Thanks to Senator Larry Craig, the infamous airport men’s room where his recent arrest took place is now getting new stall dividers that stop just shy of the floor. It’s an addition airport officials say makes the stalls less inviting for inappropriate liaisons. Currently, the dividers leave enough space so a person could easily duck under them.
Back in June an undercover police officer said Craig allegedly used the open space under the dividers to make motions in a way authorities said was a signal for soliciting an illegal act. (By the way since originally pleading guilty to disorderly conduct, Craig has recanted and is now seeking to withdraw his guilty plea to the misdemeanor.)
Have you ever been to the Minneapolis airport? I have… many times. The place is huge. I would guess there must be at least 60 restrooms in the entire airport, and frankly, I had a hard time believing that the airport was going to retrofit each stall with a new divider. It turns out that the airport actually has closer to 90 restrooms, but according to airport managers, only two will be getting the new dividers—including the one made famous by Craig’s arrest. (For all you camera-toting travelers who want a shot of the stall before the new dividers are installed, Craig was arrested in the men’s room in the Northstar Crossing shopping area.)
The new additions will leave a 2.5-inch gap between the bottom of the divider and the floor (instead of the current foot of open space) and will reportedly be installed within the next two months. And get this… airport officials say they expect to spend $25,000 to have them installed in the two restrooms. If they had to add them to each of the airport’s restrooms the bill would exceed more than $1 million, according to airport managers.
In my opinion that’s good money wasted to keep people with bad habits from acting out in public.
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