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A pizza shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts is controversial after charging non-customers $3 for restroom access. The owner said the policy was to manage crowds and he donated all proceeds to homeless youth organizations.
Daily Mail report,Massachusetts A popular pizza restaurant has sparked outrage after charging non-customers to use the restroom.
Source Pizza restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts says people who are not dining in the restaurant will have to pay $3 to use the restroom. This regulation has actually been in place for two years, but recently a local tour guide took a photo of a notice about the fee in the store and shared it with the community, sparking heated discussion.
A netizen left a message on the social platform
However, Source Pizza owner Daniel Roughan said the restroom fee was not targeted at homeless people. In fact, all proceeds are donated to Y2Y, a youth-led homeless shelter in Cambridge to help homeless youth.
In an interview with the Boston Globe, he said that it was not homelessness that motivated him to implement the charging policy. But it was the young audience at the Sinclair performance venue across the street. He said it was a bit funny. Whenever a concert is organized for people of all ages, many parents send their children early to the venue and make them wait till 11 am or from noon till 7 pm until the concert starts. As more and more people waited, a long line gradually formed at the venue. Since these young music fans wait outside for hours, they often borrow restrooms at pizza parlors.
Daniel Roughan said at first he didn’t mind, but then customers complained to him about long queues outside the toilets and he realized something had to change.
He remembered that two years ago a female customer had asked him face to face why there was always a queue for the toilet in the store. Daniel Roughan said frankly that when he heard the other party ask this, he immediately felt embarrassed. Daniel Roughan said the woman spoke clearly, calmly and politely, but had a firm attitude. He frankly admitted that what the other party said made no sense.
Today, restaurants charge a 3 yuan toilet fee at the reception counter, and non-customers can use the toilet only if they are willing to pay.
Daniel Roughan admits that this management method is not perfect, but he does not regret implementing this policy because it helps give priority to customers in the store.
He said customers may have seats reserved and are going to the theater to watch a show, or they just want to have a nice dinner, but they are unable to use the toilet smoothly because of the long queue of young people holding mobile phones waiting for the show.
Many netizens agree with the store’s approach. One netizen commented: “I don’t mind, it’s better than the store refusing to let all non-customers use the toilet.” Another person said: “It’s fair to charge non-customers.”
Daniel Roughan said that in the two years since the policy was implemented, the restaurant has charged a total of about $200 in restroom fees.
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The shop owner said that the main reason was that young visitors at the performance venue across the street stood in line for a long time to borrow the toilet, which caused crowding in the shop and customer complaints, so he changed the charging system to maintain order and give priority to diners.
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The shop owner said that the money was not kept in the shop itself, but was donated entirely to Y2Y, a youth-led homeless shelter in Cambridge to help homeless youth.
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Some netizens believe this is a hidden form of ostracizing the homeless, while others think it is justified; The shop owner emphasizes that the policy is not targeted at any specific ethnic group, but is meant to prevent non-customers from occupying the restroom for long periods of time and affecting actual dining guests.
