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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsparents change diaper in starbucks. cops called
A Denver couple decided to change their baby’s diaper in the seating area of a Starbuck’s when they realized the coffee shop’s restroom wasn’t equipped with a changing table. Ruth and Alex Burgos were making a Friday night coffee run with their 1-year-old son Thiago when they were faced with the must-change nappy.
“As a mother, you have to do what you have to do. Wherever you have to do it,” Ruth told 9News. “I just kind of wiped him off, cleaned him off as quickly as I could.”
A Starbucks employee was displeased by the Burgos’ choice and tossed a rag at the couple while shouting out rude comments. “You better clean that seat,” the barista said, and then proceeded to laugh with fellow employees.
The father Alex was irritated by the employee’s demeaning tone and dumped his drink onto the floor and said, “You make sure you clean that up,” according to USA Today.
One of the employees called 911 and cops came onto the scene. No arrests were made. Starbucks has since apologized to the Burgos family.
http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2013/05/17/starbucks-employee-calls-cops-on-parents-changing-diaper/
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hobbit709
(41,694 posts)they did it in the restroom without one.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)
leveymg
(36,418 posts)Not a lot of common sense by some people. Not everyone thinks little Tommy's poo-poo is precious.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)
JVS
(61,935 posts)
greenman3610
(3,959 posts)nearby.
I think it's absolutely irresponsible, not to mention the height of discourtesy to others nearby.
Breast feeding? great.
fecies? that is crude, rude, unsanitary, dangerous, and over the edge.
zerosumgame0005
(207 posts)really?
Auntie Bush
(17,528 posts)I never thought of changing him in public on a table. I find it hard to believe someone would do such a rude thing. Sorry, but I think that was disgusting.
vanbean
(990 posts)pipoman
(16,038 posts)I really wouldn't care to smell their baby's discharge while I am enjoying my $6 coffee..maybe they could have gone outside or to their car? OTOH, the employee showed lack of tact in the situation it sounds..
morningfog
(18,115 posts)pipoman
(16,038 posts)their shitty child..
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)
morningfog
(18,115 posts)If the establishment prefers to accommodate children, they could provide a changing table. Everyone else can get over themselves. It is a baby. Are you that terrified of baby poop? Has the whole world gone mad?
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)address so i can come over and change some diapers on *your* dining table, and let *you* clean up after i'm done.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)If you came over and you had a one year old, I would accommodate you. The parents didn't leave it a mess, and didn't plan on it. Grow up.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)they changed a poopy baby in the dining area of a food service establishment. It's a violation of health code, it's unsanitary, and it's disrespectful and inconsiderate of others, including the waitstaff who were left to clean up after the low-life parents.
I'm not the one who needs to grow up.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)Change them whenever and wherever needs be. They shouldn't be forced to sit in shit because it offends your delicate sensibilities. Everyone fucking poops. Babies need to be changed when they do. Get over it.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)done, i'll pay you $7.25 an hour.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)free everyday. I will decline to give you my address, you come across unstable and as someone who may hate kids and have anger issues. Why Wouk I give you my address. And where are you going to get these kids to change on my table? Are you going to pick a few up on the way? Creepy.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)baby poop while they are sitting in small enclosed areas consuming coffee products?
demwing
(16,916 posts)but truth be told, NO ONE wants what your bitter brains tells you they want, which is why you change the baby's diaper - so you can remove the poo.
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)Even more perfect than she thinks her child's shit
snooper2
(30,151 posts)
CreekDog
(46,192 posts)
woolldog
(8,791 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)We are so far removed from our natural cycles that people get their pride ass panties in a wad over this. It's baby poop people. Not a weapon or an assault.
woolldog
(8,791 posts)The parents can leave.
If it's only "baby poop", then the baby can stew in it a little longer until they find an appropriate place to change it.
Whoa_Nelly
(21,237 posts)A parent/guardian can either take the baby to the car to change the diaper, or outside and use the stroller as a changing table/place.
Feces in a restaurant, coffee place, or anywhere else that serves food and drink, is unacceptable. To be exposed to the smell alone is selfish act by the parent/guardian who would do such a thing.
This is not about rights, or even close to something such as the breastfeeding in public issue. This is about exposure to feces. You make it sound like it's such a black and white issue when in fact, it is not.
Your argument here really is ridiculous and full of the poop that comprises the straw man defense.
