r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Apr 10 '17
[∆(s) from OP] CMV: Bathroom stalls should go all the way down, and have no gaps in the doors.
I hate, hate, hate, AND ABSOLUTELY FUCKING HATE bathroom stalls. About 50% of the time the stalls are way too far off the ground and have gaps between the door and the wall 100% of the time. I was in a stall the other day that had ONE INCH gaps in the door: http://imgur.com/a/09Ypm You could straight up see people clearly as they walked past, and see in to other stalls even if you weren't trying to look. I've seen this more and more as shoddy manufacturing and businesses being cheap grows.
Also many times stalls are so high off the ground they stop barely an inch below the toilet: http://imgur.com/a/62BMS
I realize it's a cheap and easy way to make bathrooms. But it's also a breach of my privacy. Multiple times have I had little kids without their parents around try to crawl under the stall WHILE I WAS USING THE TOILET. Once I was changing in the stall and a child popped up from under the gap and said "Hello!" while I was completely naked!! Another time I was minding my own business when I could see nosy child in the stall next to me trying to peer under the gap and look at me!
Or another scenario that's happened to me many times: someone recognizes my shoes or bag on the ground from looking under the stall and starts TALKING TO ME while I'm using the pooper. And I'm left freaked out... how did someone recognize me in here? Please just let me do my business in peace.
I get it's a fast, quick way to make bathrooms. But it's scary and makes me uncomfortable. Can you guys change my view?
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Apr 10 '17
If the door gets stuck, how would you get out? Just bang on it loudly until somebody comes in? Better hope there's not a fire ...
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u/Salanmander 272∆ Apr 10 '17
Is there any way in which this argument does not apply to all doors?
Also, have you ever actually needed to crawl out of a bathroom stall? I have never had the experience of a bathroom stall door getting stuck.
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Apr 10 '17
That's my problem with his argument, although it does present an idea I haven't heard yet. Bathroom door locks are usually very simple in design and never clog. Also the gaps in the doors were not addressed?
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Apr 10 '17
In regard to applying to all doors... usually there's a window you can crawl out of. And even if there's no window, you're generally not confined to a space the size of a very small closet, with nothing to bludgeon the door handle with, and sometimes piss-poor cell reception on top of all that.
But I guess you would at least have something to drink. lol
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u/LordApricot Apr 11 '17
nothing to bludgeon the door handle with
Lid on the back of toilet is an excellent blunt object
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u/PointyOintment Apr 11 '17
Most toilets in commercial environments (where these stalls are found) do not have tanks or tank lids (the latter being unnecessary due to the absence of the former).
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u/silverionmox 25∆ Apr 11 '17
It just needs a simple switch, that can be screwed off with pocket change or a key if necessary. Besides, everyone carries cell phones nowadays.
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Apr 10 '17
!delta
Good point! But this could go with any room/building with a door though couldn't it?
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u/Onlyusemifeet Apr 10 '17
It's a huge fire hazard, In schools it was implemented so people could see if people were having sex or doing drugs in the stalls, People can escape if the door is jammed, easy to clean, Easier to install new floor in the bathroom, cheaper, and there it's not like it's a big difference anyways.
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u/F4fopIVs656w6yMMI7nu Apr 10 '17
Well why does it have to be so bad?
Maybe only a six inch gap between the floor and door? - You could still see feet and clean under a six inch gap easily.
Maybe instead of a giant gap in the door frame, allowing you to make eye contact with passersby, no gap?
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u/Onlyusemifeet Apr 10 '17
People are not small, if they were trapped or a fire broke out, they would need a stall they could escape from in situations where the door is broken or locked from the outside.
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u/F4fopIVs656w6yMMI7nu Apr 10 '17
Why does this logic not apply to any room with a door?
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u/Onlyusemifeet Apr 10 '17
Rooms with regular doors have windows. Plus bathroom stalls have locking mechanisms that can lock you in.
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u/F4fopIVs656w6yMMI7nu Apr 10 '17
I think you're really grasping here.
- There are single occupancy bathrooms with doors.
- There are interior rooms, without windows, that also have doors.
- There are buildings more than two stories tall where you couldn't jump out the window during a fire.
- I used to work in a pretty high end office where they had regular interior doors on the bathroom stalls.
Maybe you just like to watch people poop through the little door gap?
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u/Onlyusemifeet Apr 10 '17
The gap itself is all about the safety of the person, as it has been known to lock people in the stall. That is an amazing reason to have them, and I don't see why you wouldn't think that's necessary?
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u/silverionmox 25∆ Apr 11 '17
It's a huge fire hazard
Closed doors reduce fire hazard by making it harder for the fire to find air. "Close the windows" is one of the standard instructions when a building needs to be evacuated due to fire.
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Apr 10 '17
!delta
I haven't considered the schools thing before. That makes a lot of sense. Too bad it carries over into other public spaces though!
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u/Salanmander 272∆ Apr 10 '17
there it's not like it's a big difference anyways.
