Public Places

It seems to be that there are two kinds of places, private and public. Nothing in between, really. I decided to give some thoughts about the public places that I frequent.

Let’s start with elevators. I ride in old elevators. I ride in new elevators. Perhaps, the old elevators can be exempted from these comments. They’ve been around for eons; long before we gave at least lip service to the needs of the handicapped. And, truth be told, I probably didn’t give a thought to the inside of an elevator until I, too, became old. But, old I am, so there are some changes that need to be made to the insides of elevators.

The elderly, such as myself, are not always steady on their feet. When speeding up or down in an elevator, the motion is often disconcerting to a person who has balance problems, making them unsteady. Some elevators havesafety bars around the elevator. These make it convenient for the rider to hold on during the short journey.

The music in elevators (yes, we used to have music in elevators) was always the butt of jokes – elevator music, it was called. Personally, I never minded the music. It always helped to make the journey more pleasant. Kept me from wondering if it would actually stop on my chosen floor. Or, would it zoom right down past the basement to who knows what? Or, worse yet, fly out of the building into the sky? (I’ve seen those movies with the elevator crashing down; and “Willy Wonka” going through the roof of the building!) I think, though, that for me, the worst fault of the elevator manufacturer is that the push buttons to be used to select a floor are often black on black. Do these engineers know nothing about the difficulty they cause by eliminating the contrast needed to see the floor designations? The best buttons are white floor number on black background; or black on white. The visually impaired are best served with this high-contrast labeling.

After watching a rom-com on the Hallmark channel, I became aware of the necessity of having Braille identifiers at the elevator doors and inside for floor selection. I don’t need or read Braille, but I know this is appreciated by those who do.

I also remember Larry’s comments, years ago, when taking an elevator. When the elevator arrived and the doors opened, I was turned away from the door, facing him and not the open door. So, I simply backed into the elevator. He was aghast! You may have heard the shout – “No, No, No! Do not ever back into an open elevator door; you don’t know that the elevator is actually there. Always walk into the elevator knowing that it is there!” I can tell you that I never ever backed into an elevator, again.

Today, I had a quick lunch at an Einstein’s Bros. Bagel Shop. You may remember that I wrote an open letter to the CEO of Einstein’s about the lack of seating in their flagship / first ever shop located close to my home. The shop where my late husband and his friends had their bagels and coffee every morning. They sat at the community table and enjoyed the company and conversation of friends. When COVID hit, all of the chairs and most of the tables (save the community table) were removed. It was a “grab and go” situation. Understandably, the situation remained until there was enough time after the COVID event to allow for congregation of people in public places. Still, no chairs and tables were returned to Einstein’s shop. Only the long community table with no chairs was there. Sometime later, I was informed by a friend that tables and chairs had returned to the shop. I have yet to check on that store.

Today’s venture into another Einstein’s was extremely disappointing. Indeed, there are three tables and five chairs in that store. Two of the tables are so high they require high chairs for sitting. Personally, I cannot climb up onto those chairs; I’d need a step stool to get there. And, the 30” by 48” rectangle table with its three chairs didn’t help, either. Oh, there are some metal tables and chairs outside, but it’s WINTER! Outside in winter – does this make sense? No.

I talked with the two young men who were “manning” the store. I asked about their ability to get to know their customers. No. However, they said, it seems that people may not want to be known. There is no sense of community at that store. Grab and go is the situation with no opportunity to sit and discuss the news of the day. What is the reason for this lack of community? I had to wonder if the lack of tables and seating may be contributing to our batch of non-communicating, self-absorbed people who don’t know how to talk with each other.

I stopped in another Einstein’s and found four tables and chairs; the remainder were outside on the sidewalk – again – it’s WINTER.  There were some tall, flat spaces where customers can stand and eat their bagels and drink their coffee.  Not very customer friendly, I’d say

Now, let’s talk about public restrooms. I will leave cleanliness alone. I do, however, have several things to discuss that have nothing to do with whether or not the establishment keeps them clean. Again, thanks to that rom-com movie, I realize that restrooms must be identified with “Men” or “Women” by the use of Braille. I’m sure that people wonder why I touch the wall outside of the door of a restroom to see if the Braille identifier is there.

My next thought is that, in restaurants, the restroom is always on the outside wall of the building. And, apparently, with no heat piped into it. They are always, always cold. Now, this may not effect men, but it’s not the same for women. Every thing is cold. The door handle, the toilet seat, the flushing handle, the air. And, the water for hand washing is also, often cold. In fact, many times, the only water is from the cold tap. There is no connection to warm/hot water at all. And, where is the soap?

Newer toilet stools – those automatic kind – sound like they are going to suck everything in the room (including you) down the drain. Little children become so frightened that they cannot even be coaxed to take care of business. Someone also decided that blowing hot air was far better than having paper towels for drying hands. I submit that it is a little difficult to clean up a child who has just thrown up his supper with that hot air. Also, the blowing air blows all sorts of stuff around the room. I found that it is just simpler to pull of more tissue and use that to dry hands.

For persons using the stall for handicapped individuals, there is also the problem of reaching the tissue. Those big, double-roll dispensers are usually installed on the wall under – UNDER – the safety bar. Trying to reach tissues on a roll that is half gone takes the skill of a contortionist. Again, clearly, the person designing the placement of these dispensers knows nothing about this process. One of my grocery stores has everything in the right place. Safety bar with the dispenser on the wall above the safety bar, easily reachable, no matter how much paper is left on the roll. In addition, the sinks are equipped with bars to turn the water on and off – a help for the handicapped.

The Perkins restaurant that I used to frequent also had an excellent restroom with helps for the handicapped. And, now that I’m old, I fit into the “handicapped” group a lot of the time. Perkins had many, many elderly people as their patrons. But, unfortunately, the building has been razed to make place for a multi-story, residence to house hundreds of people in postage-stamp apartments. Sadly, the disappearance of another public place.
Be Safe and Be Well
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are appreciated.