Andrew R.
Yelp
My mother, who is in her 70s, has been a regular and generous customer of Natureworks for many years, for the reason that it is an easy and well-stocked go-to for organic gardening supplies in the New Haven vicinity.
Given that Natureworks professes to be an establishment that acts as a custodian of the earth and all its creatures, and is a distance from the nearest public facilities, one may imagine my shock when they denied my elderly mother access to a restroom under circumstances of some urgency.
Not only did the staff create a health hazard for my mother, but when I described the dehumanizing nature of this denial to an employee, she offered no apology, and instead repeated ad nauseam that it was simply the policy, before leaning on COVID-19 restrictions as an excuse. This last-ditch effort to justify such an unconscionable response was laughable to the point of insult, given that not a single member of staff was wearing a mask on the premises.
As a person who has worked the service sector for many years, I can understand the desire to keep a staff restroom free of the muck of the masses. However, while Natureworks may cater to its staff over its loyal clientele, and may not be legally required to offer relief to their customers, their refusal to provide bathroom access still constitutes an ableist, ageist failure.
There is of course a very obvious solution to this problem, which is to place a port-a-potty in the parking lot for customer use. I sincerely hope that Natureworks will live up to their branding and do the right thing.
