More toilet shenanigans

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A few days ago Little One wanted to go to town to do some Christmas shopping. So after school we got the bus together to have a little look around. In one part of town, a mini Christmas market has been set up with little rustic booths selling various craft items, as well as some food stalls. After we had browsed for a while we made our way to the churros stall for a little treat. She loves dipping her churros in the melted chocolate. Unfortunately the little paper cup of chocolate was a bit flimsy and the chocolate dribbled onto her fingers, where it set. After she’d broken off and eaten the layer of solidified chocolate she still felt sticky and wanted to wash her hands. But where to go in the evening? We looked around and decided that Waterstones' bookshop was still open and since they had a café, they ought to have a toilet too. So we went upstairs to the café and Little One bravely approached the counter to ask if they had a toilet. They told her they did, it was on the next floor up and she would need a code to open the door, which they gave her on a little slip of card. So up the stairs we went again, and found there was just the one toilet to cater for everyone - those on foot, in wheelchairs or wanting baby change facilities. I entered the code in the keypad and opened the door - and there was a man sitting on the toilet! Presumably he hadn't realised that when the door locked behind him, it only stayed locked until the next person put the code in, and he should have also used the locking handle. Of course the problem with these all-purpose accessible rooms is that the toilet is absolutely miles away from the door, so there’s no chance to jump up and grab the handle as one might do in the more traditional cubicle. I hurriedly apologised and shut the door again. But then I didn’t really want us to wait outside the door as that would be rather embarrassing for the poor man when he came out. So instead we wandered among the shelves of books while we waited. The snag was that shortly afterwards, two other people clutching little cards came up the stairs and formed a queue outside the toilet door! So in the end we had to wait ages. But at least we didn’t have to come face to face with the previous incumbent. All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2021.