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Washroom Atendants

Started by Brandon, August 03, 2018, 06:59:35 PM

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Brandon

Why do washroom attendants even exist?  They're creepy, IMHO, hanging around in the washroom to turn on the water, put soap on your hands, and hand you a towel.  All for what, a lousy tip?  It's gotta be the world's least necessary job.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg


oscar

I've seen some at conferences in Washington, D.C. Ridiculous. But there's usually a somewhat out-of-the-way attendant-free washroom I can use instead.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
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hbelkins

Quote from: Brandon on August 03, 2018, 06:59:35 PM
Why do washroom attendants even exist?  They're creepy, IMHO, hanging around in the washroom to turn on the water, put soap on your hands, and hand you a towel.  All for what, a lousy tip?  It's gotta be the world's least necessary job.

Don't think I've ever encountered one. I guess they're supposed to contribute to some sort of a luxury experience or something. But then again, I won't even use a bellhop or concierge or whatever they're called if I'm staying at a place that has that service. Why should I pay someone else to pack my stuff when I can do it myself?


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Max Rockatansky

I'd imagine they have some pretty shitty stories from work to say the least. 

jon daly

The only place I recall seeing them is at a casino. I may've seen one in a nightclub, but I would've been pretty drunk if I wound up in one.

Big John

I had seem them at the Wisconsin State Fair.  They also had port-a-pottys with people waiting to use those instead of dealing with the attendants.

US71

Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

formulanone

I recall Charlotte International Airport had them at least up until 2014; I don't remember seeing them in my last visit two years ago.

bing101

Dang I never knew bathroom attendants ever existed. Its kind of like the Gas Attendant I never knew these jobs ever existed.


I tend to think these jobs only exist in myths. I thought you meant creepy janitors cleaning the bathrooms at first though.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restroom_attendant
http://www.chicagotribune.com/redeye/redeye-chicago-club-scene-washroom-attendant-20150528-story.html





jp the roadgeek

I've seen them at the casinos, as well as the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA. 
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

jon daly

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 03, 2018, 11:43:49 PM
I've seen them at the casinos, as well as the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA. 

I forgot that they were at the Big E. But they seemed more like janitors. What I recall at the casinos like Foxwoods is that they often had cologne or other toiletries available. Not sure of those attendants had to buy those on their own or if they were provided by the casino.

abefroman329

Quote from: hbelkins on August 03, 2018, 07:28:49 PM
Quote from: Brandon on August 03, 2018, 06:59:35 PM
Why do washroom attendants even exist?  They're creepy, IMHO, hanging around in the washroom to turn on the water, put soap on your hands, and hand you a towel.  All for what, a lousy tip?  It's gotta be the world's least necessary job.

Don't think I've ever encountered one. I guess they're supposed to contribute to some sort of a luxury experience or something. But then again, I won't even use a bellhop or concierge or whatever they're called if I'm staying at a place that has that service. Why should I pay someone else to pack my stuff when I can do it myself?
A bellhop or concierge wouldn't pack or unpack your suitcase. A butler would, but neither you nor I can afford to stay at a hotel with butler service. I don't use bellhops frequently, but they're convenient when I'm traveling by myself and have a lot of luggage, or when I arrive in a city before check-in and/or leave a city after check-out, and need to check my luggage with the bell desk while I go do other things luggage-free.

Regarding washroom attendants, I've never seen one outside of a nightclub or strip club. I agree that they're annoying, doubly so when they're in a bathroom that's too small to accommodate one, but I just tip them a buck, go on my way, and, if at all possible, hold it the rest of the time I'm at that establishment.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: oscar on August 03, 2018, 07:13:49 PM
I've seen some at conferences in Washington, D.C. Ridiculous.

The Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. had them.  The Annual Meeting of the  Transportation  Research Board (TRB) used to use  that hotel, along with the nearby Marriott Wardman Park and the Washington Hilton as its convention hotels.

