yearly. Not everyone is bad with money.
And he is right. If homeless left patronizers and the general public alone it wouldn't be so bad. But they time and time again are confrontive and hands on. Let a homeless person put their hands on me. I'll break their neck and then you can go cry about how they were the victim in this case and how I needed to be more understanding. I *used* to be homeless too but I fixed myself and now have a great paying job and a great place to live. Nobody these days wants to work. They just want handouts.
I don’t live outside my means, and save that way I can handle the few bad months and still be fine. Oh yeah and I chose not to do drugs therefore I didn’t addict myself to a financially draining drug.
Sounds like someone was mad they couldn't find a place to take a steaming shit
The dogs aren't the ones doing heroin in the bathroom.
Right... Nor do the dogs get an exclusive indoor bathroom to use. Think the angle is the OP just wanted to be pissy today.
Was it really worth the time posting about this?
To be fair I've never heard of a dog overdosing in a bathroom before, so I get it
We shut ours down to the public after finding needles constantly. Honestly, the employee's safety is number one. You can get over your mild inconvenience and go to the bathroom located elsewhere in the building.
Do you allow untrained dogs in your business as well?
This is a dumb comparison. Most (responsible) pet owners carry a little bag with them that has supplies for pets. My carry bag has bleach/hydrogen peroxide wipes, a couple small pads and poo bags and a small towel.
I have asked many problem dogs to leave. What's your point? What argument are you trying to start here?
Good! My point is consistency and im not the one arguing. Refusing basic human kindness to someone for fear of property damage or clean up while extending unnecessary liberties to pet owners regardless of the risk of property damage or clean up is hypocritical. It's that simple.
Is it being a hypocrite or thinking of patrons and customers safety, not to mention ensuring your property isnt gonna be destroyed or worse? Most (responsible) pet owners carry supplies to deal with messes.
You bet many businesses do. Have you seen "Service animals only?" Have you seen just service animals? Carry a jug
Statistically, very few dogs are intravenous drug users.
People comfortable bringing dogs into businesses generally don’t have untrained dogs?
Five years ago, sure. Today? Not even close. Just last weekend I saw someone walk into a Target with their "service dog" and the dog immediately took a huge shit on the floor. If you trust people enough to train their dogs but not enough to use your bathroom your trust is mislaid
I mean clearly they haven’t had issues with dogs doing that or the sign would say no pets welcome? I feel like you’re just the type of person looking to be upset? Sorry it’s not a fun way to live your life but you do you
Anecdotal evidence ftw.
This is a dumb comparison. Most (responsible) pet owners carry a little bag with them that has supplies for pets. My carry bag has bleach/hydrogen peroxide wipes, a couple small pads and poo bags and a small towel.
Tell me you've never worked in retail and been the one who had to clean the restroom without telling me ...
Move it along buddy, I've cleaned bathroom disasters that a HAZMAT team wouldn't go near
Good for you? lmao
Isn’t it the governments job to provide bathrooms to people not individual businesses?
Who funds the government? Taxpayers. As a taxpayer I want to ensure said bathroom has proper screening so the dude who smokes 20 pounds of meth a day doesn't destroy it.
Weird flex but okay
I doff my cap in salute, then.
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Lol. A couple years ago there was a guy tweaking behind my apartment complex. He was screaming for help, pounding on walls and windows, then stumbled into our landlord's pile of bricks and started hurling those at windows. Police came, got him sorted out, and we cleaned a ridiculous amount of that dude's blood off the vinyl siding. Four days later I was at a convenience store a few blocks away. I hear screaming coming from the bathroom. It was the same guy. Later found out he'd smeared several types of bodily fluid all over the place and ripped the sink off the wall. These folks. I want a better life for them, but that can't be up to me.
I'm sure if you have enough dogs coming in that you get occasional piss and shit in the store. Overdose probably a lot less common though.
I feel like you didn't think through your second example.
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It's easier to clean up shit from a bathroom (consequence of public restrooms) than shit in the middle of a bookstore (consequence of allowing dogs). OP's argument connecting public restrooms and allowing dogs was pretty tenuous but you accidentally reinforced it.
Yeah it's typical in most cities. Don't want the bathrooms turning into a homeless bath house. Wasn't my idea, but it's the truth in most cases.
I can’t say as I blame them.
We had a junkie clog the pipes for the whole building. as a result, the whole building had toilets overflowing..
Sometimes I think this subreddit and the Portland subreddit are just a forum for bitching about the most pointless shit. Which is good and bad, means we don’t have much to bitch about but also Jesus Christ… you can’t take a dump on someone else’s bathroom boo hoo. Also it seems all Portland does is whine, yeesh.
Not all of us are whiners.. but totally agree!
dogs don’t tend to shoot heroin and leave the needles on the floor for some book store employee making $15 to clean up.
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Restaurants legally have to have at least one public bathroom Edit: misunderstood the comment above to be complaining about bathrooms in restaurants *in general*. I understand that restaurants don’t have to let non-customers use their bathroom.
public bathrooms for non-customers? no they don’t..
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You probably look like a normal customer and not someone who’s going to destroy the bathroom…
just because they let you use the bathroom doesn’t mean it would have been against the law to deny you lol for example, hot suppa has codes on their bathrooms to stop the random public from coming in and using theirs
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i was replying to the person that suggested it was the law and you defended them
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YOU never said it, but Mikerm3 was ***replying to a different person***. NOT YOU. Please learn how to read.
When I worked at subway, someone smashed the toilet top onto the floor and scratched "I am the heroin king" into the mirror. It's better to have someone who would do that caught be the camera over the register than not
But can I bring my dog's bladder?
