Signs of the Times: Toronto
You’ve seen Montreal and Vancouver’s signs at the CBC… here are a few snapped around the Toronto broadcast centre by CBC archives staffer Paul Gorbould.
Side note: This particular sign — well, the policy it articulates, anyway — is something of a controversy in Toronto; the disabled washrooms are only for people with disabilities. See the discussion on Paul’s blog.
How about your region? Snap some photos of interesting signs around your CBC bureau and send them to me in Groupwise (or, better yet, send me a link to your Flickr set of the photos).
Photo: “Take your able-bodied urine elsewhere” by Paul Gorbould
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As a person who is disabled let me tell you that while we do appreciate the special facilities within normal bathrooms which do help those who have special needs, the whole idea of providing access for the disabled is to let us, as much as possible, enjoy the same facilities and access the same places as people who are blessed with no mobility problems. Since we pee and poop the same as those who do not have disabilities simple modificastions, such as lowered urinals for wheelchair bound men and rails to assist people using the toilet should suffice. It is more necessary to allow access to the entire building by providing ramps instead of stairs, wide enough door openings to allow wheelchairs and such. But even more it is a frame of mind by the non handicapped. We don’t want to be catered to. We just want to be able to do as much as we are able without disturbing everyone else.
Fans of the CBC-TV program “The Newsroom” might remember the hilarious episode when Ken Finkelman was caught using the disabled bathroom in the Toronto Broadcast Centre. A disabled employee caught him and it became a big controversy in the newsroom. I think most of us realize “The Newsroom” was pretty close to reality in terms of what goes on at the CBC…
Holy crap…
My soilent green? Did I leave something in the fridge for far too long? Or am I just too over-stressed to get the joke?
(I would have commented on the actual photo, but for some reason I cant”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorbould/463626635/in/set-72157600088096173/
To ye-gods: holy crap is from the Vatican disabled bathroom
It was indeed just a joke, Blake. I had to blame the Soylent Green on someone, and you were the only person who works near that fridge that the readers of this fine blog had heard of.
I’ve eaten it since. It tasted strangely like the cast of Da Vinci City Hall.
Not sure why the Flickr comments don’t work, though…
I agree that persons with disabilities need access to accessible washrooms… but I am also thinking of the lead some universities are taking in redesignating accessible washrooms to be gender-neutral washrooms… to accommodate transgendered individuals who might be uncomfortable using ‘gendered’ washrooms – or for individuals who need more privacy due to personal issues.
That would surely open up a bigger can of worms…
here is the link to that info:
https://home.mcgill.ca/queerequity/washrooms/
As someone who is temporarily disabled (because of a knee injury) I can’t tell you how much of an inconvenience it is to walk into the washroom where I work and see four perfectly good non-accessible washrooms not in use, but someone’s plonked her rear in the accessible stall because she feels “entitled”. Now, I can hobble over to the elevator and take it down to the first floor where the accessible stall is always empty, but the fact of the matter is I shouldn’t have to.
It’s just about courtesy. If you are able to use the non-accessible stalls, then do so. I’ll go back to using them as soon as my knee heals, and I don’t think of that as a major compromise of my personal freedom to have to use a slightly smaller stall just in the off-chance that someone who really does need the extra space might need to use it.
When I used to work in as a waiter…oops…SERVER…about 20 years ago, I used to LOVE using the washroom reserved for disabled customers. For one thing…we never had any disabled customers that I can remember, so it was always not only available, but the cleanest. For another, it was on the same level, so it was the fastest way to get back to my tables. And finally…it was just simply HUGE. It felt like you were at home and you could really just kick back and relax if you needed. (I kept hoping that they would install a magazine rack, but it never happened.)
That said…I wouldn’t have used it if there was someone present that would have needed it…but as it was, I always think back to that washroom with fond memories.
Come to think of it…it’s the ONLY washroom I think back on with ANY memories.
Hmmm