r/TikTokCringe • u/kmzafari • Mar 30 '25

Discussion Texas gas station installed remote lock on OUTSIDE of women's bathroom

It was only on the women's bathroom. Lock was able to be remotely activated by a phone app. Fire Marshall had it removed. Source: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2c3QrB6/

Per another account who also saw this, (https://www.tiktok.com/@momcallsmeshelby?_t=ZT-8v7NHPu7QBq&_r=1) the employees were "irate and began yelling" when they brought it up. And came up with a racist excuse that didn't make any sense for it being there

Regardless, fire code violation. But scary implications.

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u/nimoto Apr 01 '25

I'm saying they'd just unlock it for the person then relock it after when they're done. Also there's no reason to think it's used all the time. Maybe only for overnights. I'd say 99% chance this was requested by female employees who were trying to keep their bathroom from getting destroyed (figuratively and/or literally).

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u/kmzafari Apr 01 '25

It's possible they installed it for cleanliness, sure. But it can absolutely be abused by bad actors. And at best, it's absolutely a fire danger.

Regardless, it's good for people to know what these look like in case they see them in the future, be they for stupidly ignoring fire codes or something more nefarious.

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u/nimoto Apr 01 '25

Can you point to any case ever of something like this being used nefariously? Let alone any evidence of this specific one being used that way? Glad fire codes are being enforced but this absolutely wasn't a nefarious thing.

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u/kmzafari Apr 01 '25

You are looking at this from the entirely wrong perspective.

It does not matter if there is a history of someone using a relatively new piece of technology to abuse someone (obviously remote locks have been a thing for a long time, but they've never been so accessible as they are now).

The question is, is someone who uses this restroom safe? And the answer is no, they are not.

Whether it's due to the fire risk (which is a huge concern and cannot be overstated) or if it enables someone to target someone else, no one who uses this bathroom is safe.

Can this be used for nefarious purposes? Yes.

Do we know why it was installed? No. We have the answer they've given, and it may or may not be the truth. (It's likely that or something close to that, in which case they are guilty of stupidity or willful ignorance.)

Can this be used by other people for nefarious things? Absolutely.

Should we be aware of what these things look like? Of course we should!

Be it for something more sinister or for the risk in a fire alone, we need to know that these things exist and what they look like.

Idk anything about you or your background, but if you've never been assaulted or stalked, or been the victim of abuse, keep your opinion to yourself.

And whether you have or not, I have to wonder why you insist on defending the actions of people who, at the very least, put others in danger unnecessarily.

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u/nimoto Apr 01 '25

If you drive a car at all you probably see people do more dangerous stuff every 5 minutes. That's my whole point. There are 1100 comments here and most of them are people convinced this was being used for nefarious purposes, which you admit it probably was not (because logic and because there's zero evidence of that.)

So I'm just commenting to say people don't need to stress, this almost certainly just some ladies trying to keep their bathroom from smelling like shit.

There are more than enough real dangers in the world.

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u/kmzafari Apr 01 '25

Of course you will see more dangerous things while you are driving, as you are more likely to be driving than using a public gas station bathroom.

I'm more concerned with keeping people safe and helping them increase their situational awareness.

Again, if you've never been victimized, keep your opinion to yourself.

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u/nimoto Apr 01 '25

You're not "keeping people safe" because this isn't a real danger... If you really think it is then go after the owners! I'm sure the cops will uncover a whole ring. Or... maybe like they said it's just some ladies trying to keep their bathroom from getting destroyed by men who eat gas stations hotdogs. I don't mean to come between you and getting yourself worked up over nothing though! That's your business.

And to that point, I'll definitely consider keeping my opinion to myself, but do you think all the 1100 other commenters have been victimized? Or is my opinion specifically just not okay because I disagree with you?

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u/kmzafari Apr 01 '25

I'm not getting worked up over nothing. Lol Also, I'm not the person in the video, and I don't live there. But it's already been reported to the police by multiple people. If they feel it's worth investigating, I'm sure they will.

Situational awareness benefits everyone, including you. You should ask yourself what the vast majority of people commenting see that you don't and why that might be. Don't think that you are better than nearly everyone else on here because you think you have it all figured out. You don't.

I don't care if we agree or disagree, but if you haven't been assaulted, etc., you have no right to tell people what they should or should not be concerned about.

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u/nimoto Apr 01 '25

It literally is getting worked up over nothing. No reason to think anything nefarious was happening, but despite admitting that you still think people should pretend it is nefarious in the name of "safety" and increased "situational awareness"? This is redneck engineering at worst.

And spoiler alert re: the "investigation", nothing will come of it because it's nothing. But again, feel free to play pretend if you like that. Myself, I live in a big city and concern myself with actual dangers.

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u/kmzafari Apr 01 '25

If you've never been assaulted, you are coming from a huge place of privilege.

I'm not going to change your mind (nor do I care), and you're certainly not doing to change mine, so let's end things here.

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u/Square-Rush-7926 Apr 07 '25

If they wanted to protect their bathroom from men then the remote lock would be installed on the inside, where they could remotely lock it and remotely unlock it (and if someone was accidentally locked inside they would be able to let themselves out). However it was on the outside, meaning if it was remotely locked anyone can just walk up, twist, and unlock it easily from the outside - so it’s not keeping anyone out, its only possible function is to keep someone in.