Am I alone in feeling a slight apprehension when I leave my dining table to go to the toilets in a restaurant? Will I have to negotiate an enclosed staircase to walk up – or down – to find the facilities? Will there be multiple turns to negotiate or multiple doors from which to choose in order to make my escape? This phenomenon is not limited to restaurants. It could be a cinema, a theatre, an art gallery or museum. Most commonly, I encounter this situation in large stores.
Sometimes, I feel the inclination to do as Hansel (of Hansel and Gretel fame) did and drop little shiny pebbles at intervals as I approach the “Ladies” facilities so that I may be certain of finding my way back to the shop floor.
On a recent visit to a TK Maxx store in Newcastle upon Tyne (the branch in Byker) I found something really helpful. On entering the corridor to the customer bathrooms, that slight pang of apprehension struck. I needn’t have worried. On the wall, directly opposite the door to the Ladies’ toilets was a large clear sign: “Sales Floor”. An arrow pointed the customer in the correct direction.
So, a very big “thank you” goes to TK Maxx for this simple but very helpful aid. It may be that the store’s manager put the sign in place following incidences of customers wandering into areas where they are not meant to be. Whether the management team specifically had in mind people who contend with claustrophobia or agoraphobia, I cannot say. However, the result of their action is that the likes of me can be completely relaxed in using the store’s facilities without concerns about feeling “trapped”.
How lovely it would be if all establishments would pay this much attention to not only directing customers and patrons to their facilities but assuring that they find their way back just as easily!
* With apologies to Paul McCartney for borrowing his lyrics!
Photo Credits:
All photographs: © A.P.
