The Milwaukee Brewers, willing handmaiden to America's racing sausage industry and one of a suspiciously low number of professional baseball purveyors in the state of Wisconsin, have coupled with Waste Management, Inc to violate an essential American freedom: The right to bring your own porta-potty to the ballpark, so you don't have to wait for the bathrooms, and maybe to show off a little. Brewers fans apparently do that in droves, and while you may find it strange, restricting the practice is no less an injustice.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has the story:
Experienced partygoers headed to Miller Park for a day of baseball, brats and beer have been known to bring their own portable bathrooms with them.
But the Milwaukee Brewers say that if you plan to BYOP this season, think again.
It seems Waste Management, which has the sanitation contract with the Brewers, has the stranglehold on the outdoor potty market at Miller Park.
...
But when large crowds show up for Brewers baseball, and that has been the norm more often than not in past seasons, long lines near the portable bathrooms are sure to follow.
The wait time has motivated some fans to bring their own, or hire a vendor to bring theirs in. Potty, that is.
Unfortunately, that violates an agreement the Brewers have with Waste Management.
"If you want your own, you can't work through a different vendor," said Brewers spokesman Tyler Barnes.
Waste Management and the Brewers think they can force you to relieve yourself in their special plastic box when you go to the ballgame. What do they think you are, a cat? As a Journal Sentinel commenter pointed out,
Isn't Miller Park and its grounds technically owned by the residents of Milwaukee county? If so, how does Waste Management have an exclusive contract for all portable waste facilities, including on ones personal property? In essence, they could ban you from bringing an RV with a toilet. if the portable facility never leaves your vehicle, ie personal property, I don't see how they can regulate this unless specifically written in the county contract.
Screw Waste Management and BYOP!!!
Indeed, and those aggrieved by the new rule shouldn't forget that shoppers in the five counties around Miller Park have been paying a .1% sales tax to finance the stadium since 1996. It may run for anywhere from 3-7 more years; through 2012, the tax had generated nearly $400 million. Brewers fans likely paid that very tax on when they bought or rented their porta-potties. Now they can't even bring them to the stadium.
If Brewers officials aren't nervous about the variety of protest this policy might inspire, they probably should be.
h/t Burrito Bandit
Milwaukee Brewers To Potty-Toting Tailgaters: No BYOP This Year [Journal Sentinel]