CreekDog
(46,192 posts)which automatically should discount any argument they follow that with.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)Take it out-fucking-side.
This is from a parent.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)the cops and the rudeness was warranted.
elehhhhna
(32,076 posts)He's an ass.
pipi_k
(21,020 posts)not a restaurant where they had just ordered a three course meal and would likely have been there an hour or more eating.
The parents could have picked up their damned coffees and gone home to change their kid.
Or they might even have both entered either the mens or ladies restroom and one could have held the child while the other changed the diaper. Anyone wanting to get in to use the restroom would have to wait a few minutes, just like they would if an adult were using it.
There are other solutions to this problem besides offending fellow customers....who, may I point out, have just as much right to BE offended by baby shit as you have the right NOT to be offended by it.
It's nice that you aren't bothered by shitty diapers in an eating establishment, but that doesn't make you better than anyone who is bothered.
REP
(21,691 posts)Oh, and no one has the right to crap in a dining area, no matter how many patents they hold.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Section 102 of the US Patent Code, codified in chapter 35 of the US Code of statutes, sets forth the conditions of novelty which bar the presumptive right to a patent. These conditions are thus known as "novelty bars".
In particular, Paragraph (b) of Section 102 includes the condition that grant of a patent will be barred if the invention were the subject of prior publication, or knowledge or use by others before that of the actual invention thereof by the applicant, or more than one year prior to the date of application.
I would venture to guess that one may find others have had knowledge of the practice of changing a baby in a restaurant well prior to one year ago from now.
That said, having done so in Starbucks is interesting, as Starbucks constitutes a per se "novelty bar".
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)There are some cases in which the USPTO has gone to the mat on appeals, in a few "any moron knows that, it is so basic that nobody bothered to write it down" cases.
Ms. Toad
(38,637 posts)I'm dealing with a patent in which someone claims to have invented object oriented programming in the mid 90s,that flew through with no significant review . . . while we have patents stuck in the queue for well over a decade.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)I had to deal with Lemelson's machine vision patents years back.
"The antlike persistence of patent attorneys."
Ms. Toad
(38,637 posts)Only one client, fortunately - but multiple product lines.
Beacool
(30,518 posts)Let alone doing it in public where OTHERS are eating.
Have some respect. The world doesn't revolve around your kid.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I am so sick of self centered parents. God, not everyone wants to be exposed to your child's disgusting diaper.
MADem
(135,425 posts)sandwiches and muffins and cookies and cake and ... well, THINGS TO EAT there, and the tables are there for people to EAT at--not to smell baby shit.
Back in the Bad Old Days, parents carried something called a "diaper bag" and the smart parent always carried something called a "baby blanket" that could be spread, if needs must, on a bathroom counter--or even THE FLOOR-- to change their child.
The presence of a "changing table" wasn't a mandated thing back in the day. In fact, parents would be well advised to carry one of those "baby blankets" to shield their little Fauntleroy from wayward babyshit on the magic changing table from someone else's little special angel.
I think the parents in this case were assholes--rude to the customers in the place, and rude to the workers. No one wants to smell babyshit in an eating establishment. Starbucks shouldn't have to "apologize" because those parents were idiots and selfish.
And I don't particularly care for Starbucks--I think they are overpriced and their coffee sucks.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)Put in the changing tables or get over it. Calling th cops and acting like an ass was wrong. They should have apologized.
MADem
(135,425 posts)pipi_k
(21,020 posts)a cup of coffee on the floor deserved the cops being called.
If the idiot hadn't done that, I would say calling the cops was wrong.
antigone382
(3,682 posts)I don't think changing the baby in the restaurant was a great idea (though I don't thin it's the worst thing that ever happened)...but I don't think the subsequent actions by the employees and/or the father were very great ideas either.
List of things that should have been done differently:
Starbucks should provide changing tables...
Parents should change soiled diapers somewhere other than a dining area...
Employees should not throw objects at customers or taunt them when inappropriate behavior occurs...
Customers should not deliberately create further messes in response to taunts...
The only person I can think who didn't do anything wrong in this situation is the baby itself.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)No changing table, so we'll subject everybody to our smug little "protest" move?
How about doing the adult thing and politely suggesting to the Starbucks manager that they install one? (Meanwhile changing the kid elsewhere)
These piggy parents chose the passive-aggressive asshole route. And then threw coffee on the floor.
