Obviously there’s public water fountains that tourists can use instead, right?
Next to the public, gratis toilets?
Charging money for fundamental human needs like water and toilets is reprehensible.
The article says tap water was available at the venue, but it is not served at the restaurant.
It doesn’t mention a public water fountain. It does mention that Italian law doesn’t require tap water be available, tho English and Welsh law does at least to some extent.
I work at a bakery in the downtown area of a small but touristy area. Homeless people tend to come by relatively soon after we open and hang out in the winter months, because we open early first and it’s really warm with all the ovens going. I immediately became one of the favorite bakery workers for most of them through no intention of my own, just because most of my other coworkers are actively shitty to them. If they buy something, I treat them like any other customer and let them sit there as long as they want, just like I would a customer with a laptop nursing one cup of coffee for hours. Even if they can’t pay for anything, I let them sit down and use the bathroom as long as they want. We have outlets in the cafe for customer use, so I don’t have any issues with someone who can’t pay for a cup of coffee using one, especially when the cafe is otherwise empty, and I give people hot or cold water if they want it. Since I’ve been there longer, I’m now comfortable buying or comping them a sandwich and a cup of coffee or hot cocoa once in a while, but at the beginning I wasn’t sure if I would get fired for that, so I only offered water, a seat, and access to electricity and a bathroom. There are a couple of people who are disruptive to other customers or staff, and I don’t allow them to stay, but I don’t make that determination based on whether I think they look homeless or not.
I’m not trying to toot my own horn, because that’s literally just the baseline of how humans should treat each other (and even other animals, tbh). It’s depressing as hell that my unfriendly, autistic, foreign (I have trouble understanding people who are slurring, speaking a heavy dialect, or missing a lot of teeth, all of which are more common among homeless people) customer service is deemed one of the best by a whole demographic of people, just because other people are willing to deny people their basic needs.
Three of my regular customers who were homeless have died in the four years since I’ve been there, two froze to death overnight after not having eaten the day before and one went into diabetic shock during the day in public and no one noticed. This is well known at my bakery, and somehow many of my coworkers still don’t get or care that something that would cost them €0,24 could literally make the difference in whether a person survives or not.
Water is even more important in the warm months and it’s essentially free (plus every restaurant ever wastes more water in general operation than is actively requested by customers), which makes it especially galling that people don’t care enough about others to expend the slightest amount of effort for their benefit.
Thank you for being kind! USA?
I’m American, but I live in Germany
The currency they mentioned is euros, so i highly doubt they are in america
Ohio uses Euros and nobody is brave enough to tell them to switch back.
they said they give them water and sandwiches, not bullets, so I guess no.
/s
In their restaurant.
Which is still pretty bad. In the UK that’s illegal anywhere they serve alcohol.
Same here in Australia. Free water is a requirement for a liquor license.
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It costs virtually nothing to give someone a cup of tap water, and 7 dollars for water is a fucking scam. Why are you taking the side of the bourgeois?
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The bootlicker in you.
This is one of the reasonable things that bugs Americans. Water is a basic need and it’s fucked up to deny someone something that costs you a fraction of a cent and they require, just because you can’t turn a profit on them.
What the fuck are you and the other guy even talking about? The US is better than Italy in terms of free access to tap water and bathrooms.
Depends on where you are. Middle of the country? Yeah you can get free water, maybe even with ice, and use the restroom anywhere.
On the coast the restrooms are locked up tight. California has a law that says that water is free, but not ice, and I don’t know about the other desert states.
That’s why Americans would be annoyed about other places not having it - it feels like an obligation in the US
Oh, I totally misread. I interpreted it as you and the removed comment suggesting that Americans would defend the court ruling.
It’s a common source of annoyance for American tourists and those serving them that tap water isn’t always free and available at restaurants and Americans expect it to be, so I interpreted it in that light, but I could be mistaken.
Why? We already deal with no public restrooms, dress codes, etc., it’s not like Americans are fighting for rights anymore, especially not water and air as an inalienable right or anything. Americans protect corporate rights above all else, even to their own demise.
At least the like 2 public restrooms we have are free.
Fascist government rules for business.
“Americans”
“Irrationally”
Perfect ragebait
