4 ms·

In the US, Starbucks seems to have stepped up and decided to be a publicly accessible restroom for anybody who wants to use them

by dymk 7y ago

DoreenMichele 7y ago
True, but only after a PR debacle in which two black men were arrested for waiting at a Starbucks in Philadelphia to meet someone. One of them asked to use the bathroom while waiting and an employee called the cops, who hauled them off to jail in spite of the white guy they were meeting showing up and talking to the cops to say "No, they really were waiting for me. That's the truth." To save face, Starbucks apologized and made it company-wide policy that anyone can use their bathrooms, an announcement that got posted to r/homeless as a little good news for the homeless community. https://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=crmas&p=starbucks+two+black+men https://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=crmas&p=starbuck...
- oh_sigh 7y ago
  What does it matter if they were meeting someone or not? The question is whether they were paying customers or not - and they weren't. Maybe they were all going to stand in line together and order something. Maybe they were just going to use Starbucks as a free meeting place. I don't think calling the cops on them was the right thing to do if they were denied use of the bathroom but otherwise weren't making a scene, but I don't see why potentially being a customer in the future would give you privileges reserved for customers currently.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    So you’ve never waited at a coffee shop for someone else to arrive? If I am by myself, needing to use the restroom before I order, what should I do? Order first and then take the food with me in the restroom? Leave it unattended at the table?
    - tasuki 7y ago
      Just go to the restroom. If someone tries to stop you, explain you have urgent priorities and will order afterwards.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
- egdod 7y ago
  They were asked to leave, and they refused. You can say it was dumb to ask them to leave, but that’s what happened. That’s when it became trespassing, and that’s when the cops got called.

In the US, Starbucks seems to have stepped up and decided to be a publicly accessible restroom for anybody who wants to use them

by dymk 7y ago

In the US, Starbucks seems to have stepped up and decided to be a publicly accessible restroom for anybody who wants to use them

DoreenMichele 7y ago

True, but only after a PR debacle in which two black men were arrested for waiting at a Starbucks in Philadelphia to meet someone. One of them asked to use the bathroom while waiting and an employee called the cops, who hauled them off to jail in spite of the white guy they were meeting showing up and talking to the cops to say "No, they really were waiting for me. That's the truth." To save face, Starbucks apologized and made it company-wide policy that anyone can use their bathrooms, an announcement that got posted to r/homeless as a little good news for the homeless community. https://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=crmas&p=starbucks+two+black+men https://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=crmas&p=starbuck...

oh_sigh 7y ago
What does it matter if they were meeting someone or not? The question is whether they were paying customers or not - and they weren't. Maybe they were all going to stand in line together and order something. Maybe they were just going to use Starbucks as a free meeting place. I don't think calling the cops on them was the right thing to do if they were denied use of the bathroom but otherwise weren't making a scene, but I don't see why potentially being a customer in the future would give you privileges reserved for customers currently.
- scarface74 7y ago
  So you’ve never waited at a coffee shop for someone else to arrive? If I am by myself, needing to use the restroom before I order, what should I do? Order first and then take the food with me in the restroom? Leave it unattended at the table?
  - tasuki 7y ago
    Just go to the restroom. If someone tries to stop you, explain you have urgent priorities and will order afterwards.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
egdod 7y ago
They were asked to leave, and they refused. You can say it was dumb to ask them to leave, but that’s what happened. That’s when it became trespassing, and that’s when the cops got called.