In Favor or Opposition to the Sign?
Didi Didiser moved to Reno in 2011 from Colorado. She’s drinking a coffee from McDonald’s and supports the sign inside the restaurant.
“I think that's perfect,” she said. “I think that's absolutely fantastic because of the area. In this area, the [Record St.] homeless shelter is approximately two blocks away,” Didiser said, citing concerns of people hanging out inside McDonald’s without buying anything.
Others have expressed concern about the sign, saying it might be discriminatory, but Didiser disagrees.
“The 30-minute stay here is good because you come over, you eat your food, that's literally what it takes: about 30 minutes, 15 minutes you're finished,” she said.
She says she stayed in the downtown shelter herself when she moved to Reno. She’s currently staying with friends and didn’t want a picture of her face taken, saying she is very private.
“I think it's good because the people that actually want to come over and purchase their food, if there's a lot of people sitting inside over here, they can't because there is an occupancy number,” Didiser said of the 30-minute sign. “Like, max capacity is let's say 60 people and 25 of them are just from the homeless shelter buying absolutely nothing, that makes it difficult.”
Bathrooms More Open to Public?
Concerning bathrooms though, Didiser said places like McDonald’s should have more lenient bathroom policies.
“The only thing I do not like for many of these places is the bathroom policies. If a person needs to use the restroom, they should have a policy to where the person can actually go in and use the restroom, you know, because you just don't want people doing their business outside and stinking out the city. I mean I think you get the picture of that,” she said.
Policies vary by establishment, with some places having a strict customer-only bathroom policy. A quick web search did not seem to indicate McDonald’s has a clear bathroom policy.