Ruby’s Diner
Ruby’s Diner
1298 Riverside Avenue
Riverside, CA 92503
It was near 7 o’clock when, after a hard afternoon spent walking through the entire mall, we decided to reward our devotion to the temple of consumerism with some fries. I wanted to wash my hands before eating, so I went straight to the restroom, conveniently in an small alcove next to the register. The door opened easily, but there was suddenly a panicked shout, a glimpse of a man doing some bathroom thing, and the door slammed into my face. This was embarrassing. I waited for a while, expecting some sort of violent reckoning, and after a few minutes a man came out. I immediately apologised, but he wasn’t annoyed - he was embarrassed also. He just said that the lock on the door didn’t work very well.
Now, I realise that modern restroom management entails many difficult decisions: paper towels or blow dryers; push button soap or motion activated sensors; etc. However, I would expect, at the very least, the lock on the door to work, especially when your restroom is one of the single cell things, with a urinal and a toilet in the one cramped space. I’m not sure why they have both in one room. I can’t imagine any man being happy using a urinal while another man is sitting on the toilet. There’s something very wrong about that image.
