*facepalm*

[sarah]

I'm here in Silver Spring, Maryland with reginagiraffe and synecdochic, having dinner at a Chipotle. Syne popped into the ladies, only to find the handicapped stall occupied by a very thin woman, crouching over the toilet, vomiting with the stall door open.

Syne asked if she was okay -- if she needed help of any sort. "I'm fine," the woman said.

Well, that's debatable. And you shouldn't be occupying that stall, among other things.

Comments

[wordsatourbacks]

Yikes!

Well, that's debatable. And you shouldn't be occupying that stall, among other things.

Seriously.

[trialia]

Ugh.

Also, I miss Silver Spring! *eyes pitiful bank balance*

[keeva]

... are you sure you want to start policing who uses those toilets?

i'm just sayin'.

[sami]

... I would argue that she clearly has a definite disability going. Mental illness - which bulimia/anorexia (in all likelihood) is - is an invisible, but real, disability itself.

And "normal" stalls are cramped and uncomfortable and often a lot less clean. Seriously, you recognise that she's clearly not fine, but that's as far as your capacity for empathy goes? "Well, sure, she has serious mental health problems that could very well kill her, but she's using the handicapped stall, and therefore she just flat out sucks as a human being."

Tell her you need to use the stall, give her a minute to clean up, and perhaps try to recognise that invisible disabilities are still disabilities and can be utterly crippling.

[adrian_turtle]

Syne asked if she was okay -- if she needed help of any sort. "I'm fine," the woman said.

"Are you ok" is a question that usually doesn't have anything to do with disability. Most people (with or without disabilities) tend to hear it as "Do you need help right now?" She's fine. She can vomit without assistance, thanks. I have OFTEN said "I'm fine," when I really meant, "You can't help. Leave me alone."

I disagree with Sami that vomiting implies anorexia or bulimia. The open door suggests the woman hurried into the bathroom with a sudden need to throw up. I've experienced that from migraine, motion sickness, side effects from medication, unusual food sensitivities, and ear infections. I've never personally been pregnant or drunk, though I understand they have been known to cause vomiting. As somebody said above, knee problems can make it really hard to get up after puking in a standard bathroom stall without grab bars.

I understand going into the bathroom and being annoyed to discover that the accessible stall is not available. But in a situation like this, I think it's problematic to say something more policing than, "Are you almost done? I need to use that stall."

[firecat]

I get being upset that the only toilet you can use is occupied.

That said, I think the accessibility fail here isn't that a thin woman is puking in the handicapped stall, it's that there's only one large/handicapped stall.

The one time I puked in a public toilet (in a cafeteria, because of food poisoning that came on very suddenly), I used the handicapped stall. I was so weak from puking that afterward I had to lie on the floor, and in the handicapped stall I could lie down without putting my head right up against the toilet.

I would have been mortified if I'd kept a person from using that toilet if that was the only toilet they could use. But lying on the floor in one of the smaller stalls, staring up at the toilet bowl, would have made my nausea worse. And lying on the floor in the public part of the restroom would have felt pretty unsafe. As it was, I was fortunate in that no one came into the restroom while I was using it.

If someone has only a temporary disability, I think they still get to use the handicapped stall.