I would bar them from the place (which a business has a right to do).
demwing
(16,916 posts)why are so worked up? I get why you disagree, but why so fucking bitter about it?
You act like these people trained their baby to dip its diaper in you caramel mocha frappuccino. Is that it?
Is that what happened?
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)5th grade vocab class? is that what happened?
demwing
(16,916 posts)"showing or caused by strong unrelenting hostility or resentment "
In other words..."you"
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)
What the parents did is fueled by "hostility."
Chan790
(20,176 posts)You cannot change your baby on the tables in a food-service establishment. You're not entitled to a changing table and lots of people manage their daily lives with babies without the use of a changing table everywhere they go. It's not something to be gotten over, it's in as poor form as smearing your feces on the tabletop would be. How about I don't wash my hands after I shit, then go through your kitchen pawing your flatware and utensils? How would you feel about that? It's no less disgusting.
Starbucks was wrong to apologize unless the contents of that apology were "We're sorry you're huge fucking assholes." The people who deserved apologies were the other paying customers who weren't spreading coliforms in an eating establishment...not these entitled vermin.
That's what these parents were: Vermin. Assholes. Entitled pricks.
nebenaube
(3,496 posts)You are over the top for one of the very reasons you cite. Those tables are unsanitary 98% of the time anyway.
Response to morningfog (Reply #7)
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HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)they left & pooped on the journey, he could have waited until they walked home for a diaper change. if he had a dirty diaper when they left their home, they should have changed it before they left.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)Or how far they had come? Or how long they'd been out? Or how long they planned to be out?
People taking the side of the starbucks employees are really messed up. This was a baby, for fucks sake. What the fuck is wrong with you all?
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)different.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)It is a quick simple and clean process. They way you carry on you'd think someone was making you eat the shit.
There is nothing anti social about a baby shitting. Strange issue you have here.
dflprincess
(29,341 posts)and a wet diaper is a quick, unmessy procedure but a poopy one can be another story entirely - they can be, as my niece terms some of her son's a "poo emergency" - which refers to an especially messy event and one that even the most devoted parent can change without at least a grimace. (And the older the child, the worse they are). These are not diapers to take care of in an area where food is served.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)pipoman
(16,038 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)in particular, they should provide a place.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)it would be nice if they provided station..people changed diapers in bathrooms long before there were diaper stations..
morningfog
(18,115 posts)I would choose a bench before a bathroom without a changing table.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)Chan790
(20,176 posts)If everybody was entitled to comfort when shitting...the government would hand out free stool softeners and padded toilet seats with built-in warm-water bidets.
Goddamnit. I want my free stool softeners and padded toilet seat with built-in warm-water bidet.
(Really though...having worked in food-service (for a coffeehouse actually)...I would never use the changing table provided. We don't clean them. Like blood spills and vomit (and now that bench), they are considered contaminated biological waste (we clean the toilet by spraying the no-label foaming bathroom cleaner in the bowl and flushing. The sink gets the same cleaner and then we run it for 30 sec.) and we're not trained to and cannot be compelled to by management. The managers have to do it themselves because they're trained for it (my manager would never lower herself to cleaning the bathroom), pay to send us for contaminated-waste clean-up training (which costs money and as a certification entitles us to a higher base-rate-of-pay) or call corporate to send someone out (which they charge us a few hundred dollars for).
The result is the changing table never gets cleaned. It's almost-certainly less-sanitary than the bathroom floor which gets sanitized and damp-mopped once every 6 hours.)
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)I have used traditional bidets for a long time, and certainly appreciate them.
When I had first seen seat bidets of the overcomplicated Asian variety, I thought it was another one of those ridiculous Japanese inventions which are more for amusement than utility.
However, I encountered one of these in a hotel room in Seoul, and have been a believer in them ever since.
Like my mom always used to say, "Wash your asshole Johnny. You never know when you might get a rim job."
CreekDog
(46,192 posts)supporting children doesn't require us to say that a table and environment where people eat should be used for changing diapers.
i'd like to ask, what cleaning should follow the use of that table, or is none necessary?
Chan790
(20,176 posts)
Violet_Crumble
(36,385 posts)Tipping the coffee out and telling the employee to clean it up was not only the action of an insufferable self-entitled prick who can't work out the most basic parenting skills that other parents of babies manage just fine with, but if it was hot it'd be dangerous if it splashed on anyone.
