'AITA for locking the bathroom door at work and making a customer pee themselves?'

"AITA for locking the bathroom door at work and making a customer pee themselves?"

I'm 21f, I work weekends at this small cafe thats attached to a gas station. There’s only one bathroom and normally its unlocked, but we’re told from day one that staff can lock it if we’re cleaning or changing. so last Saturday I dumped a caramel latte basically all over myself, front to back, sticky as hell.

I ran to the bathroom with my spare shirt, locked it,, started wiping off. I swear it was maybe 5 min tops but it felt fast. Then someone starts pounding like the worlds ending, I said hold on but they just kept banging louder. I finished as quick as I could came out and its this older woman with her husband.

She’s red in the face and said she had an emergency and now her pants were wet. The guy said I was unprofessional, and that customers come first. I handed her paper towels and said staff are allowed to use the bathroom. I wasn't gonna run out half naked for anyone. She got louder, husband chimed in more, manager came over calmed it down.

He backed me at the time but later told me I should've been quicker bc they're threatening to complain to the owner. Coworkers are all over the place. Sara said I did nothing wrong, that's literally why there's a lock. Mark said customers always come first, and it's bad for business if someone leaves saying we made them piss themselves.

Another guy said 5 mins feels like forever when you're desperate. Later, I checked cameras with Sara and it was like 4 min 30 something, so I wasn't lying, but still. Now I feel kinda guilty because yeah it must've been humiliating for her, I wouldn't want that either.

But also I don't think its fair to expect me to unlock a door while I'm changing, I don't even know where else I was supposed to go, the back room feels grosser then the bathroom anyway. Idk AITA? Info: it was a very hot latte, and there is actually only one washroom for men and women, not one for men and one for women.

Here's what people had to say to OP:

KathEmery said:

NTA. You were literally covered in coffee and had to change you weren’t camping in there for 30 mins, it was under 5 and that’s normal if someone had an emergency that sucks but it’s not on you to risk coming out half naked just because they couldn’t hold it lol

pacalaga said:

The bathroom was in use. It didn't matter who was using it or what they were doing. Lady should have found a bathroom sooner. NTA.

AJSCRPT said:

NTA but welcome to customer service. You could give them a kidney and they still wouldn’t give you a 5 star review.

Southern_Hamster_338 said:

NTA. If she can’t hold her pee for 5 minutes then she needs to be wearing depends or an adult diaper. What she doesn’t get to do is DEMAND that whoever is in the bathroom using it: IMMEDIATELY GET OUT!!

Imagine if someone did that to her while she was in the bathroom! It’s her own fault that she pissed her pants! I have no compassion for someone who acts like that to somebody else! I do not care how “embarrassed she is!"

She should be embarrassed for yelling at you! It doesn’t matter that you work there! There is only ONE bathroom and it was occupied! I hope all your managers back you up, or they need to install Employees Only restrooms if they’re going to get mad about a situation that was HER OWN FAULT!

No_Control8031 said:

NTA. What would she have done if another customer had been in there cleaning up and changing their shirt? That’s the thing with public toilets. You might need to wait.

LogicalHoney4689 said:

NTA. If she had to pee that badly, she probably had to pee on the way to your workplace and could have stopped somewhere else. Or just gone sooner when the bathroom wasn’t occupied.

Unless she had a health problem, she could have solved this with better planning. Five minutes is a normal time to use the woman’s bathroom. 2-3 for normal use with five for the red terror cleanup.

Later, OP edited the post to include:

This gas station has one single stall bathroom. It locks. I was in there for under five minutes changing after spilling coffee, not camping out. If it had not been me, it could have been another customer. The bathroom was simply being used so I could change. Management confirmed I did not break any rule.

Next time I will check for a staff only space to change, but at the time I had no other option. I understand the woman was embarrassed. I would be too. I cannot control that this accident happened and I was in there.