When I was a kid, we lived right next to a strip mall, and we walked everywhere.  The thing about walking is that sometimes you have to use the bathroom, but there aren’t necessarily public restrooms everywhere you go. 

The strip mall was home to our favorite arcade and several shops.  On summer days, the arcade was perfect because unlike our houses it had air conditioning, delicious food and endless sources of entertainment-no, at this time it was not possible to get tired of Mortal Kombat.  We would save quarters starting in March, so that we would have enough to spend entire days playing arcade games during the hottest days of the summer.

The only downside was that while the arcade was home to all these great things, it lacked a bathroom, and trust me that you cannot eat nachos and drink pop and water all day without a bathroom break.  The only store in the strip mall with a bathroom that was even accessible to the general public was Barney’s Portable Spa Center.

The catch, of course, is that Barney was very proud of his portable spas and thought his store shouldn’t allow the public access to their facilities.  This wasn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world because maneuvering through hot tubs and spas to avoid Barney’s ever-watchful eye was almost like an arcade game in itself. I look back at my exciting summers and smile.

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