NYC Trip

I drove through NYC for the first time, dropping my father off at the airport. My family and I were proud of this milestone. I had to pee on the way back and held it for as long as possible. After about 2 hours, I caved and pulled into a shuttered Sears parking lot. It was only 15 mins further to home, but I couldn’t make it. I panicked and picked the first place to pull over.

I thought I’d pee in public on the side of the road. Turned out there was construction, a new (over priced) apartment complex. There were workers milling about, so public peeing was out. Then I checked the map and realized a university building was right there. It would be open to the public and had restrooms. It was a fairly nice admin building, so all good.

I should’ve pulled over sooner, but I was in a dense area and didn’t want to enter any of the towns along the highway. If my brain was working, I could’ve found a gas station.

Nervous

I shit when I’m nervous. Not sure why, but both of these problems compound each other. Not being able to use the bathroom in turn makes me more nervous (as it would anyone). At home, its a non issue.

In public, I’ve been lucky to mostly be in "nice" areas where many business are happy to share their bathrooms, even with non-customers. When I’ve been out on my own whilst biking, its been a challenge as a single brown person who does go to worse off areas. The DC metro stations often have bathrooms, but the station master often needs to unlock them. Said stations masters usually don’t open them at late hours (which is policy), although a few kind station masters have helped me.

Conclusion

More public bathrooms please