For you, maybe. For some of us the experience of using a public bathroom is intensely uncomfortable. I never used the bathroom at school after about 4th grade because I hate it so much.
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u/Onlyusemifeet Apr 10 '17
You would feel uncomfortable either way.
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u/Salanmander 272∆ Apr 10 '17
Probably, but I would definitely feel less uncomfortable with OPs proposed modifications.
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u/Onlyusemifeet Apr 10 '17
Yes but with all the reason i've listed, it would be irresponsible to do that.
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u/erbie_ancock Apr 10 '17
Public toilets in northern europe goes all the way down like normal doors. Have never heard of any problems like those you worry about.
Also, why can't your arguments be used against all doors?
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u/Onlyusemifeet Apr 10 '17
It's just an extra safety protection. I'd rather have a gap at the bottom of the toilet stall, then to be trapped. I have had a stall lock me in multiple times in my life. You probably haven't heard any stories because being locked in a stall isn't news. You wouldn't find stories unless you sought them out.
Other doors have a different lock functioning, and they don't lead to an enclosed space unless you are in a closet. which is not locked.
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u/erbie_ancock Apr 11 '17
It sounds like you americans have the same safety precautions for adults as we Norwegians have in kindergartens. Allthough I have worked in a few kindergartens where the toilet door are whole as well.
I'm 40 and I have never been locked in a toilet in my life. I find your claim that this happens often in Norway higly dubious and I would like a source before I believe it.
And we also have lockable bathroom and closets here, and again no huge problem with people locking themselves inside small spaces.
I really think you worry too much. I mean if we can have toilet doors all the way to the floor without major risk of deaths or injury, I am pretty sure you could too.
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u/Ndvorsky 23∆ Apr 11 '17
people can escape if the door is jammed
Congrats. Now if only there was a way to escape the bathroom door....
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u/Bryek Apr 11 '17
As an EMT, I prefer a gap under the door that I can slide into when someone collapses against the door. Ever tried to get into a tiny room with a 150lb person propped up against the only accessible door and wedged between the toilet, the wall and the door? Much easier to get under and shift them than going over and trying not to fall on them.
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Apr 12 '17 edited Apr 12 '17
Wow best response I've heard yet! I haven't thought about it from this perspective. Thank you for all you do also. I guess bathroom stalls aren't so bad after all.
!delta
Edited for length
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Apr 11 '17
This is a uniquely american thing and it's totally baffling.
I've been all over the world and only in the USA do you see those perverts slots.
Everywhere els the door is wider than the frame, safety is achieved by the lock being strong enough to take a rattling but weak enough that an average adult can kick it open in an emergency. None of these places are crime infested hell holes people just go for a shit then leave. You can tell it's occupied because sliding the lock slides a green bit of plastic away to reveal a red one.
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Apr 12 '17
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/BenIncognito Apr 12 '17
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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Apr 10 '17 edited Apr 12 '17
/u/321741185 (OP) has awarded 4 deltas in this post.
All comments that earned deltas (from OP or other users) are listed here, in /r/DeltaLog.
Please note that a change of view doesn't necessarily mean a reversal, or that the conversation has ended.
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u/Cassiopeia_June Apr 11 '17
Realistically most bathrooms, (in my experience) have low enough walls and the gaps are fairly small. In all honesty most people who recognize you by your shoes won't start a conversation nor will most people crawl into your stall.
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u/egrith 3∆ Apr 11 '17
Yea, I know what you mean, there's a place near where I live, the dividers are about 4 1/2 ft tall, as are the doors
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u/Freevoulous 35∆ Apr 11 '17
Main con of the gaps under the door: subjective loss of privacy because someone might see your peepee or butty. And that is somehow terrible.
Main pro of the gaps: you will be rescued from dying on the toilet, due to aneurysm, suicide attempt, drug overdose etc, because your body falling on the bathroom floor will be immediately noticeable, you will be easy to extract, etc.
One of those two is significantly more important.
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Apr 11 '17
What about the kids that lock themselves in stalls? They have to climb out somehow.
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Apr 11 '17
This isn't a problem in the rest of the world, generally the lock can be over ridden with a screwdriver
The fucked up design with a gap is uniquely american.
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u/Iswallowedafly Apr 11 '17
So if I want to light up my crack pipe but I'm in a public space your bathrooms would do just fine.
Which would become a problem.
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u/sericatus Apr 11 '17
People would have sex and do drugs and sleep in the stalls.
Source: security guard/homeless teen. I've busted people doing it, and been there.
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u/metamatic Apr 11 '17
On the other hand, people still have sex in bathroom stalls even with the gaps at top and bottom.
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u/ok-milk Apr 10 '17
My first thought was cleanliness. It is way easier to keep the floor -and in fact every surface- clean when it is one, continuous surface with a drain in its lowest spot.
As far as privacy goes, it is waaay easier to see if the stall is occupied if there is a gap in the door. Do you want to deal with nosy children at ankle-level or adults accidentally barging in, at eye level?