This past Thursday, Pearl JamÂ’s Mike McCready left his guitar at home to lobby for the rights of people with CrohnÂ’s disease. He asked Washington state lawmakers to mandate emergency access to private restrooms for sufferers of both CrohnÂ’s and related disorders.
“The proposal would require retailers without public restrooms to allow people with inflammatory bowel diseases to use employee restrooms, provided an identification card or a letter from a doctor or nurse is shown…if the bill becomes law, those who refuse to open up their restrooms to qualified people could eventually be fined $100.” —Brian Slodysko, Associated Press
Three other states—Illinois, Michigan and Texas—have passed similar laws already. Here’s the really interesting part—there is a lobbyist from the Washington Restaurant Association who is against this law and cites the safety of employees in kitchens as the reason. I had to laugh when I read this envisioning hundreds of Crohn’s disease sufferers running through busy and crowded kitchens, taking out anyone in our paths—doctors note in hand—to get to the oh-so-common “private employee bathrooms.”
I’m hoping McCready goes Seattle-punk-rock on this guy if they ever meet—but then again, I’ll be too busy endangering the lives of restaurant employees according to Michael Transue.
More on the legislature here: leg.wa.gov and the article here: seattlepi.com
(Thanks for telling me about this John!)
