Washrooms
I just wanted to jump back to make a quick post about something that seems to be rarely discussed: washrooms. Specifically, those in travelling rest stops. I’m am tired of poorly designed bathroom stalls.
There are a few things which commercial washroom designers fail to do:
1) Provide enough space. If you walk into a bathroom stall, there should be enough room between the door and the camode that you can enter, turn around, and shut the door. Stalls in airports should be especially large. If they want you to keep an eye on your luggage at all times, you need to use a stall. And because airlines loose luggage all the time, the only way to travel is to carry a few days worth of clothes with you. Thus the stalls need to be large enough to accommodate a person, a large carry on bag, plus door swing space and the camode.
2) Provide a door hook. When I am travelling, I frequently am wearing a jacket of some sort. I would like to hang this up. In addition, if I’m wearing a firearm belt pack or a shoulder rig, there is a good chance I would like to take that off as well. As such, there needs to be a good hook on the door. Preferably one of the double hooks with the smaller hook underneath. This shouldn’t simply be a small upward angular project, but an actual hook so that something fairly heavy can be hung underneath the jacket. Hang it on the door, you say? A well-fitting door will not easily accommodate anything over the corner. Simply tossing your jacket over the top will likely result in your jacket falling on the floor and getting dirty, or stolen. Do you really want to make it easy for criminals to steal guns, as well.
3) Clean them. Enough said. Most wayside-rests attached to freeways are cleaned in a fairly regular basis. Except in Montana. But smaller convenience stores may not do so. I will tell you that on runs I make a lot, I frequent establishments with well lit and clean washrooms. I can buy Twinkies anywhere.