I need to go to the bathroom… but so does everyone else

May 28, 2022 might forever go down as one of the most tragic days in my dramatic, millennial life. 

Eddie and I were watching a matinee showing of Hamilton at Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Downtown Vancouver, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s brilliant, wildly popular biographical rap musical based on the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.

Now, why was this day so d@mn tragic?

Blame it on the bathroom.

During the intermission, Eddie and I each entered our respective bathroom lines. He was in and out in a flash. Me, on the other hand? It took me so long to do my business in the women’s bathroom that I missed part of the first song of the Second Act, the iconic Cabinet Rap Battle.

It. Was. Heartbreaking. 💔

Maybe I should have held it in…

Since this fateful day, simultaneously spurred on by the dialogue on gender-biased public bathroom designs in Caroline Criado Perez’s brilliant book that I had read earlier the same year, Invisible Women: Exposing the Data Bias, I’d been making anecdotal mental notes every time I go out to use a public bathroom:

• Which bathroom - male or female - is nicer, more easily accessible? 

• Which spaces are inclusive with gender-neutral bathrooms? 

• Why does it seem like the women’s bathroom almost always doubles as a storage room? 

After over three years of this, I finally decided it was time to expand my thinking and enact the age-old, outdated trope; I needed to go “powder my nose” with another woman, to see what they also saw.

And who better to go to the bathroom with than Hannah Cheng?

Hannah is an interior designer and founder of CHY Design, where she focuses on “aging-in place” design:

“To me, aging in place is about creating spaces that support mobility and independence, with easy movement and fall prevention built in, so people can stay in the home they’re familiar with.”

Having recently put on an incredible exhibition with Capella Design at IDS Vancouver, Hannah and I spent an afternoon walking around Waterfront Station in Downtown Vancouver to see where we could, indeed, “powder our noses” together and use the bathroom.

Bathroom #1: Waterfront Centre Food Court

As a former teenage employee of the now-defunct IMAX Theatre at Canada Place (RIP), this was a bathroom I was quite familiar with. After all, as a teenager who had little to no money to spend at coffee shops or restaurants in exchange for the use of their toilet, I HAD to know where all the public washrooms were. 

So perhaps it was the nostalgia of reminiscing about the days of flinging popcorn in my youth, but something about this first bathroom made me miss something deeply… analog.

Watching another woman struggle to trigger the sensor on the paper towel dispenser. The automatic sensor flush on the toilet, in lieu of the classic ‘step on the toilet handle with my checkered Vans’. For an activity so primal, being there with Hannah brought into deep focus just how digital going to the bathroom has become.

One day, I’ll figure out how to activate these…

Bathroom #2: Canada Place Convention Centre

Before even entering this next bathroom, Hannah and I stood outside the entrance while she looked over and contemplated the space.

“We have to look at what the space is giving,” she said. “What is available? What is the existing space? Will the user have a good experience?”

Hannah is calm in her brilliance, sharp with her insights while also bringing a quality of softness and humanity in her perspective.

And her use of language fascinated me. Of course, someone who uses the bathroom is a “user”. And using this term doesn’t necessarily strip a person of their humanity; it frames their interaction with an environment in a more functional, tangible way, rather than the abstract, sociological lens that I had been fixated on these past three years.

A different perspective.

Bathroom #3: Fairmont Pacific Rim

My first thought when entering the hotel with Hannah? 

“D@mn, this place smells goooood”.

My mom had worked at the Westin Bayshore just down the road for over two decades, so I knew all about hotels and their ‘signature scents’: it creates a distinct brand identity, an emotional connection between the guest and their environment, where they then in turn link that luxurious smell with their overall hotel experience.

The Fairmont’s signature scent, Le Labo Rose 31, was created specifically for the brand by a perfumery in New York. Hannah, having worked on projects for real estate developers, talked further about the importance of making design choices that align with the brand:

“It’s about designing a space that aligns with what the brand is about, knowing who the customers are,” she explains. “When the space reflects the brand, it attracts the right clients and creates interiors that speak directly to them—helping make the right connections.”

So yeah, you can only imagine how nice that bathroom smelled. 

It’s all in the details.

After this afternoon stroll with Hannah, it dawned on me that despite my best intentions, my view over these past three years had been heavily biased toward my own identity.

Sure, as a woman, I needed to go to the bathroom.

But I’m not the only one in line.

I first met Matthew Sebastiani at a Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce event. On top of his current role with the Bank of Canada, he’s also the Past President of the Vancouver Chapter of Crohn’s and Colitis Canada.

The TL:DR:

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are diseases that inflame the lining of the GI (gastrointestinal) tract and disrupt your body's ability to digest food, absorb nutrition, and eliminate waste in a healthy manner. These are lifelong diseases and people can experience acute periods of active symptoms (active disease or flare), and other times when their symptoms are absent (remission).

Matthew was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when he was 18 years old, and knows firsthand how important it is to know where the nearest bathrooms are. 

Enter: The GoHere® Washroom Access Program, an app that helps people living with Crohn’s or Colitis find nearby public washrooms.

“Having reliable, public washroom options is essential; not just for those with medical conditions, but for seniors, some people with disabilities, and anyone who might need urgent access,” Matthew adds. “This is a community-wide issue, and advocating for options and solutions will help many.”

What started for me back in 2022 as a quest for justice on behalf of all women who missed parts of musical numbers due to long bathroom queues, ended up teaching me another lesson altogether: one that I accept with humility and grace.

I focused so much on framing bathroom design and accessibility through the lens of my own identity as a woman, that I was reminded of the cardinal rule in intersectional feminism: that every user’s dignity and right to safe space matter. 

I, too, also need to get in line. 

Did you really go to the bathroom together if you don’t take a selfie?

If you would like to support Crohn’s Colitis Canada, consider donating here:

https://crohnsandcolitis.ca/ways-to-give

Add a location to the GoHere Washroom App here:

//crohnsandcolitis.ca/Support-for-You/GoHere-Washroom-Access/Order-a-Decal