还
记得一个月前的星巴克公关灾难吗——两名黑人男子因为没有在店内消费而被逮捕并带走，这一事件引起了广泛的批评和质疑。但是星巴克没有自己的难处吗？美国的公厕问题有那么简单吗？请看本期的BBC报道。
Why Starbucks faces toilet trouble
为什么星巴克面临厕所事件?
Starbucks has amended its toilet policy to allow anyone to use the facilities - whether or not they purchase something - following a row over the treatment of black customers.
近日星巴克改进了其厕所政策，即使顾客不消费，也可以使用这些设施。此前，星巴克曾驱逐黑人顾客使用厕所，因而引发了争议。
But the move by the US coffee chain could open the door to other problems including drugs, prostitution and homelessness.
但此举可能意味着星巴克向其他麻烦敞开了大门，包括吸毒、卖淫和无家可归的人们。
Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz announced on Thursday that the company's toilets would be available to anyone who asked.
周四，星巴克董事长霍华德•舒尔茨宣布，星巴克的厕所将对任何有需要的人开放。
"We don't want to become a public bathroom, but we're going to make the right decision 100% of the time and give people the key," Mr Schultz told the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington DC.
舒尔茨在华盛顿特区的智库——大西洋理事会上表示：“我们不想咖啡店变成公共厕所，但我们将每次都做出正确决定，给人们提供厕所间的钥匙。”
"We don't want anyone at Starbucks to feel as if we are not giving access to you to the bathroom because you are 'less than'."
“我们不想让星巴克里的任何人觉得因为你低人一等而不能使用厕所。”
Why did Starbucks decide to change its policy now?
为什么星巴克决定现在改变它的政策?
On 12 April, the manager at a Philadelphia Starbucks called the police on two black men who had requested to use the toilet without making a purchase. They were waiting for a business meeting and were arrested when they refused to leave.
4月12日，两位黑人在没有购买任何东西的情况下要求使用费城一家星巴克的厕所，经理随即报了警。当时二人正在等待一个商业会面，拒绝离开，因此被捕。
The subsequent outcry led to a settlement with the city and a public-relations disaster for Starbucks. The company apologised to the men and later this month will shut for one afternoon all 8,000 US stores as it holds mandatory anti-racial bias training for staff.
随后的抗议引发了与城市的和解和星巴克的公关灾难。星巴克公司向人们道歉，并表示本月晚些时候全美8000家门店将暂停营业一个下午，勒令全体员工参加反种族歧视培训。
Starbucks told the BBC in an email that employees were currently being instructed to "ensure that all customers coming in feel welcome" and if someone needed to use the toilet, to let them unless it seemed unsafe.
星巴克在一封电子邮件中告诉BBC，其员工被要求“确保让所有的顾客感到‘宾至如归’”，如若有顾客需要使用厕所，要在确保安全的前提下满足顾客的需求。
It is unclear how this change would affect customers with disabilities in terms of ensuring ready access to disabled toilets.
目前尚不清楚这一变化将如何影响残疾人方便使用其专用厕所。
Why were the toilets locked in the first place?
起初为什么要封锁厕所？
Public toilets have proven notoriously difficult to maintain worldwide.
众所周知，公共厕所在全球来说都是很难维护的。
Starbucks is far from the only US business to keep its toilets under lock, wanting to avoid them being used as "public bathrooms".
星巴克远非美国唯一一家封锁厕所的企业，其目的是为了避免它们被当作“公厕”。
Aside from vandalism concerns, public toilets need constant maintenance to stay functional, let alone hygienic.
除了设备可能遭到破坏的隐患,公共厕所需要不断维护来保证持续使用，更不要提卫生问题了。
For many businesses, asking customers to pay for goods before requesting toilet access helps cover maintenance costs.
许多企业要求顾客需购买商品后才能使用厕所，这为厕所维护费用提供了来源。
More concerning than cleanliness is the prevalent drug use and prostitution in public facilities.
比清洁问题更让人担忧的是在公共场所普遍的吸毒和卖淫现象。
A 2013 study of New York City businesses found that 58% of store managers had seen drug use in their toilets.
在纽约企业2013年的一项研究发现,58%的门店经理目睹过在其门店厕所的吸毒事件。
Over the last year, US media have called public lavatories the new frontline of the opioid epidemic.
去年以来，美国媒体称公共厕所为鸦片肆虐新的首选场所
The city of Seattle spent $5m (£3.6m) on five self-cleaning toilets in 2004, only to close them four years later due to rampant drug use and prostitution.
2004年，西雅图投入5百万美元（约合360万英镑）用于全自动清洁厕所，但却因毒品和卖淫的猖獗而在四年后被迫关闭这些厕所。
One woman even told the New York Times that she used to smoke crack cocaine in the toilets but stopped because they were too "disgusting".
一名女性告诉纽约时报，她曾经在厕所吸食可卡因，但她觉得厕所“太恶心了”而不再这么做了。
But for those without a home, public facilities are often the only ones they have access to.
但对于那些无家可归的人，公共场所是他们唯一能去的地方了。
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness' 2017 statistics, there are more than 500,000 homeless people in the US, with 34% living on the streets.
根据全国终止无家可归联盟2017年的统计数据，美国有超过50万人无家可归，其中34%的人流浪于街头。
Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, told the BBC that Starbucks' new policy would "make a big difference for people who are homeless".