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)It has absoltely nothing.....nothing to do with someone not tolerating infants.
It they had wheeled in grannie and she dropped a brown bomber...
Would it be okay to plunk her down on the bench, hoist her legs up, spread her cheeks and wipe her down too?
Why not then?
Why should grannie have to sit in shit?
Do you hate old people?
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)Baby poop doesn't always STAY in the diaper. Especially with breastfed babies, that poop escapes pretty quickly if you don't change them ASAP.
I will admit to changing my tiny newborn in public...I don't think it was in an eating establishment though, I can't remember where it was, but it was on a bench. I put a blanket down first, and made it quick and shielded my baby with my body. I don't think anyone saw, but sometimes it happens where you cannot wait to change the baby, or you will have a baby with poop up to its neck in the back.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Tip: Stinky diapers stink whether or not the child is wearing it.
it smells up the room when opened up...I've been around a few in my day too..It was stupid and insensitive to others to do that in a food service area..
jeff47
(26,549 posts)A stinky diaper reeks long before it's removed. Removing it and wrapping it up will stop it from stinking.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)They should have taken the child outside or done it in the restroom without a changing table. There are a lot of eating establishments that don't have changing tables so they better get used to it.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Yet you're not upset at the employees over that.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)That you're not upset about it? You aren't complaining about it.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)Wow. I guess you never took a logic class.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)And the cleaning rag hitting the floor and then getting re-used is much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much more likely to make people sick than a diaper change.
Believe it or not, the floor is dirtier than a shit-filled diaper - it's just not obvious because we're talking about microbes.
If sanitary conditions were your actual concern, you'd have complained about the rag first, and then the diaper. You have expressed no concern about the rag.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)You have to follow the discussion at hand. I wasn't replying to the OP, I was replying to the subthread that was only mentioning the smell of the poop and adding that it's not only the smell, it's the sanitary issues.
And no, there is no "rule" that if you don't mention something it means you have a certain feeling about it.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)This is an internet message forum. The way it works is significantly different than debate club.
And since you were talking about sanitary issues, you'd have a great reason to talk about the rag toss. It would be utterly and completely relevant to the discussion at hand. You didn't. If you were so horrified/disgusted/annoyed/happy/whatever about the rag toss, you'd have mentioned it.
You're free to feel whatever you want about whatever you want. But if you don't mention something on a mostly free-form message board, it is an indication that you do not feel strongly about that subject. Especially when it's relevant to the topic at hand.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)expected minimum-wage employees to clean up after their poopy diaper change. low-life trash in my opinion, and shameless as the deliberate spilling of the drink shows.
there was *no* reason they had to change the diaper at that moment, in that place.
oldhippie
(3,249 posts)I am angry about so many things I couldn't possibly mention them all in posts on a message board. And if I did you would get tired of reading it.
fishwax
(29,346 posts) HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)eat, in a room where people are eating.
Yeah, sure.
pipi_k
(21,020 posts)full of stinking shit?
While the employee was rather immature to have done that, it still doesn't equate to a diaper full of baby shit that other customers have to smell while they're eating.
Some people are so sensitive to disgusting odors that they literally become ill.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)diaper, wiping off the poopy baby (& possibly dribbling/spraying feces around), ?& depositing said poopy diaper & rags -- where, exactly? in the food service garbage? or did they carry the poopy diaper back to the restroom garbage, dribbling poop as they went?
They were 'making a midnight coffee run'. If the kid had a clean diaper when they left & pooped on the way they could have changed him in their car either before or after or while the other got the coffee. Or on the floor of the bathroom or outside the establishment or they could have waited until they got home.
If the kid was so freaking stinky one of them could have held him outside or in the car while the other parent got the coffee.
If the kid didn't have a clean diaper before they went on their 'coffee run,' they could have changed it at home before they went to a food establishment.
Changing a diaper in a public dining area is *disgusting*. Disgusting, low class, moronic.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)Last edited Fri May 17, 2013, 11:57 PM - Edit history (1)
pipoman
(16,038 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)I'm a helper, aim to please.
snooper2
(30,151 posts) 
MineralMan
(151,269 posts)Lovely! I'm just glad Mom wasn't breast-feeding her baby. If she were, she might have been tazed by the cops.
