To give you a deep paper in response, I’ll interpret it as a plausible academic research direction:
But sometimes, miraculously, the fix does come. A grandmother appears. She whispers something. The brat sits down on the disgusting floor—but quietly. The public B is saved for another day.
When we say a brat is "heading to the public bath," we are setting up a classic 2. The Public Bath: The Ultimate Leveler