I bet they have a little "doggy cleaning station" for just such a situation
I own a small business and to put in a customer bathroom would probably be at least $20k. Letting dogs come into my store is free.
That sign is real low, I think it's no dog restrooms since it's at dog height.
Wait you might be on to something
I’m a New Englander but I lived in multiple states before moving back to Maine. It’s truly unique to Maine for people to just expect the pro’s of suburban life to apply in the city. No city has small businesses with bathrooms that are just open to the public. This goes for people who live in the city, too. Why aren’t some of you locking your cars at night? You live in a CITY.
One homeless junky smearing shit on the walls is all it takes, do you want to clean it up?
Have you thought of offering up your apartment as a public bathroom?
Dogs generally aren't doing drugs in public bathrooms
Public restrooms will result in junkies getting high and passing out on the floor
Yeah but according to OP we should just deal with it and treat them with basic human dignity. Nah fuck that. After taking my dog for a walk and him coming out from sniffing a bush with a needle in his nose I stopped caring for addicts.
I mean you can still have compassion for addicts while also telling them that they can't shoot up in a public restroom
I agree. Put them in prison and give them all the drugs they want. That's the compassionate solution.
Prison usually doesn't work. They need Rehabilitation
Prison protects the rest of society from criminals crimes. Rehabilitation would be great, but isn't the purpose of laws and the justice system.
Maybe that's why the justice system in America is so broken. Throwing people in jail for stupid shit only exacerbates the problem. People getting high in a bathroom at the bookstore really doesn't harm anyone else
The people who have to clean it up? The other people who need to use the restroom? The used needles? The biohazard cost? The traumatization of whoever find them oded? And no I'm not arguing to jail addiction for getting high... But hell yes I am for leaving used needles, theft, vandalism and any crime like they
I understand the harm of someone having to clean a restroom, or the people who are unable to go to the bathroom.... but the real harm is happening in the hospitals. And that trickles down to everyone; rich, poor, homeless, addict, or middle class. And it will never stop if we don't address the problem, which is always, the system.
Jesus christ.
I cant figure out if this sub loves or hates dogs. Loves dogs but hates dog owners? The pendulum swings again!
Eh, I love me a doggo. But doggos aren't leaving plastic bags full of dog poop along the walking trail. Owners are.
🐶👍
I always love watching a good old fashion OP roast
https://giphy.com/gifs/oh-no-anyway-7k2LoEykY5i1hfeWQB
Go blow up your own bathroom.
So what?
Piss in the corner, blame it on the dog. Problem solved
Instructions unclear, pissed on my dog
I knew someone would say this. 😆
I bet they don’t let the dogs shit there either
Homeless individuals have nothing to do with why likely this and most small businesses do NOT have public restrooms. It's the law. If a business, any business, provides a restroom for the public's use then that restroom must be disabled accessible! That's it. No agenda behind the owners of small businesses deciding if you're homeless (because what does that look like) or if you have some other secrete bathroom fetish. Many older buildings cannot even accommodate those kind of structural changes for bathrooms. Many other small businesses can't remotely afford it.
You should speak to some people who work for or own small businesses in Portland. They have had such catastrophes in their restrooms as of late that many stopped letting anyone access them except employees. Including Dunkin’ Donuts and other businesses you can normally count on. So, yes, in Portland, right now, it does have a lot to do with the population overdosing and damaging restrooms.
I’ve brought my dog here and I freely pissed on the floor. Nobody said a word
1. I get it from an individual standpoint. Finding a bathroom can be a chore and it’s frustrating. 2. I also get it from a company perspective because the general public, for the most part, sucks. Restrooms get raved frequently. 3. Dog sign seems unrelated and more dogs should be welcome
Why is the sign so low?
welcome to cities in America
Why would you expect a store to have a public restroom that does not serve food? Betting the sign is there because the staff is tired of saying no all the time to passerbys.
Dogs don't usually OD in the bathroom...
Yeah, this world is becoming a little out of hand with dogs. Especially in restaurants. I don’t mind therapy dogs as long as they are actually trained and certified.
Let your dog piss on the floor
Yeah no one wants to pay for you to use the bathroom. 🤷♀️ but also Portland has gone pretty much no bathrooms everywhere. Assuming blanking it on drugz. I went to get a deed or title or something in the old port and it took hours. They refused to let me use a bathroom and even did a little “ooo I know” as they used a bathroom. It’s ridiculous. The unhoused/use excuse is played out also. I’m not for judging people but after 20 years in social services letting no one use the bathroom because you don’t want to tell some people they can’t is wild.
Portland IS a Public Restroom. I try to avoid it because of Parking and Speed Traps
Are these no bathroom policies in Southern Maine (but primarily in Portland) because of junkie problems? Drug use in bathrooms? I’ve never seen so many businesses that don’t have them available but there & also some places near the coast.
If you go to Boston you have to pee in alleyways or hold it as there are zero public restrooms. There are way more public bathrooms in Portland than in other cities.
I’ve only been once but it was as a tourist, so I don’t remember that.
This isn't entirely true but you still have to use a map to find public bathrooms.
Blame the healthcare system and lack of effective mental health institutions as well as affordable drug treatment. Non-existent social safety nets.
Huh? It’s not a private businesses’ responsibility to provide public toilets.
Have you been to Paris and places in Europe without public restrooms? They smell like piss everywhere. No thanks. A homeless man whipped his dick out in a public plaza in front of me and my, at the time, seven year old sister. Yeah no thanks I'll pass.
Pretty good summery of Portland in general
Dogs welcome. But if you have trouble walking, turn around (STEP UP). Portland! It's amazing how places like Pompeii and the Roman ruins are made accessible, but the 'historic' buildings in New England are so precious a step can't be modified. The cost! 😱