What are people thinking?
demwing
(16,916 posts)Looks like it was a bench or a chair
MineralMan
(151,269 posts)demwing
(16,916 posts)For example, if the seat were lower than the table, and if the parents used a changing pad. What's the problem? Smell? Poopy diapers smell poopy on or off the kid. Sanitary? Changing pad solves that. Disgusting visuals? Not if it was done on a seat behind a table.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)It's not sanitary and there's no way it should be acceptable. People can get seriously ill from that and who would get the blame? The eatery.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)And those people would touch a lot of stuff on the table. Think the salt shaker gets a regular soaking in disinfectant?
Bon Appetit!
demwing
(16,916 posts)And shit is everywhere...
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)i can't believe you're defending diaper changing in a dining room.
demwing
(16,916 posts)But a baby in a full diaper is more likely to spread poop than the process of changing a diaper. I think most people operate under the illusion that the world we occupy is much cleaner than it really is.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)the other made the 'coffee run'. or they could have changed it on the floor of the bathroom or in their car or on the sidewalk outside.
they didn't want to change it on the floor of the bathroom because a bathroom floor in a room where *other* people shit is too 'unsanitary' for their little baby; but *their* baby's poo is OK for other customers, ok for minimum wage workers to clean up after.
too low-life to go out in public.
demwing
(16,916 posts)does it cause you pain?
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)linger all that long once the kid with the soiled diaper is out the door.
The establishment should have changing tables. The parent(s) should not have changed the diaper in the dining area.
Were they thinking others want to smell and see baby poop with their coffee and food?
Are we getting dumber as a nation or what?
Good God!
get the red out
(14,031 posts)Everybody thinks they own the place, every place.
MineralMan
(151,269 posts)I know that parents of infants more or less become immune to the blessings their offspring create internally, but you'd think they'd realize that others don't have the same immunity.
I have a dog, rather than an infant. Dude is very careful with locations for his blessings, and I am quick to remove them with the ever-present plastic bag. He prefers not to bless our neighbor's lawns when on a walk through the neighborhood, but uses the street gutter for his gifts.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)The others you are so concerned about would already be "enjoying" the smell. If anything, changing the diaper reduces the smell - it's not being wafted about by the kid.
MineralMan
(151,269 posts)her child's diaper inside the eating area of the place? Please submit a list of establishments where you dine with an infant, so I will know which restaurants to avoid. Thanks.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)A stinky diaper stinks when the child is wearing it. Changing the diaper reduces the stink.
In addition, the dirty rag they use to wipe down the tables in your typical Starbucks is far more likely to cause disease than changing a diaper on a bench. Unless you eat with your ass, or sit like Mork. And that assumes no changing pad was involved.
That being said, I'd take the kid to the car because I have to drive everywhere in this shithole of a city and have it available. The OP does not indicate they drove to the store, so I don't know if they had that option.
MineralMan
(151,269 posts)You have missed the point entirely. Shit does not belong in places people eat. It is that freaking simple.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)You should fear that rag far more than a dirty diaper if you're concerned about putting something bad where people eat.
After all, the employees showed such concern for the cleanliness of the rag that they threw it on the floor. You think they ran it through the laundry before they started wiping tables again?
I understand your sense of "eeeeeewwww" has been triggered. But those things are often quite bad at judging actual danger.
brush
(61,033 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)That's the point I'm trying to get across. You find it icky. That's fine.
Doesn't mean it was actually unsanitary. Especially compared to what was already present on those surfaces.
If the parents had a better option, they should have taken it. It's not clear from the article that they did - for example, the article doesn't say if they drove to the Starbucks or walked.
Squinch
(59,522 posts)is to leave the restaurant. Just like you shouldn't go to the bathroom on the Starbucks bench, they shouldn't be changing their kid's diaper there.
U4ikLefty
(4,012 posts)1) Diapers smell MORE when they are opened. I've changed diapers many, many times.
2) A dirty rag on the floor is NOT causing a problem. The insistence that the employee would violate rules & risk being fired for using a dirty rag is ridiculous.
3) Pretending to play devil's advocate when clearly they sympathize with the diaper-bucks losers....a similar level of class no doubt.
Ms. Toad
(38,637 posts)Giardiasis
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis E
Rotavirus
Shigellosis (bacillary dysentery)
Typhoid fever
Vibrio parahaemolyticus infections
Enteroviruses, including poliomyelitis
Cholera
Clostridium difficile
Cryptosporidiosis
Ascariasis
e-coli infections
Polio
Pinworms
Salmonella
Tapeworms
(Just to name a few).
