Dilemma at the urinals

In a bar in central London not so long ago – went to use the toilet, and there was an attendant guy in there with all the usual paraphernalia – fragrances, sweets, soaps, combs (I think?). Normally when I use the urinals it’s about 50:50 whether I wash my hands or not and depends on various factors like degree of splashback felt, how much of a hurry I’m in, whether anyone else would see me leaving without doing so, etc.

But whenever there is a guy there, it immediately comes down to one thing only – if I have a pound coin I will wash them and if I don’t then I do not – cannot! The former because knowing that the custodian of the sinks knows that ablutions were avoided is just too much (and potentially feeling the eyes like daggers in the back when exiting); the latter because taking his services and then not paying may well whip him up into some sort of frenzied rage (or at the very least seems ungrateful).

On this particular occasion I had a pound so I allowed him to soap me up, turn the tap on and off, and hand me towels. When I rejoined my friends I was castigated for doing so because it only ‘encourages’ them. I had not thought about it from this angle before – as I understand it they don’t get any fixed wage so I thought that as many people as possible should pay them for their services.

But perhaps this type of vocation is more akin to begging – if these are services that no-one actually wants then maybe they shouldn’t be ‘guilted’ into paying for them!

I would like to canvass views from other Urban observers on the issue of trendy bar toilet attendants.