I was eating lunch today at the restaurant that I go to several times a week. The waitstaff and managers know me. It’s a medium-nice place- sort of a local version of Chili’s. I was minding my own business, eating my salad, when a woman at a booth accross the room changed her kid’s diaper on the bench. That was bad enough, but then she PUT THE DIRTY DIAPER ON THE TABLE. :eek:
I thought about goign and saying something to her, maybe along the lines of "Were you raised in a freakin' BARN?" but she had two burly rednecky guys with her and I decided not to persue that option. I found the manager and told her what I'd seen, but by the time she reached the booth, Gross Woman and Company were gone. They'd left the dirty diaper on a plate in the middle of the table.
Manager dispatched the nearest waitress to get some heavy-duty disinfectant, and she cleaned the living daylights out of the entire booth. They also comped my lunch :), and said that is this woman ever came back they'd refuse her service if her kid was with her. She also told me that they threw away all of the dishes that had been sitting on the table.
If they ever try to seat me at that booth, I'll wait another hour if I have to to get another table. Just the thought of the diaper sitting there-- ::shudder::
I mean, yeah, it was not the most sanitary thing for her to do, and it certainly was rude to anyone in the restaurant who was hoping to eat, but IMHO you’re overreacting just a tad.
I’ve got no problem with breast feeding at the table, but changing a dirty diaper at the table is too fucking much. This was way over the line, and I would have complained to the manager about it.
…which just about covers EVERYBODY! It’s a restaurant! If you don’t want to eat, you’re not there!
Mr. Athena and I were once eating at a semi-fast food restaurant. You know - one of those locally-owned places that you order food at a counter then go sit down and eat it. Nicer than a McDonald’s, but more casual than a sit-down, waiter takes your order place.
As we approached the dining room with our order, we noticed a woman changing a baby on one of the tables. She’d put a blanket down between baby and table, but once she was done, folder the blanket on the table, allowing the baby-side to touch the table-side. Even if it hadn’t, I still would have been grossed out.
Just guessing, but maybe the restaurant didn’t have a baby-changing table in the restroom, and the woman wanted to make a statement. Serving up the used diaper on a plate suggests she felt a little militant about it, if so.
Anyway, the restaurant did the right thing by you, so that’s something. Never a given, in this day and age.
That’s disgusting. It’d be one thing if the lady had taken care of the mess herself or had a way to dispose of that diaper. But to just leave on the table? Awful. Absolutely awful. I hate babyshit. No one should be around babyshit when they eat, unless it’s your baby in which case it’s kind of your job. That was a trashy thing to do.
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac]
Just guessing, but maybe the restaurant didn’t have a baby-changing table in the restroom, and the woman wanted to make a statement. Serving up the used diaper on a plate suggests she felt a little militant about it, if so.
They do have changing tables in the restrooms. I've seen the ones in the ladies', and according to the manager they have them in both restrooms.
I don’t see the need to throw away the dishes and utensils.
Overreact much?
What the woman did was un-mannerly and un-hygienic, but swabbing down the booth and table would have sufficed.
I have found that there are just some new-ish parents who are so well, the word programmed comes to mind, that they just meet the child’s need (whatever that may be) immediately, and damn the consequences. These people need…something, not sure just what.
I think that when you have a kid you get so used to the disgusting idea of changing diapers that you don’t even think about it. She probably changes that kid, what, a dozen times a day? 50? (I have no idea really) But she has just done it so much that to her, it is no big deal.
Just yesterday I was at my niece’s 2nd birthday party and a clueless father changed his son’s poopy diaper right beside the table where everyone was eating. The kid got up and we were then treated to the father chasing his son’s feces-strewn butt with a diaper wipe.
Gross!
I think calling the manager was a good idea. I had half a mind to say something to the clueless father but refrained.
We encountered this at the Calgary Zoo cafeteria one day, too. Everyone’s in there, having their dinners, and one woman changes her baby’s diaper right on the table. We were watching this kind of “Um, isn’t that kind of unsanitary, on a dinner table and all?” And fairly icky for those of us trying to eat. For the record, the zoo is extremely child-friendly; I haven’t paid a lot of attention, but I imagine they have lots of diaper-changing facilities.
(And I think throwing out all the dishes was a little extreme, too. They’re washed in very hot soap and water - they could have bleached them too, if they were that concerned.)
The same thing happened to me a couple years ago. My response was a pit thread.
Lib suggested a response which I’ll never forget:
If (god forbid) this should ever happen to me again, I think I might do just that.
The way I figure it, nothing you could say directly to someone like that is likely to make much of an impression.
If you do something outrageous, though, they’d be bound to relate the anecdote to people whose opinions they might actually attend to. And the anecdote would, of necessity, start with “I was changing junior’s diaper at the table, when…” “Waitaminute, back up… What?” Repeated each time they attempted to tell the story. Maybe a light would dawn.
I am astounded - no, amazed - no, *shocked * at the people who are defending in any way this woman changing a dirty diaper at the table. E. coli infections anyone? If the word had gotten out that several people had gotten E. coli poisoning at the restaurant it wouldn’t matter if it was the diaper or not, the restaurant would stand a good chance of having to close down because of poor sales.
I can understand that a parent would get real used to changing diapers wherever, but - for the reasons Anaamika stated - I would think restaurant staff would have pounced on her immediately and asked her to move to the restroom.
Was this a shitty diaper, or just a wet one? That would make a difference, for me anyway, in whereabouts it ranks on the scale of mere ick to outright ack.
