Starbucks' decision to restrict its restrooms to paying customers has flushed out a wider problem: a patchwork of restroom policies that's left Americans confused and divided over who gets to use the loo and when. Rules about restroom access in restaurants vary by city, county, and state. New York, for example, requires restroom access for customers at food establishments with 20 or more seats, per the AP. California requires larger restaurants to provide restrooms for customers and guests, but only if they were built after 1984. In Chicago, restaurants don't need to have restrooms for customers unless they serve liquor. "It's so mishmash," said Steven Soifer, co-founder of the American Restroom Association, which advocates for clean, safe, and well-designed public toilets. "If [a retailer] is serving food and drink, it's a health hazard if there isn't a public bathroom."
- Starbucks: The coffee chain opened the can, so to speak, when it said last week it was reversing a seven-year-old policy that invited anyone to hang out in its stores or use the restroom, regardless of whether they bought anything. Starbucks' new code, to be posted in all company-owned North American stores, also bans discrimination or harassment, consumption of outside alcohol, smoking, vaping, drug use, and asking strangers for money.
- Debate: Reaction to the coffee chain's rule change has been heated. "I do think it's up to Starbucks to set the atmosphere in their stores," says retired firefighter Paul Skinner, 76, of Daytona Beach, Florida. But Skinner also said he also doesn't mind when homeless people occasionally visit his local Starbucks, and he sometimes offers to buy them breakfast. "I think about all the people who don't have housing who would love to wander into a Starbucks and get warm," he said. "Now there's one more place they aren't welcome."
- Starbucks' take: The chain says its new code matches those of other big retailers, stressing that it's meant to end disruptive behavior. "We know there will be times when a customer needs to use the restroom before they've made a purchase, or maybe uses the restroom and then decides against making a purchase, and of course that is OK," Starbucks rep Jaci Anderson says. Starbucks also said it will comply with any local laws requiring bathroom access for noncustomers.
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