While it would not be disgusting and unsanitary to use a rag contaminated by being on the floor (1) if it went directly in the laundry - as it should - it would not contaminate the food and (2) most things that might be carried to the table via a rag that didn't make it where it should have are less deadly (or less traumatic long term) than, for example, e-coli, C. diff, salmonella, or hepatitis.
Babies should not be changed in the eating area for the same reason that many women refuse to nurse in the bathroom. Poop and food consumption is a recipe for some really nasty (potentially deadly) infections.
Nay
(12,051 posts)bacteria, rotavirus, and shigella--that's why you don't shit where you eat, even if the shitter is a baby. That's why you don't change a 1-yr-old in a dining area; go into the bathroom, spread your diaper bag pad on the sink area or floor, and change there. Then wash your hands.
It has nothing to do with how cute the baby is, whether people are family-friendly or not, whether the staff reacted badly or not, or any of those idiotic topic-changing barbs.
Ms. Toad
(38,637 posts)We always have a diaper changing area set up with paper changing sheets, diluted bleach to clean the area (yes, I know there are issues with bleach - but it is the option we've decided works best for us), paper towels, gloves, and soap and water.
I expect to have to train my helpers on to use gloves (and on how to take them on and off without contaminating themselves), but also I sort of expect them and the parents who drop their children off with us to understand a little bit about germs.
It never ceases to amaze me how many parents I have to ask not to change little Alex's poopy diaper in the middle of the play area (which is almost always carpeted because it is in a college lounge).
It is sort of like some modern parents are the 1800s physicians spreading childbed fever because they knew nothing about germ theory - but believed they were so pure that the mechanism by which women contracted the disease could have nothing to do with the fact that they often went directly from autopsy to delivering babies without washing their hands.
Little Alex is so cute that his/her poop couldn't possibly be harmful.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Ms. Toad
(38,637 posts)Although there are a few cases which still crop up (and an outbreak in one community which does not believe in vaccinations in 1979 - which could still be replicated in that community or other places where the vaccination rate is low). The most recent naturally occurring infection seems to have been in 2009 in the U.S.
And there are still countries in the world where polio has not yet been eradicated. The 2009 case was because someone shedding virus came into contact with an infant who was not yet vaccinated. With the world shrinking these days, and some pockets of resistance to vaccinations growing, it may be inevitable that it makes a small resurgence at some point.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)I'll take a flyer here and submit that the question is not so much whether feces spreads polio, but whether that should be of concern to me and, as I would assume, everyone on this thread.
Ms. Toad
(38,637 posts)that still leaves quite a few not so pleasant things to be concerned about.
And, with what we are learning about the duration of immunity from vaccines I wouldn't assume you are necessarily immune if little Alex has one of the rare cases of polio. Many vaccines we once believed provided lifetime immunity don't necessarily, so immunity from vaccinations is generally much shorter than initially believed - and the duration of immunity created by the polio vaccination is unknown.
So very small - but not zero. There are others on the list I would certainly be far more concerned about.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)I am a parent, though both my kids are past diaper age. sometimes we were inconvenienced, but when we were it was because we forgot something at home. but I usually had a diaper/changing bag that would have rivaled the allies at D-day in terms preparation and supplies. this is not a parental rights issue like breastfeeding. it is a basic hygiene issue/public health issue.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)Really. If the parents did that while the health-inspector was in the building, there would be a world of pain.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)
Puglover
(16,380 posts)You can't imagine that some of us are just so callous that we don't look at your precious pancakes shit smeared diaper being changed on a table where we are paying to either drink or eat a product and cluck our tongues while thinking how Norman Rockwell you all are.
Entitled much? I shudder when I think of how the offspring of some of these parents are going to turn out.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)
susanna
(5,231 posts)I ask because your assertion that the rag was the dirty party in any way is somewhat interesting. As you stated, "those things (our 'eeewwww' triggers) are often quite bad at judging actual danger." Which, oddly enough, is correct, at least in your sense of "eeewwww" at the rag touching the floor. Here's why: most rags, in food service establishments, are immersed until use in a potent cocktail of sanitation chemicals that kill a wide variety of microbes on very short contact. These chemical solutions are designed to be broad-spectrum safety measures in foodservice, and they kill most microbes in very short order.
