Above is a creation of Jan Buchczik from NYT opinion columnist Nicholas Kristoff’s “America is Not Made for People Who Pee

I live in Toronto and I must say, this city is bladder-friendly. Malls like the Eaton Centre have washrooms in every level, even two at the food court level, to accommodate the public. They’re clean, equipped with toilet paper and maintained several times during the day while the mall is open. After all, there’s no excuse for messiness in a country that has 20% of the world’s fresh water. As well, libraries, community centres and public parks have facilities where the public can do their business when nature calls. Even supermarkets like Loblaws have them. All in all, there’s no reason to be urinating or defecating in public in Toronto in normal times except now that there’s a pandemic, all the above mentioned, except supermarkets, are closed and we are all strongly urged to stay home.

Major cities in the US like San Francisco, L.A., and NYC, specifically the borough of Manhattan, fall short of public washrooms. During my visits to these cities, and I’ve had numerous, I am forced to relieve myself at fast food chains which most of the time have 2 to 4 cubicles at the most. While I, as a male,  can pass my urine outdoors, facing the wall or my car, there have been instances in the US when men were arrested for public urination and ended up classified as sex offenders. At least 13 states are known to do this. To be logged in as a sex offender is a lifetime curse especially if all you were doing at the time of your arrest was relieving your full bladder in public with our back turned to the street.  

In Rome, it was worse when I visited some two decades ago. I had to order espresso or cappuccino just to use the washrooms. What I found funny was coffee is a diuretic so my trips to the washroom became costly at one point. My visits to my old country were not that bad. There were washrooms in all public places and malls. Just no toilet paper.

The presence of washrooms in any public place can be costly. Maintaining them is not cheap. Their availability in any public structure invites drug-related activities and prostitution. And let’s face it, not every user of a public washroom leaves it tidy, even if the user found it clean upon entry. Bad habits are bad habits, regardless of the place, whether at home, somebody’s home or in a public washroom.

With the advent of the LGBTQ, the transgender’s use of washrooms is hotly debated. In SFO, there is a washroom that transgenders can use. It’s a start and I applaud it. I am a liberal Roman Catholic and I acknowledge and respect anyone belonging to the LGBTQ. As Pope Francis once said of homosexuals, “They’re also children of God”.  All humans need to empty their bladders, regardless of their sex.