89-year-old denied use of gas station bathroom has to pee in grass instead

Jul 1, 2018

A church-going 89-year-old grandmother on her way home from Sunday service asked if she could use a gas station bathroom and was turned away, reports WBTV.

The church van Evelyn Redic was riding in after church in Charlotte, North Carolina had broken down due to a flat tire. While she waited for the tire to be repaired, Redic strolled over to a nearby gas station and asked if she could use their facilities, but she was told “no.” Redic said the worker told her the bathrooms were only for employees.

“She says she was outraged,” Redic’s granddaughter, Katossa Glover, said.

Glover said her grandmother really didn’t want to miss her Sunday church services and took the van but of course didn’t anticipate the unexpected pit stop when the tire blew out. After she was turned away from the gas station the 89-year-old had to pee in the grass near the gas station instead.

“She said ‘I have never been so embarrassed,’” Glover said.

At 89 years old, Redic has experienced many days when she has been denied use of public facilities and her family is taking up to fight to see she never goes through this again.

“People are tired of being mistreated,” Glover said, “and a woman who has been here since 1929, who has gone through that, will not experience that in 2018 without the community fighting.”

County Commissioner Vilma Leake went to the gas station on Redic’s behalf and spoke to the manager and the clerk who denied Redic use of the restroom.

“The first thing she said was ‘we can’t say anything,’” Leake said.

“She’s a human being and they are human,” Leake said. “That is out of the ordinary to say no to somebody that age.”

Redic’s family said the elderly woman has not been faring well since the incident.

“She is still very weak,” Glover said. “She’s resting.”

The family is waiting for representation from the gas station to make things right with their grandmom.

“I feel like we need some type of public apology,” Glover said.