So, a question to you - are you equating a rag containing a regulated, potent, microbe-killing solution with an unregulated, untreated feces-loaded diaper? Please advise.
woodsprite
(12,582 posts)MineralMan
(151,269 posts)responsibility. And it is a responsibility.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)
Number23
(24,544 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)This would have made me absolutely ill.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)The child smells..as above, when you open it up the whole room smells..
In my state tables must be wiped with quat sanitizer..some states may differ..most starbucks I've been in are relatively clean from a restaurant manager standpoint..
jeff47
(26,549 posts)As for cleanliness, the employees threw the cleaning rag on the floor. If you think they're actually using sterilizer, I've got oceanfront property in Utah to sell you.
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)of an odor once the dirty diaper, with the kid still wearing it, have left the coffee shop.
Cronus Protagonist
(15,574 posts)Got it. Move on please.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)starbucks, those upscale yuppie places are the worst.
susanna
(5,231 posts)You DON'T think foodservice establishments actually use sterilizer? Please explain this comment. I've never worked in one that didn't, and I've worked in many. It could be quats, it could be bleach solutions, but they all use them, and frequently. Good establishments take this shit (no pun intended) seriously. And though Starbucks is not my favorite place in the world, they stand to lose much more than other establishments if they're not following the rules and it gets noticed. There is such a thing as bad publicity in the foodservice world.
(And, for the record, Utah has a big Salt Lake. You could call it an ocean to someone who had never seen one before, and be just about home free.)
how about taking the kid out of the restaurant to change him and then asking the restaurant if they would consider installing a changing table because they come in so often and are often inconvenienced.
Now that would be the classy way to go.
You can't put any lipstick on these pigs. 
jeff47
(26,549 posts)If the parents did not drive, where exactly should they have changed the kid? The article does not say if they drove or not.
Not nominating the parents for sainthood, but the reaction to this is far beyond reality.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)i've changed plenty of babies on the ground.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)The problem here is the extreme lack of regard for anyone else. That kind of inflexibility and selfishness carries over into general behavior and attitudes. This latent hostility towards others is usually destructive to the parents in the end. Society's gonna have to socialize em, cause it seems their own parents didn't.
When protesting something, do it in a more adult, constructive way maybe? (Throwing cups of coffee on the floor makes ya wonder what they'll be teaching this kid...tantrums r us)
brush
(61,033 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)States have rules about cleaning table tops. (Oh, and the vast majority of restaurants don't comply with those)
I'm not aware of any regulation about cleaning the seating surfaces.
(Think about that the next time you put your hands on the seat when you "scooch" down the seat in a booth at your favorite local establishment.)
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)The point is that they did it in the dining area-it doesn't matter if they did it on the table, on a chair, on the floor or even on the ceiling.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Which makes this incident far less outrageous.
The "outrageous" part of the story to me was the thrown rag and the coffee dump. That seat was probably cleaner after the diaper change.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)fairly sure if an employee did it she would have been fired.
wercal
(1,370 posts)We typically took the kids out to the car, for a change, when we were out and about.
That way, nobody has to smell it or see it.
Its just being courteous.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)wercal
(1,370 posts)They had options.
In the entire blue Earth, this Starbucks comprises an infinitely small percentage of the land area. I think they could have found another place to change his diaper, other than the dining area of Starbucks.
Like, I dunno...outside.
Or, this is crazy - the restroom. You can site down on the toilet, and change a baby in your lap.
Its disgusting. I'm getting the feeling that you may have done this before - please stop.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)And no, I have not done such a thing before. I have to drive everywhere in this shithole of a town, so the car is an option I always have.
Anyway, the parents tried to shield 'the public' by doing it behind a table. And a Starbucks's dining area is really not that sanitary to begin with.
The rag throw and the coffee dump were both inexcusable, IMO. The diaper change was far from 'good', but not terrible.
As for stopping, give me about 18 more minutes - then I'll be going home for the weekend.
wercal
(1,370 posts)...but you obviously never worked in food service.
I'll give you a tip: It doesn't matter what you think. Nobody cares how unsanitary you think the salt shaker is or any of that other BS. Its a fairly universal rule, which I'm sure is common to all county health departments - no poo where the food is. I don't care why. I don't care if you think its junk science. Its the rule.