Aside - a few years ago, they moved the event to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center some miles away, allowing them to have everything either in the Convention Center or next door in the Washington Marriott Marquis Hotel (connected to the Convention Center by an understreet pedestrian tunnel).
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

Brandon

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 12:18:05 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on August 03, 2018, 07:28:49 PM
Quote from: Brandon on August 03, 2018, 06:59:35 PM
Why do washroom attendants even exist?  They're creepy, IMHO, hanging around in the washroom to turn on the water, put soap on your hands, and hand you a towel.  All for what, a lousy tip?  It's gotta be the world's least necessary job.

Don't think I've ever encountered one. I guess they're supposed to contribute to some sort of a luxury experience or something. But then again, I won't even use a bellhop or concierge or whatever they're called if I'm staying at a place that has that service. Why should I pay someone else to pack my stuff when I can do it myself?
A bellhop or concierge wouldn't pack or unpack your suitcase. A butler would, but neither you nor I can afford to stay at a hotel with butler service. I don't use bellhops frequently, but they're convenient when I'm traveling by myself and have a lot of luggage, or when I arrive in a city before check-in and/or leave a city after check-out, and need to check my luggage with the bell desk while I go do other things luggage-free.

Regarding washroom attendants, I've never seen one outside of a nightclub or strip club. I agree that they're annoying, doubly so when they're in a bathroom that's too small to accommodate one, but I just tip them a buck, go on my way, and, if at all possible, hold it the rest of the time I'm at that establishment.

This was a the Old Crow Smokehouse (on Kinzie) on Wednesday for an event on their second floor.  The main washroom (thankfully) lacked an attendant.  Apparently the women's had two of them.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

hbelkins

#14
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 12:18:05 PM
A bellhop or concierge wouldn't pack or unpack your suitcase.

By "pack," I mean carry. It's a regional colloquialism. "I'm going to pack the groceries in from the car to the house." "That looks heavy. Want me to pack it for you?"


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

jeffandnicole

I've seen them in various restaurants or clubs, especially in cities. If they're simply turning on the faucet and/or handing me a paper towel, I don't tip. If I take one of their mints or use something they've put out, then I do.

It's one of those things that shocks you the first few times, then after that it's a meh-type thing.

abefroman329

Quote from: Brandon on August 04, 2018, 06:10:16 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 12:18:05 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on August 03, 2018, 07:28:49 PM
Quote from: Brandon on August 03, 2018, 06:59:35 PM
Why do washroom attendants even exist?  They're creepy, IMHO, hanging around in the washroom to turn on the water, put soap on your hands, and hand you a towel.  All for what, a lousy tip?  It's gotta be the world's least necessary job.

Don't think I've ever encountered one. I guess they're supposed to contribute to some sort of a luxury experience or something. But then again, I won't even use a bellhop or concierge or whatever they're called if I'm staying at a place that has that service. Why should I pay someone else to pack my stuff when I can do it myself?
A bellhop or concierge wouldn't pack or unpack your suitcase. A butler would, but neither you nor I can afford to stay at a hotel with butler service. I don't use bellhops frequently, but they're convenient when I'm traveling by myself and have a lot of luggage, or when I arrive in a city before check-in and/or leave a city after check-out, and need to check my luggage with the bell desk while I go do other things luggage-free.

Regarding washroom attendants, I've never seen one outside of a nightclub or strip club. I agree that they're annoying, doubly so when they're in a bathroom that's too small to accommodate one, but I just tip them a buck, go on my way, and, if at all possible, hold it the rest of the time I'm at that establishment.

This was a the Old Crow Smokehouse (on Kinzie) on Wednesday for an event on their second floor.  The main washroom (thankfully) lacked an attendant.  Apparently the women's had two of them.
Honestly, I haven't been to a restaurant that's nice enough to have one in years.

MNHighwayMan

Quote from: hbelkins on August 04, 2018, 07:48:36 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 12:18:05 PM
A bellhop or concierge wouldn't pack or unpack your suitcase.
By "pack," I mean carry. It's a regional colloquialism. "I'm going to pack the groceries in from the car to the house." "That looks heavy. Want me to pack it for you?"

