There’s No “What? Empty Again?” When You’re Prepared

Amy Meyer starred in an EWU student-made video in which she attempted to obtain feminine hygiene products from restroom dispensers.

I learned through @re_Cycling_SMCR, Society for Menstrual Cycle Research, of an accompanying article to Amy’s video.

In her follow-up piece, Amy shares her experience and what she learned. And, she provides a chart in which she shows which buildings on campus failed.  Note that I said “buildings” and not “restrooms.”

The Easterner found twelve buildings on campus with absolutely no working feminine hygiene machines. The machines were either absent, empty, broken or ate quarters without producing a product.

Twelve BUILDINGS.

When researching, if we found a working machine in a building, we moved on to the next building without checking the other dispensers in other bathrooms. We were looking for one working machine per building.

One working machine per building…I was shocked to see how many buildings lacked ONE working machine.

Considering that a little over half of the students enrolled at Eastern Washington University are women, menstruation is a big deal to more than just a few people.

Wow – a little over half enrolled there are women and a little under half of the buildings failed.

Amy didn’t just report the problem. She took steps to correct it by talking with Karen Wichman, director of facilities services.

The greatest takeaway from this piece is the importance of being prepared.

Darrel Greene felt it was a good idea to keep a spare pad handy in case you need it. He also said: “It’s also a good thing to do in case you encounter someone who needs one.”

It’s period wise to keep a pad or tampon in your pocket, purse, or backpack. You never know when you (or someone else) may need it.

2 thoughts on “There’s No “What? Empty Again?” When You’re Prepared”

  1. Darrel

    Hey, thanks for quoting me! :) I really appreciate it.

    I’d like to point out to anyone reading this that I also agreed with how ridiculous the bathrooms are at Eastern. They need to step it up and fill those machines to the max! I personally find menstruation situations to be incredibly stressful, so why should the school add on to that anxiety by not providing tampons and/or pads? If anything, they need to help alleviate that stress and let the student body know that they actually care about our health, our safety, and our overall well-being.

    And since the majority of students are women, that’s all the more reason to implement this.

    I didn’t know that her research had only been one per building. That’s extremely disgusting on Eastern’s behalf. I know the men’s restroom has gone three weeks without paper towels, but that’s nothing compared to this. Amy shared with me that one machine hadn’t been working for at least twenty years, and there is absolutely no excuse for that.

    I’m on your side, ladies! I will fight this with you.

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