# Disgusting lunchtime experinece- diaper changing AT THE TABLE **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 1, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189 "2005-08-01T19:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/21 "2005-08-02T00:31:00Z")
I was in a Pizza Hut the other day, and I nearly tripped going into the bathroom over a woman changing her toddler’s diaper on the bathroom floor. We agreed that it was ridiculous that a Pizza Hut didn’t have changing tables. She was saying how much she hated to change her baby on the floor, but what was she going to do? Now I know the answer, and I have to say I’m very glad she didn’t consider it an option. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/22 "2005-08-02T00:37:13Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > 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. Yep. Or imagine if the kid had Norwalk virus? Could be pretty scary. ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/23 "2005-08-02T00:39:10Z")
> [@katie1341](#): > > 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:: Now this seems like a rather extreme reaction. What, you’ve never encountered human feces? So you don’t defecate? How do you know that every previous occupant of that booth washed his/her hands after using the bathroom? There’s a certain risk when one ventures out in public, you know. Sure, leaving a poopy diaper on the table is not classy. I wouldn’t do it, yet I’ve seen plenty of bathrooms that weren’t sanitary enough to change my babies. If that’s the case, I just haul the baby out to the car, if I have one, or back home, if I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/24 "2005-08-02T01:04:36Z")
> [@Q.N. Jones](#): > > Having kids is no excuse to forget about good manners or common courtesy. I’m not saying it _excuses_ her actions, just sort of explains them. ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/25 "2005-08-02T01:40:23Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I’m not saying it _excuses_ her actions, just sort of explains them. I’ve been thinking about that, and I don’t think the “explanation” flies either. My mom had four kids in five-and-a-half years–and thus had dirty diapers by the truckload–and she’d never buy that it’s possible to “forget” that changing your kid at the table is dirty, disgusting, and wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/26 "2005-08-02T01:48:30Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > 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. It ought not to, as **Qadgop** pointed out to some poor soul who sheepishly admited to changing a wet diaper in a restaurant booth (not on the table) in my ol’ pit thread: > [@](#): > > Diaper contents (feces vs. urine) don’t enter into it. It’s grossly unsanitary, spreading coliform bacteria around a place where food is served. One person’s strain of E. Coli can make another person deathly ill. Please don’t do this anymore. > > QtM, MD ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/27 "2005-08-02T02:22:10Z")
> [@Q.N. Jones](#): > > I’ve been thinking about that, and I don’t think the “explanation” flies either. My mom had four kids in five-and-a-half years–and thus had dirty diapers by the truckload–and she’d never buy that it’s possible to “forget” that changing your kid at the table is dirty, disgusting, and wrong. Exactly. Your need for something doesn’t automatically make obtaining it correct. Sometimes you will have to sacrifice what you would like in order to be considerate of others. They will be considerate in kind. It’s called civilization. Yes, it’s just poop, but it’s \*somebody else’s poop \* while people are trying to eat, having quite reasonably expected feces-free dining. It’s offensive to many and not clean. I don’t care if that poo is clean of every bacteria or such in existence. It’s still crap squeezed from an asshole. It’s not the end of the world, but why does it have to be horrible before people shouldn’t do it? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/28 "2005-08-02T03:13:42Z")
> [@Ashes](#): > > Exactly. > > Your need for something doesn’t automatically make obtaining it correct. Sometimes you will have to sacrifice what you would like in order to be considerate of others. They will be considerate in kind. It’s called civilization. > > Yes, it’s just poop, but it’s \*somebody else’s poop \* while people are trying to eat, having quite reasonably expected feces-free dining. It’s offensive to many and not clean. I don’t care if that poo is clean of every bacteria or such in existence. It’s still crap squeezed from an asshole. It’s not the end of the world, but why does it have to be horrible before people shouldn’t do it? “Smoking or non? With or without feces? Without? Oh, that will be a twenty-minute wait.” Hey, that day is coming. God help us all. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/29 "2005-08-02T03:19:25Z")
I tried to come up with some kind of joke about ordering chocolate pudding, but it just ain’t happening today. ---
**Author:** ![Spongemom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Spongemom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spongemom)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/30 "2005-08-02T03:34:43Z")
Another vote for taking it to the car. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/31 "2005-08-02T13:45:21Z")
> [@Q.N. Jones](#): > > I’ve been thinking about that, and I don’t think the “explanation” flies either. My mom had four kids in five-and-a-half years–and thus had dirty diapers by the truckload–and she’d never buy that it’s possible to “forget” that changing your kid at the table is dirty, disgusting, and wrong. The difference between your mom and this woman is that your mom had class. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/32 "2005-08-02T14:00:35Z")
