Great story and well plotted points. My son has a disability that greatly impacts his continence and ability to regulate or communicate his poop- related needs. Knowing where there is a toilet has been an unexpected source of distress in our lives. We’ve also learned a lot about saying, fck it, and digging a hole 😂 not so easy when he’s a teenager though.
Kimberly, that sounds so tough. I appreciate your candor and humor in sharing your experiences. Your ability to roll with those situations is impressive. It’s another case study that if we could make finding a restroom just a little bit easier, many would benefit.
I wonder if some of the costs are a result of some form of concentrated harm. When public restrooms are few, the ones that exist will bear the brunt of drug activity and other gross things requiring extensive monitoring and cleaning. But if they are common, the typical bathroom doesn’t get destroyed on the regular.
...now i know whose human poop my dog took a bite of...i cannot wrap my mind around how $350K annual is the cost of maintaining a city restroom...$140K in security and $110K for a janitor...$46K of cleaning supplies...$45K maintenance...that is quite a budget...
When I used to run Lake Merritt once or twice a week and nature called, I could usually find one of the bathrooms open and clean enough, usually near the playground. A clean bathroom should go with clean playgrounds—it's a place to raise little kids and potty train them; it's also a barometer of a community's safety and wellness. I hope the lake—and all of Oakland and urban centers everywhere—reinvests in bathrooms. I just used a public bathroom at the beach in Southern California while traveling last weekend and was reluctant to enter it, because it looked decrepit on the outside, but the inside smelled of bleach, had been fully hosed out, and had toilet paper. It made me so happy. As for Lake Merritt, I think it goes in cycles of cleanliness and well functioning to crime/drugs/encampments. I remember when we organized our daughter's second birthday party at Lake Merritt, at Children's Fairyland in 2000, someone said, "That's crackland!" It had a rep of violence and filth from the '80s and '90s. But it was charming, and the bathrooms were open and clean.
Great story and well plotted points. My son has a disability that greatly impacts his continence and ability to regulate or communicate his poop- related needs. Knowing where there is a toilet has been an unexpected source of distress in our lives. We’ve also learned a lot about saying, fck it, and digging a hole 😂 not so easy when he’s a teenager though.
Kimberly, that sounds so tough. I appreciate your candor and humor in sharing your experiences. Your ability to roll with those situations is impressive. It’s another case study that if we could make finding a restroom just a little bit easier, many would benefit.
I wonder if some of the costs are a result of some form of concentrated harm. When public restrooms are few, the ones that exist will bear the brunt of drug activity and other gross things requiring extensive monitoring and cleaning. But if they are common, the typical bathroom doesn’t get destroyed on the regular.
What an interesting concept. And do you think by concentrating that harm, it makes it easier to justify not investing in more public restrooms?
...now i know whose human poop my dog took a bite of...i cannot wrap my mind around how $350K annual is the cost of maintaining a city restroom...$140K in security and $110K for a janitor...$46K of cleaning supplies...$45K maintenance...that is quite a budget...
When I used to run Lake Merritt once or twice a week and nature called, I could usually find one of the bathrooms open and clean enough, usually near the playground. A clean bathroom should go with clean playgrounds—it's a place to raise little kids and potty train them; it's also a barometer of a community's safety and wellness. I hope the lake—and all of Oakland and urban centers everywhere—reinvests in bathrooms. I just used a public bathroom at the beach in Southern California while traveling last weekend and was reluctant to enter it, because it looked decrepit on the outside, but the inside smelled of bleach, had been fully hosed out, and had toilet paper. It made me so happy. As for Lake Merritt, I think it goes in cycles of cleanliness and well functioning to crime/drugs/encampments. I remember when we organized our daughter's second birthday party at Lake Merritt, at Children's Fairyland in 2000, someone said, "That's crackland!" It had a rep of violence and filth from the '80s and '90s. But it was charming, and the bathrooms were open and clean.
Well said.