General Chat

this is awful good on you linda i would have done the same this sort of thing needs reporting he could have also been a bag snatcher looking for a quick money fix?i would have made as much noise as possible to get attenion

Hi Kathryn,

Thanks for that.

What a terrible experience to have had.

I did notice one thing that Errol said

QUOTE

'Although it was correct to alert security, it is wrong to make assumptions based merely on the fact that a person was seen on their knees with no other evidence' UNQUOTE

The fact was it wasn't a just a person it was a man.....and yes they do have special lighting in a lot of public toilets now so that people can't do drugs. it's coloured a special blue and makes it almost impossible for them to see their veins..apparently it's very effective.

Thank goodness the police took it much more seriously and have filled out a report and put it on the computer. At least now if it happens again they will have my report. They said normally when this sort of thing happens in the shopping centre the store will inform the police but as of 10pm last night that had not happened.

No offence to young people but I think the two lads that I saw just didn't seem to think it was much of a problem. Not their fault, just probably badly trained.

Perhaps they thought like Errol......no offence Errol....I might want computer help sometime lol


Thanks for your kind good wishes Sally, I shall pass them on to Richard.

Have a good weekend everybody

Linda

Errol, I'm about to scold you severely.

Women grow up learning not to trust their instincts, to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, in short, to be NICE.

I was nice to the guy who picked me and my boyfriend up hitchhiking many years ago. I didn't want to stay with the ride when my boyfriend got out at Toronto (we were going to school in different cities), because the driver was unspeakably boring and kinda weird. But it would have been *rude* for me to get out and then thumb another ride, so I stayed.

I am lucky to be alive. I was not the first woman the man had abducted and assaulted that weekend. I was likely going to be the first one he killed -- I can't think of any other reason we might have gone "for a walk" in the woods in an abandoned quarry in the middle of nowhere.

All women have had similar experiences, if less traumatic and dangerous. We are not supposed to be suspicious of men -- oh, well, we're supposed to be suspicious of *men*, but every individual man is supposed to get the benefit of the doubt.

There could be all sorts of weird and wonderful explanations for what was going on in that cubicle. All of them require suspension of disbelief to the point of absurdity.

I find it hard to believe that there is no criminal law in England that would apply to an adult male using a women's washroom to surreptitiously watch children or women engaged in activities that expose their genitals to view and that, in themselves, are sources of sexual excitement for some people.

On its face, that is what the situation was. If there was an innocent explanation, he would have been at complete liberty to offer it. Just as I would be if store security caught me walking out of the store with merchandise I hadn't paid for. I would expect to be stopped and questioned in that case, not monitored by CCTV as I left the store because, well, I might just have forgotten to pay.

The kind of behaviour described here is indeed traumatic to women and children who suffer it; it obviously makes the victims feel *unsafe*, to have their privacy intruded on in that way.

And good on Linda for going with her gut and not letting the conditioning to be ladylike and not have a suspicious mind overcome the need to protect vulnerable people from this kind of behaviour.

How does lighting affect drugs? Would love to know so that we can implement it here!

i think you did right to call the police, its disgusting, most places with public loos have altered the lighting so that people cant do drugs, and by the sounds of it he was up to no good and i would be inclined to go with my gut reaction of what he was up to, its unbelievable that security did not do much.

i would complain to head office without delay.

andie

Hello Linda, hope your son is doing well....

I too had this experience, but with my young daughter when we were in the changing rooms of a swimming pool in Germany......

We were getting out of our wet swimmers when a mirror came under the cubicle from the next one......we were so shocked.......and me, being supermouth at the time.......shouted out you rotten pervert.....and came out of the cubicle with little more than a towel round me......I was too late, and of course we had an audience because this English woman was shouting at the top of my lungs......complained, but nothing was done about it.....

All this discussion but did you phone the Police?
Lizx

Maybe he was mending a broken toilet seat

Most ladies' loos I know have a queue in them.

Sue
x

have pm you Linda.

Thanks for all your replies, some have been very interesting to get another point of view....and some have made me laugh.


The noise I heard was heavy breathing and I just thought 'Oh someone is having trouble breathing..then a gasping noise.' I just assumed the ventilator...but then I thought it's definitely like something else. I could see the person was kneeling on the floor as I could see that from the gap between the cubicles. I don't want to to go into too many details but I am pretty sure what was going on.

I had only put the soap on my hands and hadn't run any water so I think he thought I had gone. The security man even seemed to think that maybe he had been looking under the cubicle before I had got there and that would tie in with the reason for him being in the ladies loo...and his later actions.

I do think that they could have stopped him and even said something like ' Be careful which loos you go in mate, you nearly scared some poor woman half to death' at least then he would have known I had told someone.

Just don't think it was handled very well

Linda

Kitty, I was vain enough one night to go out without my my specs, and inadvertantly walked into the gents loo, the smell alone, told me I was in the wrong place!LOL, I just turned and walked out , to a pub full of people clapping at me!!! (shamed)LOL

I walked into a gents toilet once................daydreaming as usual.

Two men were using the urinal, so I said "good morning", walked calmly out and ran like heck until I was two streets away! LOL

not if i was in a gent toilet !!LOL
but seriously, even if I had been "ill" and was in the wrong loo, I would have apologies and walked away rather sharpish, rather than go back in and lock the door!!

lol Jeanette, glad to see you are catching us sophisticated Southerners up;)

Hiya Twinkly - no I am still poorly and grumpy:(

Well it would be the right place to do it Taff lol

LOL Jeanette!!! was going to say (pmsl) but not appropriate!!

evening Uggers....hope you are feeling tip top now lol x

Could be David, although we have moved on slightly form a hole in the ground ;-))))))

They probably ain't got them up there yet, Jeanette;)