I took a leak not 10 feet away from a 3 year old girl the other day. Yes, that statement is true and was purposely left a little vague so as to allow your mind to freely associate and come up with any explanation you want.
There are many possible ways this could happen. I could have been in one port-a-potty out of a bank of them at a fair or something, and the unit next to me could have been occupied by this child. I could have been swimming in the ocean and decided that I was too lazy to get out. Perhaps I was in the proper restroom and, due to the construction of the building, the other restroom was directly on the other side of the wall which would put me mere feet from this 3 year old.
The true reason is far less interesting. There was a father with no option other than to bring her in with him. He can’t go in the other restroom, there was no family restroom, so what was he to do? I know my mother had to take me in the women’s room when she had me out in public as a little boy.
Where was the outrage? That 3 year old girl was in a restroom filled with men! She will be scarred for life! She is in imminent danger of being assaulted! Restrooms are seedy, smoke-filled, cologne scented, scary places with pervs around every corner just waiting to attack!
I hear you saying, “But Jeff, you are scary, 6 foot plus, and rippling with muscle from head to toe…of course *you* aren’t afraid. What about the rest of us mere mortals?” Look, if you are afraid of letting your children go into a bathroom alone, go on in with them and check out the environment. If you are uncomfortable with the environment, don’t go in. If it is sketchy now, it was sketchy last month…it isn’t any different. Teach your kids to treat it like any unknown environment, if it feels wrong, turn around and leave.
These are certainly times of change and, to many people, it seems that different=scary. That being said, you absolutely have the right to your opinion and are free to not shop at any store for any reason. I can’t argue opinion, I can only argue the facts that these opinions are based upon. Maybe you will change your mind, maybe you won’t…
Here is some information that might help put this all into perspective. According to the statistics, in 1993, there were 7.9 million non-fatal violent assaults in this country. In 2010, 1.8 million. Yes, no matter what the news is trying to scare you with or how they try to convince you that you aren’t safe…the rate of violent crime has dropped dramatically. Over this very same period, the population has increased. A 20% increase in population (+50 million people) with a 77% decrease in violent assaults over the same time period sounds pretty damn good to me. Yet you can’t escape headlines exclaiming that we live in the most violent society ever and that guns are out of control…looks more than a little bit like fear-mongering to me.
Here’s another stat you see all the time. Strangers only commit approximately 25% of violent assaults…so you are safer with strangers than the people you know. That stat is often rebutted with the fact that 51% of assaults in public places are committed by strangers, but if you dig deeper into that…only 14% of all assaults in commercial spaces (retail, office, etc…) are committed by strangers. You are more likely to be assaulted on public transportation than in a public bathroom. So…should we have gender-segregated transportation?
Again, you are absolutely entitled to your opinion, but it should be based on fact and not media spin or headlines. I implore you to read and study the facts for yourself. My thought is this, if someone wanted to dress as a woman to sneak into a women’s restroom and assault women, they would do it, law or no law…they are already willing to break the law to assault someone…what is a minor restroom infraction tagged on?
Think about this though, if you force people into a specific restroom based on current gender, you will have women who are in the process of becoming male, taking the hormones, and growing beards…who are forced to use the ladies’ room because they haven’t had the bits and tackle added yet. Won’t that be delightful for store security and local police to have to sort out.
Lastly, for those of you who think that this is a bad thing because people will hang out in restrooms hoping to see nude people, I have been in tens of thousands of restrooms all over the world…and I have seen zero naked people. I am also pretty sure that the ladies don’t go in the restroom, rip off all of their clothing, and then strut around in front of the mirror on their way to a stall (though having no experience with the inner sanctum of a ladies room, feel free to correct me). I can’t imagine that anyone pretending to be a lady to catch a glimpse is going to find anyone slangin’ the goods they are hoping for.
There are far larger and deeper reaching topics in this country that should be taking up the news cycle…something about Miley Cyrus and a tattoo? So let’s all unjerk the knee and dial it back a couple of notches while we think about how much of a non-issue this really is.
As always, comments and or opposing viewpoints are welcomed!
Above the Nonsense 