Hey, Battle Line!: Are the bathrooms at Roosters sexist?
Welcome to the latest issue of ‘Hey, Battle Line!’ where we respond to readers’ questions and concerns. In today’s edition, we react to a reader’s recent experience in the restroom of a Columbus, Ohio-area Roosters.
Hey, Battle Line! – I was at the Roosters in German Village (Columbus, Ohio) a few days back, and I noticed the entrance to the men’s and women’s restrooms were different. Men had to push the door to enter, while women had to pull on the handle to enter. Is this an example of sexism?
-Evie in GV
Dear Evie - As you well know, in the United States restrooms are often incubators of fierce political debate. And bacteria. While we would normally write this off as either a coincidence or perhaps a necessity based on the layout of the establishment, we believe this case falls into a category all to itself.
In most restaurants, the entrances to the bathrooms are an afterthought. What difference does it really make whether one pushes or pulls to enter? They have to do the opposite to exit, so everyone is equal in the end.
But we don’t believe this same laissez-faire leniency is warranted when it comes to restaurant chains that specialize in chicken wings. The wings at Roosters are big, tasty and typically dripping with sauce.
No respectable carnivore, after finishing an order of Roosters wings, could function without first washing its hands. Especially in this day and age, when going more than 20 minutes without thumb-scrolling a cellphone can lead to fatality or, worse, human interaction.
Therefore, the first place an individual heads after stripping chicken wings of their flesh is, of course, the restroom, hoping not to touch anything along the way. This brings us back to the Roosters bathroom entrance. Whereas men can simply kick open the door, female customers, at least at the German Village location, are not afforded such luxury. We find this unacceptable.
If Roosters wants to argue that women do not eat wings, then we invite them to take such a leap. Regardless, it takes only one sauce-drenched hand to ruin it for everyone else. Even salad-eaters will at some point grab the handle and have to endure the horror of unexpected stickiness. Not to mention, is it unreasonable that a man, stuffed with chicken and Miller Lite, might not bumble into the women’s restroom on accident? Or on purpose?
To echo the parlance of modern-day youths: Roosters, do better.
Again, we thank you for bringing this important issue into the public consciousness. Some may not believe this injustice reaches the level of issues such as war, famine or genocide. And they may be right. But if we can’t tackle the small problems, then how will we ever conquer the big ones?