When you are on a shopping trip or out with friends and need to make a pit stop to use the restroom, Where do YOU go?

Where are the best public restrooms?

If you're like me, there are certain stations and places you want to avoid if you need a restroom. And you probably have your nice favorites too right?

I usually try to avoid the stations where the restroom is around the back of the building and issue a key for.

Most often they are stinky and gross and you wish you hadn't even touched the key.

I feel like if you're in a place and the restroom is tidy, clean, and well cared for, the restaurant or place of business is probably well cared for too.

Clean tidy restrooms could indicate a good establishment

Off the top of my head, I'm going to say that Burger King has nice, clean restrooms. So does Starbucks. (You have to have a code for that.) So that gives me a good excuse to buy a coffee and get the code.

Gas stations like Maverick or Shell seem to be pretty good too.

I lived in the Seattle area for a few years, and most often you aren't allowed to use the restroom in many gas stations.

There is such a homeless issue there. Signs are posted saying "No Public Bathrooms" And they mean it! They will not allow you to use them. That's one of the things that bugs me about the west side of the state.

Some area diners seem to be okay with stopping in quickly to use the restroom. I make sure that If I do that, I will also try to frequent the place for a meal at some point.

But let's face it. Sometimes we are out and about for a long time. Staying hydrated is important. We will inevitably need to stop in somewhere and use the facilities.

I hope we never get to a point where we are not allowed the privilege of using a restroom in a public facility here if needed.

I remember when I first moved to the Tri-Cities back in 1990. There was a bread store on Clearwater Avenue.

I went in one day with my two toddlers Nick and Brenden and had been making my way around the store, filling my grocery cart with all kinds of bread and other items, when one of my sons notified me that he urgently needed to use the restroom. He's a toddler for heaven's sake!

So I politely asked if they had a restroom. They replied they did, but said  "It's not for public use."  I explained that I had a toddler who needed to use it urgently!  They refused and said I could not use it. I couldn't believe it.

I left the cart with everything in it, left the store, and NEVER returned.

Yes, my Mama Bear came out growling as I hurriedly tried to find another place nearby.  I couldn't by the way. We ended up having to pull over near the back of a building and let him go outside.

I couldn't believe I had to resort to that when they could have just let him use the restroom. I'll never understand such non-compassion. He was 3 for gosh sake. So annoying.

Okay enough about that. Send me an app chat and let me know if anything similar ever happened to you. I hadn't thought about that memory for a long time. It still makes me mad. I'll never be okay with that.

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