When a parent is alone in public with their child of the opposite sex, which bathroom should they take them into?

A father in Dongguan found out the hard way that it’s probably not a good idea to go into the bathroom of the opposite sex when he took his 3 year-old daughter into the women’s bathroom at a mall on August 20 after checking to see whether the coast was clear.

When a woman saw him in there, she called him a “stinky pervert” and a “retard” as well as numerous other names, Guangzhou Daily reports.

The following day Mr. Chan went on an online forum to explain his actions, saying he initially opted to use the men’s toilets but changed his mind when he saw that there were other men in there and decided that his daughter was old enough to feel self-conscious.

Chan says he then waited outside the women’s toilets for 30 seconds and then peeked in to make sure it was empty. But as soon as he entered, the drama started.

Chan’s online post gained 2 million responses within a few days. Some came out in support, others said there was never a good reason for an adult to go into the bathroom of the opposite sex.

Guangzhou Daily sent some reporters to shopping malls in Dongguan to ask people’s opinions on the matter, and most agreed it was extremely rare for a father to take his daughter into the ladies’ room or a mother to take her son into the gents’.