Ordinary Hopes

This is the phrase which changed everything.

My son was sat on the toilet and we were talking about the day ahead.

A similar conversation might happen in your bathroom each morning too, only in our family, the big question after “where are we going?” is “Do they have a toilet I can use?”

When I told him they didn’t he asked, quite reasonably, “why not?”

Adam is almost 10 years old and, just like any other child of his age, has a tendency to need the toilet. Sometimes at short notice! Kids are great, aren’t they?

Many will have had that moment in the queue at the supermarket where they need a wee and insist that they need it NOW! It really is a complete pain, isn’t it? You try to cajole but the child is not having it. They get a bit louder  and you don’t want to annoy everyone by leaving your trolley but you know that a puddle on the floor will really bring out more than just the quiet tutting and glares from the people behind.

So you race off to the loo and hurry back as quickly as you can, just hoping that your trolley is still there.

It is horrible and we all hope that it will get easier as they grow up.

But what if it doesn’t?

What would you have done if your supermarket had no toilets?

Would you complain?

Would you blame yourself? Maybe you shouldn’t have let your child have that carton of juice in the car? Yes, it was warm and they were thirsty but maybe you should have said no?

Or should the supermarket have toilets?

For Adam, the supermarket just has no toilets. None that he can use. Yet a bench and a ceiling hoist would be a drop in the ocean of the supermarket profit margin.

So my message to my local supermarkets – Tesco Extra, Morrisons, Asda, Sainsburys and Waitrose –  Why do you not have a toilet that Adam can use?