Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz has issued a statement saying that washroom in its coffee shops are open to all, not just paying customers. This policy — unknown in Canada by the way — appears to have been behind the arrest of two black men in a Chicago Starbucks recently after they refused to leave the premises after asking to use the washroom. They had not bought anything and were refused. When they did not leave, staff called the police. Many people were dumbfounded their newfound awareness of this rule. In the US, many have said it represents sinister racism. Whites use the bathroom but blacks can’t. In Canada, the parade of people in and out of Starbucks washrooms is universal. Mail carriers, traffic enforcement officers, delivery persons, bus drivers, dog walkers and even some people who occasionally plug in their computers for free.
