Co-ed Restrooms? Testing our Social Norms

About 2 posts ago, I mentioned last Saturday night's dinner with my family at Barclay Prime in Philadelphia. I gushed over the food, but omitted one piece of the story: the bathrooms. Yes, the bathrooms.

So what could be so exciting about a bathroom in a restaurant? When the bathroom breaks the "social norm" by being co-ed, then it's cause for conversation. You walk down a little hallway to a door with no markings on it. For all I knew, it could have been a storage closet, a secret kitchen, or an emergency exit. It didn't even have the stick figure man/woman on the door to let you know that the bathroom is co-ed. The reason I use "co-ed" instead of "unisex" is because unisex implied that the restroom would only be used by one person at a time, regardless of gender. But when you use the word "co-ed" it implied both genders being in one place at the same time. Quite fascinating.

So you open the unmarked door and realize right away that it's the restroom because there are several sinks lined up next to each other. You see 5 doors (from front to back) marked: "L", "M", "L", "M", "HC". In case you didn't figure it out, that would be Ladies, Men, and Handicapped. Each door and stall went all the way up to the ceiling, similar to a closet door. Each stall was completely enclosed by tiles, and speakers were built into the ceiling of each stall, so that the music would drown out any 'noise'.

When I walked in, there wasn't anyone else in there. As I was washing my hands, a lady walked out, and I almost felt like I couldn't look at her, even though we were simply washing our hands. We could have washed our hands next to each other at any place and it wouldn't have been awkward. But since it was in the restroom setting, you feel like you are in breach of a social norm. At which point, people don't know how to act, so they don't speak nor make eye contact. Very similar to being in an elevator with many people or when you witness an intense verbal conflict in public: you realize that the scene is taking place, but you won't acknowledge it.

On the way out, the lady and I did give each other the "Boy, this is weird, isn't it?" look, but other than that, I made my way out and that was that. Mom's experience was some gentleman actually asking, "Am I in the right place?" Otherwise, he'd be in for some embarassment.

It really makes you wonder what caused the restaurant management to come up with this idea. Sure, it'd be mentioned in their critic reviews. Of course there are websites which point out the "Cool Bathrooms in [Name Your City Here]" and it be listed there as well. Maybe they just wanted to take the edge off of the customers a little bit by causing them to chuckle at the experience -- especially if you aren't expecting it. Lastly, maybe that is what these modern restaurants are doing, and some day in the future, all new establishments will facilitate the co-ed restrooms. Only time will tell.

If any readers have had experiences with these co-ed restrooms, please share the story. I think some college dorms even have them. Gotta love when the boundaries of sociological comfort are tested.