I’ve seen women leave dirty diapers in many places, but never changing a baby at a dining table and then leaving the dirty diaper on the plate. That has to be one of the worst. I think some women must think there are magical diaper fairies who follow them and their precious babies and make the icky diapers disappear without causing any offense to anyone else. They are obviously delusional. I really don’t think having a baby is any excuse for forgetting good manners and hygiene, I don’t care how stressed you are. As for the restaurant throwing out the plates, it may seem extreme but they probably felt this was the best course to take so as not to have to worry about any contamination. As has been said, they do not want to risk any outbreaks of food poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/33 "2005-08-02T19:31:16Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > The difference between your mom and this woman is that your mom had class. And she wasn’t totally self-centered. My bet is that this woman knew what she was doing was disgusting to other patrons, but she didn’t want to get up to go to the restroom or miss out on conversation with her dinner companions. So she changed the diaper right there. And then she didn’t want to deal with the mess, so she left it for the waitress…even though diaper disposal is _not_ in a waitress’s job description. Maximum convenience for her, maximum inconvenience for everyone else. And I’m sure she was aware of what she was doing the entire time. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/34 "2005-08-02T20:17:25Z")
> [@MissGypsy](#): > > Sure, leaving a poopy diaper on the table is not classy. Sweet merciful tap dancing Jesus on a fucking rubber crutch. That is the understatement of the eons. “Muffy, I do believe those rustics left a feeces filled Huggy on the table” “I think you are correct Kip, a steaming pile of bowel waste with the dirty dishes.” “Those aren’t the class of person I would want to associate with at the country club.” “Rather” Leaving a poopy diaper on the ground at a highway rest stop is not classy. Leaving one on a table at a restaurant is inbred hillbilly hick. This is a marginal step above poo flinging apes. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/35 "2005-08-02T20:19:51Z")
Her child should be taken away from her and raised by someone more civilized, like maybe wolves. Dogs and cats won’t urinate or defecate where they eat, AFAIK, and for all I know this may be true of other animals as well. How could she fail to grasp this concept? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/36 "2005-08-02T20:29:20Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > Dogs and cats won’t urinate or defecate where they eat, AFAIK, and for all I know this may be true of other animals as well. How could she fail to grasp this concept? According to the timeline laid out in the OP, it’s clear that she _didn’t_ introduce the product of elimination anywhere where _she_ was going to eat. Her party ate, she dirtied up the place where _other people_ would be eating, and then blew out of there. A subtle point. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/37 "2005-08-02T22:59:04Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > Leaving a poopy diaper on the ground at a highway rest stop is not classy. Leaving one on a table at a restaurant is inbred hillbilly hick. This is a marginal step above poo flinging apes. Actually, I’ve known some people from well out in the country. This is well beneath them as well. I can’t imagine who would do such a thing! CJ ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/38 "2005-08-02T23:07:20Z")
When I was a kid working at McDonald’s, a woman changed her baby on the counter. I was dumbstruck. She didn’t think anything of it, and was so fast that no one really had a chance to react. Un-fuckin’-believable. ---
**Author:** ![MrJackboots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MrJackboots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrJackboots)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/39 "2005-08-02T23:34:04Z")
I’ll see that McDonald’s counter and raise to a small aircraft. Right after they finished serving the meal portion, which was some kind of burrito with chicken and some marginally-identifiable brown sauce. The mother was seated as close to the bathrooms as you could get, in an aisle seat that couldn’t have been more than ten feet away, and all of them were vacant. Southwest threw out a lot of food that flight. This is venturing into Pit territory, but this was their third kid, their earlier two didn’t show any more familiarity with your basic standards of behavior, and their father didn’t even try to correct them (longest three-hour flight in memory; if I could get to the roll of gaffertape in my suitcase I would have threatened them with it). \“Sir, ma’am. I’m sorry, but, we’ve concluded that you aren’t even trying to raise functional, well-behaved human beings here. In your children’s best interests, we’re going to have to remove them to civilized households. And… uh… you’re going to have to make an appointment to leave some bodyparts at the office. Don’t worry; the doc’s great. It won’t hurt much and you’ll barely miss them in a month or so.” \ ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189/40 "2005-08-04T19:02:37Z")
In defense of the airplane changers, my wife and I flew just last month Airtran to Ohio to visit relatives. The first flight the bathroom didn’t have a changing table on it. Although it was only a wet diaper, not a messy one, there really wasn’t any other choice other than to change the baby at our seat. And I’m sure not 1 out of 20 people on that plane thought that perhaps there was a reason we had to change her at our seats. I am the first one that will tell my wife to change our daughter out of the public eye. It drives me nuts when her sister will visit and change her son’s shitty diaper right in the middle of our living room floor. I’d much prefer you take him at least into another room. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disgusting-lunchtime-experinece-diaper-changing-at-the-table/315189.md?page=3)