One of my more recent work trips provided the opportunity to stay the weekend and catch up with one of my college girlfriends in North Carolina. I rode the Amtrak from Charlotte to Durham, where my friend met me at the station. We had dinner and drinks in downtown Durham before heading to her home in Raleigh.
One of the places she took me for drinks in Durham was the 21c Museum Hotel which is a cross between a boutique hotel and a trendy art museum. The original building was a bank, and the space still has the original bank vault in the basement. It’s a really cool space. But what really drew my eye were the restrooms, which were located on the second floor. Once I reached the area, I saw a row of single-user spaces on each side of the hallway. That’s not the unusual part. The unusual part was the door and walls were made of glass — you could see right into the room. That’s right, the toilet, sink — everything — was on display from the hallway. Once you went inside and locked the door, the walls and door turned opaque, so nobody could see through. Also eye-catching were the signs on the doors with a half-man, half-woman restroom outline with the words, “We don’t care.”