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Post Reports

Why the need to go might prevent us from going out

Post Reports

The Washington Post

Daily News, Politics, News

4.45.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2020

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Americans are making it clear: They won’t be ready to go out to their favorite destinations until they feel confident about being able to go. To the bathroom, that is.

Read more:

The need to go is a big barrier to going out. Why public bathrooms are a stumbling block for reopening.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm routine powers. Saturday, May 23rd. This is a bonus episode of Post Reports.

0:14.1

Whether it's the mall, restaurants, concerts, ball parks, or even drive-in movie theaters,

0:19.1

Americans are making it clear. They won't be ready to go out to their favorite destinations

0:26.4

until they feel confident about being able to go to the bathroom, that is.

0:34.8

Mark Fisher is a senior editor for the Post, and recently he reported a story on why public

0:40.4

bathrooms are such a big challenge for reopening. We asked him to read it for you here.

0:47.5

The idea of a return to life in public is unnerving enough for many people, but it turns out that

0:53.0

one of the biggest obstacles to dining in a restaurant, renewing a doctor's appointment,

0:57.7

or going back to the office, is the prospect of having to use a public restroom, a tight,

1:03.5

intimate, and potentially German-fested space. It's a hurdle vexing many business owners as they

1:10.9

prepare to reopen in a time of social distancing, reduced capacity, and heightened anxiety about the

1:17.6

very air we breathe. A Texas barbecue restaurant reopened only after hiring for a new job category,

1:26.5

a bathroom monitor who assures that people waiting their turn are spaced well apart. In Florida,

1:33.8

malls are installing touch-free sinks and hand-dryers in restaurants before opening their doors.

1:40.6

McDonald's is requiring franchises to clean bathrooms every 30 minutes. Across the country,

1:47.6

businesses are replacing blow-dryers with paper towels, decommissioning urinals that now seem

1:53.8

too close together, and removing restroom doors to create airport-style, no-touch, entrances. In

2:02.5

San Luis Obispo, California, the sunset drive-in held back from reopening even though the health

2:09.2

department gave it the green light, because the owner needed time to figure out how to address

2:14.4

customer's concerns about catching the novel coronavirus in the bathroom. Before we open, we want

2:21.9

to have the restroom problem solved for your safety, the owner Larry Rodke wrote on Facebook,

2:27.0

sitting through approximately five hours of movies is a necessity for the enjoyment of the

...

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