Should Homeless People Use Public Restrooms in Fast Food Restaurants?

This is a topic that was brought up on a blog I read where a friend tried to take two homeless men he had met into McDonalds to have a meal on Christmas. They were not allowed entry because they have previously used the restroom and not been paying customers.

My personal opinion is I see nothing wrong with them using the toilets and I am not offended by homeless people in any way. If I were to run across them, I would likely offer to buy them a meal.

From a business standpoint, I think McDonald's has the right to reserve their toilets for paying customers. Therefore, if they did not purchase anything, they could legally ask them to leave the restaurant. However, when they came back with you later to have a meal which you were paying for, they did not have the right to refuse their entry. The only exception would be if that particular McDonald's filed a complaint and obtained a court order banning these two gentlemen from the property.

I believe this is why the McDonalds' in D.C. has pay toilets. If you buy something, you get a token to use the toilet; otherwise, you have to pay to gain entry to their restrooms. Seems really silly and over the top to me but they get to make this decision about their restaurant.

It could have been that someone at that McDonald's just doesn't like the homeless. We can't blame McDonald's as a whole. Our local McDs used to serve a couple of homeless gentlemen quite often. In cold weather, they would come in and by a coffee and sit for hours. They would get free refills and they never bothered anyone and no one seemed to care. Occasionally other patrons would buy them meals or give them money to get something and sometimes people would just sit around and talk with them.

When I was a teen, I worked at McDonald's in VA and we found a homeless man scavenging in our dumpster area. So every night when we had leftover food that would have been thrown out, we put it in a bag and placed it outside for him. We weren't supposed to according to official rules but our manager knew we did it and never said anything.

It's sad more people can't have more compassion. Of course these are only my personal opinions on the matter. What are your thoughts?

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