Toilets Which Don't Lock - what can you do?

Problems
1 The toilet door doesn't lock
2 The cubicle/ toilet has no lock

Answers
1 Maybe the lock is broken. You have to put your bag on the dirty floor against the door, hang it on the handle, and/or sing loudly to alert anybody outside that you are inside. Maybe the key has fallen out of the lock as the door slammed shut, on to the floor. First try moving the handle in all directions. Does a lever go down, or up? Clockwise or anti-clockwise? Does the knob turn, go clockwise or anti-clockwise, or push inwards and outwards?
2 Wait for somebody else and ask them to guard the door and offer to wait and do the same for them.

Stories
I had trouble with the lock on the disabled toilet in Waitrose in Harrow and Wealdstone. I kept shutting the door, moving the bar, checking if it was locked and fining it pushed open. Somebody else came along and showed me what to do.
The cubicle is designed for wheelchair users. The door opener is not the door closing bar but a push button on the wall.
2 Sometimes there's no lock on the single cubicle. The lock is on the door to the toilet which has a separate basin outside. Why? Extra security for the person in the cubicle. A mother and child could have privacy for mother in the cubicle whilst child or baby in pushchair is in the basin section.
The worst non-locking cubicle door was the one on the mountain in Guylin, China. The cubicles in the Ladies has no toilet. The toilet was the squat type. All the tourists were Chinese who wanted to see me because I was a blonde Westerner and they were all black-haired Chinese. I had to wait until they were all gone. I kept my group waiting and nearly missed my coach.

Tips
If in trouble ask the owner. If you are too shy, or the owner is not around, ask another customers.
Failing all else, stick a note on the outside or under the door. Carry an umbrella. Open it and hold it in front of you, whether in a field or a cubicle with no lock, it give you visual privacy.



Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

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