Now we can't cough either

Now let's just suppose that you run a private business and you find out that people are having sex in your public bathroom. Just what can you do to make it stop? Really now, is it unreasonable to ask for people not to have sex in your store? Is it unreasonable to get the cops involved?

For those who like to shout "homophobia!", I'm guessing that Sears wouldn't have liked it if straights were getting it on there either.

Unless some marketing wizard determined that it improved sales, anyway. What do you expect from a place that advertises pants half off?

And what's wrong with the dressing rooms, anyway? A couple of weeks ago a sitcom had a couple about to get amorous in one when they heard a discouraging voice from the next stall. But there was a moral after all - they did eventually go and get a room

Is there some etiquette involved when one encounters public sex? Is it polite to use the bathroom per design when others are so encumbered? Or does it just add to an ambience they're seeking?

I once lived in an apartment that was alone the top of a stairwell. One day I came up the stairs to find a partly undressed and fully excited couple just outside my door. We saw each other and thus had to address a situation that probably never occurred to Miss Manners.

I wonder what they were thinking at that moment. Perhaps they blushed - they were black so I couldn't tell. Perhaps they considered inviting me to join them. If so, would it have been ungracious/racist/homophobic/illiberal of me to decline?

As for me, I suppose I could have stepped over them and acted like it was something that happened to me every day. Instead I said "I'll be back in 15 minutes", turned around and left. When I returned they were gone and I never saw them again.

Maybe the public restroom incident wasn't well handled. But really, why the hell do we have to tell people not to have sex in public areas?