The Starbuck's restroom policy sucks. Here's why it exists, though. [View all]

In most cities, public toilet facilities are few and far between. Often there is not one near where a person might have need of one. This is the source of a number of problems, since human animals need places to carry out their excretory functions.

Those humans include people who do not have the means to make a purchase in a private business. In most cities, such people are forced to do what they must do, wherever they must do them. That means a wall in an alley or any other place.

Businesses, in order to serve their customers, often have public restrooms available for those customers. That presents a problem for them, since there is a cost to providing those facilities, and their maintenance in a reasonable state of cleanliness. So, many businesses, rightly or wrongly, reserve the facilities for actual customers. Restaurants, bars, and other places where food or drink is served are required to have restrooms.

The real fault in all of this is the failure of cities to provide and maintain public restrooms that are conveniently located in places where people are. Most cities have few such facilities, typically in parks and public buildings. The cost of maintaining them is high, and they sometimes become a nuisance, when used for other reason.

Cities should make it easy for people to find places where they can relieve themselves. They do not. That leads to people attempting to use whatever facilities exist. Those are usually located in businesses.

This is a social justice issue. We fail badly at this particular, and essential service. Very badly.

People have to go. They need places to go. Businesses should not be required to fill that public need. Our cities should. That they do not is a public service failure.

That said, businesses that have public restrooms should not discriminate in their use. Their policies should be universal. Often, that is not the case. That is a social justice failure on their parts.