The Conspiracy Confirmed
Jul. 25th, 2003 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jwghI know, I know. We've all heard the rumors, we've all heard the jokes, maybe we've even told a few ourselves. And yet ... I never even suspected the sheer size of the difference. Perhaps you are the same as I was until yesterday. If so, prepare to have your mind expanded.
So Kerri, Talysman, Kibo, and I were at the Providence Place mall, and we happened to go into Nordstrom's, and while we were in Nordstrom's several of us were struck by a desire to use the rest rooms. (Speaking of which, an interesting term, isn't it? It never made sense to me -- until now.)
While Kerri and I waited outside the rest rooms, Kerri mentioned that there was a couch in the woman's room and asked what sort of facilities the men's room had. I said that there wasn't anything like that and, after some prodding, agreed to take a picture. As you can see, there's nothing out of the ordinary: a couple of stalls, a couple of urinals, some sinks, and that's about it:
Actually, it's nicer than a lot of men's rooms, in that it's actually quite clean. (Kerri wanted to know what the vending machine you can see in the mirror dispenses. It dispenses diapers for the changing table I was standing next to when I took the picture.)
Kerri then agreed to take my camera into the women's room and take some pictures there. Upon reemerging, she showed me the three pictures she took. "OK, here's the first living room," she began:
I was stunned. Places to sit and, apparently, read? Furniture you could even lie down on if you wanted to? Carpeting? IN A REST ROOM? Had the world gone mad??!? The next picture was of the same room but taken from a different angle. But what was picture #3? "This is the second living room," Kerri explained:
This was huge! I was completely blown away. How had this information been kept from the public so long? I resolved to let everyone know this important information as soon as possible. Not even cryptic decapitation threats from the Nordstrom's Bathroom Cabal (TINC) can dissuade me:
INFORMATION MUST BE FREE! Rise up and demand equal bathrooms, my brothers!
-jwgh
So Kerri, Talysman, Kibo, and I were at the Providence Place mall, and we happened to go into Nordstrom's, and while we were in Nordstrom's several of us were struck by a desire to use the rest rooms. (Speaking of which, an interesting term, isn't it? It never made sense to me -- until now.)
While Kerri and I waited outside the rest rooms, Kerri mentioned that there was a couch in the woman's room and asked what sort of facilities the men's room had. I said that there wasn't anything like that and, after some prodding, agreed to take a picture. As you can see, there's nothing out of the ordinary: a couple of stalls, a couple of urinals, some sinks, and that's about it:
Actually, it's nicer than a lot of men's rooms, in that it's actually quite clean. (Kerri wanted to know what the vending machine you can see in the mirror dispenses. It dispenses diapers for the changing table I was standing next to when I took the picture.)
Kerri then agreed to take my camera into the women's room and take some pictures there. Upon reemerging, she showed me the three pictures she took. "OK, here's the first living room," she began:
I was stunned. Places to sit and, apparently, read? Furniture you could even lie down on if you wanted to? Carpeting? IN A REST ROOM? Had the world gone mad??!? The next picture was of the same room but taken from a different angle. But what was picture #3? "This is the second living room," Kerri explained:
This was huge! I was completely blown away. How had this information been kept from the public so long? I resolved to let everyone know this important information as soon as possible. Not even cryptic decapitation threats from the Nordstrom's Bathroom Cabal (TINC) can dissuade me:
INFORMATION MUST BE FREE! Rise up and demand equal bathrooms, my brothers!
-jwgh
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couches in the restroom
Date: 2003-07-26 09:52 am (UTC)Ah, but did you know that the correct term for this ladies restroom is actually the Ladies Lounge? Or rather, it used to be.
When I was a small child in the 1970s, my mother used to drag me shopping with her to department stores like Nordstorms, May Co., Robinsons, and Broadway. These last three are southern California 1970s versions of Bloomingdale's and Macy's.
Hopelessly bored, I would complain of needing the restroom. Eventually, she'd agree and inquire of a sales drone as to the location of the Ladies Lounge. The drone would escort us to a double door archway with the Palmer script above, Ladies Lounge.
It looked pretty much like your pictures only busy. Women were smoking, talking, nursing, reading, showing off new clothes, etc. (perhaps not all at the same time). Some would be stretched out. Some would be sitting on comfy chairs near a bright light and table, doing their nails.
The idea is many decades old. We women must shop, says the idea, and shopping is an exhausting activity for us delicate creatures. However, it is in the store's interest to keep us there as long as possible. It wouldn't do for us to get tired and go home. Hence, the lounge.
You men, the stores decided, can suck it up. When at Nordstorms, the women are in control and Nordstorms knows whose ass it wants to kiss.
Women don't use these lounges much anymore. Indoor smoking is frowned upon in many places, which was a huge draw for them. Additionally, women have decided that they have other things to do than examine every piece of merchandise at May Co. So lounges have fallen into disrepair and most are now gone. You have gazed upon 20th century cultural history.
(I once asked my mother what would happen if she asked for the restroom or bathroom instead of ladies lounge. She told me that the drone would behave like we had flicked a booger on the floor and would decide that we were not the right class of people to shop there. I was too nervous to see if she was right.)