Monday, September 12, 2011

dining etiquette + children part 4: dirty diapers


I must apologize in advance for the severity of this post, I am outraged by a scene I witnessed this past week!

If I may help you envision what went on:

Here we are in restaurant X sitting down to a nice evening out (it could be wing night or a casual dinner, heck imagine yourself at McDonald's or even Rundles if you want).  You place your order and food arrives at the table.  At the next table a baby begins to cry quietly.  The mother (I presume) lifts the child, checks the back end and pronounces "ooh that's a stinky one!".  You wait with baited breath, assuming the child will be whisked away to a bathroom facility to be changed, but wait... there's a cloth going down on the table, drinks pushed to the side to allow for the make-shift change station to be laid out.  Baby is put on its back, pants removed, and that velcro/tape combo-sound grates down your back like nails on a chalk board.  That's right!  They're doing it!  Right there in the middle of the dining room, RIGHT ON THE TABLE.  You look down at your own table and wonder...  Brown stained baby wipes are stacked atop the soiled diaper - a scent wafts on the air...

You awake from the horrible nightmare right?  Wrong!

I was frozen in shock as I witnessed this scene unsure whether to ask the couple to leave the restaurant or just go out back and off myself from sheer embarrassment!

There is absolutely, without exception, no possible excuse or explanation for this event taking place in a dining establishment.  I don't care if it's a diner or a pub or a fancy restaurant.  It doesn't matter if it's just a peed in diaper, just a quick change, or you feel outraged because there is no change table in the washrooms.  Urine and feces do not belong in a room where food is being served.  Period.

5 comments:

  1. Those parents need a good spanking!!! Never heard of a car?!? It's a sign of the times... no consideration for others.

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  2. I agree this is in very bad taste.

    While I understand the reluctance of a patron to confront another patron, I am shocked that the restaurant did not intervene. Consider the health violations and the impact on their customers. I would be disappointed in their (lack of) response.

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  3. OMG, ew! That's so disgusting!

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  4. I have seen this happen a few times.
    There is absolutely NO excuse for this kind of thing, yet I do not understand why many restaurants do not have change stations in BOTH restrooms, either.
    When my kids were small, I can't tell you the number of times that I had to change a diaper on a dirty bathroom floor, or the 2" of germ infested counter space between the wall and the sink.....

    ReplyDelete