全国无家可归和贫困问题法律中心的常务董事Maria Foscarinis告诉BBC，星巴克的新政策将会“对无家可归的人产生巨大影响”。
"People who are homeless are disproportionately members of racial minorities," Ms Foscarinis said, adding it would be an opportunity for Starbucks to include homeless anti-bias information during the forthcoming training day.
Foscarinis说：“无家可归的人多是少数族裔，比例明显偏高”。星巴克正好可以借此机会把反流浪者歧视纳入反种族歧视的培训中。
Los Angeles is home to more than 34,000 homeless residents, most of whom live on the streets of the Skid Row neighbourhood.
洛杉矶有超过3.4万的无家可归者，他们大多数住在Skid Row地区的街道上。
What can be done to solve these issues?
怎么做才能解决这些问题呢？
Ms Foscarinis said that some cities had now begun to address the public lavatory issue after health crises such as a recent hepatitis outbreak in California that killed 19 people.
Foscarinis说，一些公共健康危机爆发后，比如加州的肝炎导致了19人死亡，一些城市已经开始处理公共厕所问题。
"This is something we all have in common. This is part of the human condition. This is a basic human need that needs to be addressed for people without any other alternative."
“厕所是我们共同的需求，它是人类生存条件的一部分，也是缺乏其他选择的人们的基本需求，毫无疑问，我们应当对此予以重视。”
In 2017, Los Angeles opened a hygiene centre in the Skid Row neighbourhood, offering toilets and showers for more than 34,000 homeless people.
2017年，洛杉矶市在该市贫民窟附近开设了一个卫生中心，为超过3.4万无家可归的人提供了厕所和淋浴房。
The $450,000 facilities are guarded by security personnel and have a maintenance crew.
这些共计花费45万美元的公共设施由安全人事部门监管，并且有一个维修团队负责。
Drug use can be trickier to prevent.
杜绝吸毒将更加艰难
Back in 2003, the BBC reported on how a Sainsbury's supermarket in Huntingdon, UK, installed blue lights in its toilets to combat drug use.
2003年，BBC曾经报道过英国亨廷顿的Sainsbury超级市场如何通过在厕所里安装蓝光系统来监测吸毒行为。
The blue lights prevent veins from showing up on arms, which successfully deterred drug-injecting users.
蓝光下手臂上的静脉无法显示出来，因而可以制止人们通过静脉注射吸毒。
The same principle has been used in the US city of Portland, Oregon, where public toilets built in 2012 specifically addressed the problems of Seattle's toilet fiasco.
美国俄勒冈州波特兰市的公共厕所也运用了同样的原理。2012年该市的公共厕所建设特别吸收了西雅图公厕的失败教训。
Dubbed the Portland Loo, these public facilities tackled the biggest issues - illegal activities and high-volume usage - via minimalism.
通过运用极简设计，被称为波特兰厕所的这些公共设施解决了公厕面临的最严峻的问题——非法活动以及追求方便的大量公厕使用。
The stainless steel loos have slanted openings at the top and bottom that allow police to look inside if need be, no sink or mirror, a tap on the outside offering only cold water, a graffiti-proof coating, and blue lights. It is also disabled-accessible.
这些不锈钢厕所倾向于在顶部或底部开一个口，以便于警察在必要时候检查厕所内部。厕所里没有水槽或者镜子，厕所外只有一个可以放出冷水的水龙头、一个防涂鸦涂层以及蓝光系统。残疾人也可以方便地使用这个厕所。
"Too much privacy allows people to get away with things you shouldn't be doing in the restroom," Mr Madden said regarding the Loo's open design.
“私密性太好会让人们做他们不应该在洗手间里做的事情，”马登先生谈到厕所的开放式设计时说。
"Cities don't offer public restrooms because they offer more problems than they solve," Evan Madden, sales manager for the Loo, told the BBC.
“有些城市不提供公共厕所，因为公共厕所带来的麻烦比解决的问题还要多，”这款厕所的销售经理埃文马登告诉BBC。
Mr Madden said the toilet was designed by the community - police, fire, parks and recreation staff as well as toilet designers.
马登先生说，厕所是整个社区协同设计的 -警局、消防部门、公园以及娱乐场所等处所的工作人员，与厕所设计师一起，完成了厕所的设计。
The Portland model is now in 21 cities across the US, with more scheduled for installation.
波特兰市应用的这种厕所现应用于美国的21个城市中，并且计划会安装更多。
"A restroom that deters crime and is easy to clean would solve the problem of most public restrooms," Mr Madden said.
马登先生说：“一种阻碍犯罪并容易清理的洗手间可以解决公共洗手间的大多数问题。”
Perhaps the US could learn from Japan when it comes to keeping toilets clean, safe and accessible.
也许美国可以向日本学习如何保持厕所清洁，安全和便利。
Japanese toilets are famously high-tech and sanitary, and the country even has a toilet museum.
日本的厕所是出了名的高科技和卫生，日本甚至有厕所博物馆。
But there is always room for improvement: in 2015, the Japanese government offered a Japan Toilet Prize during a campaign to improve toilet quality across the country.
但总存在进步的空间：2015年，日本政府在改善全国厕所质量的活动中设置了日本厕所奖。
翻译：刘琳 苏娟 余敏 姚灿 周雨旸
编辑：周雨旸
原文链接：http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44088033?from=groupmessage