quote:Not everyone has cash on them and it should not matter
I think you missed the point of my prior post. Of course there are going to be situations where due to urgency or no cash on hand, there will be an inability to conduct a negotiation or make a good faith "token" purchase. We don't know based on the information we were given whether that was the case here, or not. In most situations I have been in like this, because my continence is fairly good, there is time to make a token purchase and/or a quick negotiation on using the restroom.
I agree that education of business owners is helpful. In the situation where you are going into a gas station, at least in my area, you are either dealing with a 17 year old kid who knows nothing except how to text message and goof off, or an immigrant (usually the case in my area) and you're lucky if he/she speaks English well enough to understand what you are saying, assuming that you can coherently communicate what the applicable laws are to this person. So regardless of the cash on hand or your urgency level, you may also run out of time just trying to explain the situation, especially if you pick out a gas station in my area.
I think the situation in New York City was alluded to earlier in this thread. I am in NYC frequently as I live in CT not far away, and NYC is a really tough place to find public restrooms due to the security measures enacted by many/most local businesses, especially hotels. I recently stayed overnight for the weekend at the Loews Regency on 61st and Park, great hotel, but you walk in and there are 3 large security goons looking for something to do. Most hotels only allow restroom access to guests. If you are female as I mentioned elsewhere, forget about the public restrooms at the Grand Central Station, there are always long lines into the Ladies' restroom. The best bet is probably the Grand Hyatt on 42nd Street next door to GCS and if I recall correctly there is a restroom you do not need a guest card to access on the second floor.
When I am in NYC I am usually in certain locations and I figure out where I can go and use restrooms. For example if I am in Gramercy the Gramercy Star Cafe at 23rd and Lex has bathrooms and they don't go crazy if you go in there and use them although I usually buy a coconut water if I am walking by there as they have a large selection of coconut waters, both regular and different flavors. I have other places picked out as far as where to stop at and use the restroom. Basically all the Starbucks in NYC are so sickeningly crowded and small and have long restroom lines almost as a rule, and should be avoided. In NYC there is generally a shortage of coffee shops as compared with other large cities like Montreal which has like 2 on every block. Anyway, if you can take the time to educate business owners you can also take time to figure out which ones are around where you will be travelling and are user friendly on restrooms.