I have never heard or read "pack" be used that way before.

Rothman

I don't consider The Big E bathroom keepers as attendants; they are there to keep the place as clean as possible.

I associate bathroom attendants in line with the scene in Ferris Buller's Day Off -- some guy sitting there to hand you stuff unnecessarily.  It has been a long time since I have been in a bathroom with one -- probably last one was at some restaurant in DC when I worked there and it was required to eat at such snobby places due to my job (paralegal at a top DC firm).
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

abefroman329

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on August 05, 2018, 03:02:47 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on August 04, 2018, 07:48:36 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 12:18:05 PM
A bellhop or concierge wouldn't pack or unpack your suitcase.
By "pack," I mean carry. It's a regional colloquialism. "I'm going to pack the groceries in from the car to the house." "That looks heavy. Want me to pack it for you?"

I have never heard or read "pack" be used that way before.
It's not - H. Belkins just doesn't want to admit he made a mistake.

Duke87

They're unfortunately common in bars in New York City.

I get the sense that the concept in general is a holdover from a time when the cultural expectation was that a business provide all sorts of service for its customers. A bagger bagged your groceries for you at the store, an attendant pumped your gas and cleaned your windshield for you at the gas station, a bellhop carried your suitcases for you at the hotel, the mailman brought the mail directly to your door instead of leaving it in a mailbox at the end of your driveway, etc.

Culture in the US has since shifted - we as consumers now expect low prices instead of high levels of service, which has resulted in a lot of these positions being eliminated to cut costs. And we now expect to be left alone by people outside of our social circles rather than appreciating friendly behavior from strangers, which means that when these positions do still exist many of us see them as an unnecessary person butting themselves into our business uninvited rather than as a nice gesture on the part of the business.

If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

abefroman329

I'm having a really hard time finding it, but I remember a funny SNL skit from the 1990s with Kevin Nealon and Harvey Keitel where Nealon played a bathroom attendant in a single-use bathroom and Keitel played the, er, bathroom user.

hbelkins

Quote from: abefroman329 on August 05, 2018, 10:21:18 AM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on August 05, 2018, 03:02:47 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on August 04, 2018, 07:48:36 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 12:18:05 PM
A bellhop or concierge wouldn't pack or unpack your suitcase.
By "pack," I mean carry. It's a regional colloquialism. "I'm going to pack the groceries in from the car to the house." "That looks heavy. Want me to pack it for you?"

I have never heard or read "pack" be used that way before.
It's not - H. Belkins just doesn't want to admit he made a mistake.

1. Who's H. Belkins?

2. You don't live here. I've lived in Kentucky all my life. It's a phrase in common usage around here. Surely you've heard the term "packing heat," which means "carrying a gun."


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

MNHighwayMan

Quote from: hbelkins on August 05, 2018, 04:18:10 PM
2. You don't live here. I've lived in Kentucky all my life. It's a phrase in common usage around here. Surely you've heard the term "packing heat," which means "carrying a gun."

All right, I take back what I said. I've never heard it used in any way besides that.

abefroman329

Quote from: hbelkins on August 05, 2018, 04:18:10 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 05, 2018, 10:21:18 AM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on August 05, 2018, 03:02:47 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on August 04, 2018, 07:48:36 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 04, 2018, 12:18:05 PM
A bellhop or concierge wouldn't pack or unpack your suitcase.
By "pack," I mean carry. It's a regional colloquialism. "I'm going to pack the groceries in from the car to the house." "That looks heavy. Want me to pack it for you?"

I have never heard or read "pack" be used that way before.
It's not - H. Belkins just doesn't want to admit he made a mistake.

1. Who's H. Belkins?

2. You don't live here. I've lived in Kentucky all my life. It's a phrase in common usage around here. Surely you've heard the term "packing heat," which means "carrying a gun."
My, you're easily trolled. I'll pray for you.



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