navigating public places

So I've been thinking a lot about public places, restrooms in particular.
Most of my life I have avoided using public restrooms.  I would use them if I really had to, but would usually plan to not need to use one.
It wasn't so bad at BYU since the school employs as many people as it reasonably can to clean them multiple times a day.
But other places, really public places, are usually gross.

Enter being pregnant.
I had to use them more often.
I began to notice things like types of soaps and hand dryers vs. paper towels.  Or manual paper towel dispensers vs. motion detected dispensers.

Enter having children.  I started noticing things like changing tables and making note of which public places that I frequent had them and which didn't so that I could avoid getting poop on the seats of my car.
I also began to note which public places had ramps and automatic doors for my new life of strollers and lots of bags.
I started to pay attention to which locations were helpful and would open doors for me and which watched me struggle to hold the door open with one hand and shove the stroller through with the other.

THEN, enter potty training a child.  With another child in tow.  In public restrooms.
So much planning involved.  Obviously avoidance is still first.  But when your kid needs to go...
I have to consider details like:
Space
which restroom has a ramp access/handicap stall so we can all fit inside
Resources
which places are prone to be out of toilet paper/seat covers
Sinks
which restroom sinks are just slightly too tall so that i have to lift spencer with one arm, while holding nellie in the other (if i don't have the stroller) squeeze spencer between the sink and my hip so that i can free my arm to help him wash his hands.
Stools
which places are family friendly and have stools for kids to stand on.
Hand Dryers
which places only have air dryers (which spencer is too scared to use)
Family Friendly
some places have AWESOME family friendly bathrooms.  A mini kid-sized toilet that is almost cute, except for the fact that it is a toilet, and adult toilet next to it.  With a room attached with a couch for nursing.  Stools a plenty and everything is automatic allowing me to trigger things with my elbow if my hands are full.

I've obviously been thinking about this a lot.  As it is a huge part of my current life.  I am mostly happy with the conditions around Portland.  And mostly happy that this is only a stage in my life.

I have thought a lot though about those who are truly physically disabled who use wheel chairs and need sinks/soap/towels at lower heights and appreciate a functioning automatic door.

So, I guess what I have to say is "thanks kids" for temporarily disabling the way I do things so that I can empathize with a group of people, on a small scale, in a way that I wouldn't have otherwise.

spencer's "horse tail"
(the product of learning to wipe oneself)