The Salvation Army USA

On Saturday, July 9, 2022, I visited the Salvation Army at with my 3 daughters and granddaughter. I live about 3 hours away from Lexington and my middle daughter was celebrating her 20th birthday that day and that was her request - a girl trip to Lexington. We were so excited and wanted to check out some new thrifting places. I have actually donated to the Salvation Army before because I love what they do but I had actually never had the opportunity to shop at one.

A little history on me. I am 42 years old and I have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis since 2010. I also have a multitude of other health problems but this is my biggest one at the moment. In the last year or so, I have started experiencing something cause Neurogenic Bladder. Neurogenic Bladder is a dysfunction of the urinary bladder due to disease of the central nervous system or peripheral nerves involved in the control of micturition (urination). So, in layman's terms, my bladder isn't receiving nerve signals from my brain in time for me to decide when I need to use the restroom. I can be fine one minute and then the next, I could be having an accident.

When we arrived at the store, I knew I needed to use the restroom soon so I went on inside while my daughters were getting out of the car. The employee was at the door and I asked her if I could use the restroom and she said "No... we don't have a public restroom. You can go across the road to Walgreen's". Well, I'm not sure if you know anything else about Multiple Sclerosis but walking for long distances isn't really something I can do. The more I walk, the more I struggle. My daughters had already gotten out of the car with the baby and had gotten the stroller out so taking the car wasn't a good option.

I thought I would be ok.

After about 10 minutes, I decided I had to go. I took my 14 year old daughter with me to help me walk to Walgreens and when I got there, she had to find an employee to unlock the bathroom door. By this time, it was too late. I had an accident. I was 3 hours away from home to CELEBRATE with my daughter and this happened as soon as I got to town.

I even have a card telling people that I need a bathroom as soon as possible but no one cared.