Please, please, please - quit changing diapers in the dining area...and if you really do go out to the car, for goodness sake wash your hands before you adulterate the salt shaker.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Did you monitor the customers in the bathroom, or did you just assume they washed their hands after they finished?
As I mentioned above, I have to drive everywhere so I don't do so. Carrying around a diaper bag is a pain in the ass, so we leave it in the car and do any changes there.
ETA: You know, if the diaper bag is such a pain in the ass, maybe I should adjust the strap. Or remove the spikes.
wercal
(1,370 posts)Even if the employees can't monitor your every move, wash your hands when you use the restroom.
Violet_Crumble
(36,385 posts)If so, they can take their baby outside and change the shitty nappy. Babies don't give a shit where they're changed and when I was out and about and had to change a dirty nappy, I found the closest bench and called on the skills of my nappy bag and change mat. I guess what I really should have done is found the closest cafe or coffee shop and gone in and yelled at them that the rag they use to clean the tables is filthier than the shit of my little precious, which of course doesn't stink! 
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)And the diaper bag always contained a flannel pad large enough to put a baby on, just in case we wound up in a situation with no changing table.
d_r
(6,908 posts)in the hatchback
hlthe2b
(113,971 posts)But, these parents could have safely changed the baby on the back seat of their car. What they did is a serious violation of public health statutes.
That said, the employee handled it very poorly.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)... I know, but I swear, this is a true story, and it WAS the Olive Garden.
A couple next to my table, in clear view of half the restaurant, changed a diaper, and proceeded to discard it under the table.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)it was awful. I've never been to an Olive Garden since.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)It was in the suburbs of NOLA, on Lapalco Blvd.
It was several years ago, and if they went out of business, I'm not surprised due to just that incident.
Response to Aerows (Reply #59)
Name removed Message auto-removed
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)so nasty to customers & staff.
I probably wouldn't have bothered to tangle with those idiots, but I would have complained to the restaurant. They should not allow it.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)We left very shortly after, and frankly, I never went in an Olive Garden since, it was so disgusting. It wasn't the Olive Garden's fault in this case - that was just nasty.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)but they should take an active role in deterrence. If I were the management and saw this, I would have no problem telling the people they should leave, as it was in violation of health dept regulations. You don't want people like that back.
The company should have a strict policy on this because, like you say, it turned you off the Olive Garden. Bad for Business.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)You could have heard a pin drop in the restaurant, however. I left because my dinner was ruined after seeing that.
d_r
(6,908 posts)that is so gross and inconsiderate. Onry.
that you are teaching your two better manners and sense than these two neanderthals were taught. Hell, that's probably an insult to neanderthals because they probably didn't eat in the same place they deposited poop.
treestar
(82,383 posts)Cause guess who this kid will be learning from!
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Just plain awful, no manners and don't care.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)i wouldn't have finished or paid for my meal, either. i would have told the waitstaff to charge it to the diaper-changers.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)at the table, viewing it, smelling it, and experiencing the whole incident made me so damn sick, I just paid and left. It was in the middle of dinner time.
Pigs!!!!
Are people really that clueless, or do they just not care?
Like using a public ladies restroom and seeing a used sanitary napkin lying on the floor next to the toilet. Hello????
Wrap the damned thing in toilet paper and put in the trash!
Or like during the summertime in my area. I'm rural, and there are some real nice rest areas along a main road with access to a river for picnicking and swimming. I don't mind that people use these places. What I do mind is when people change shitty diapers and instead of putting them in the trashcans provided, they just throw them on the ground. They're spoiling the natural beauty of the place. They throw beer cans and bottles all over the place.
I even have one neighbor who throws his beer cans out of his truck along the side of the road on Saturday nights. We see them lining the roadside every Sunday morning on our way down to breakfast.
Disgusting pigs.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)this was in a restaurant where people were eating, and they did it anyway. I quietly paid, and left because it was so disgusting, I just didn't know what to say or do. Obviously confronting clueless people like that was out of the question. You could have heard a pin drop in the restaurant when they did this.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)idiots know what I thought. I'm not looking for a brawl but I know I 'd have to say something even if they didn't get ir
that is bizarre
olddots
(10,237 posts)n.t.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)I can't believe Starbucks apologized but I guess that was good PR. (I'm no fan of Starbucks). The parents should apologize.
These people are slobs with no regard for those around them. Change kids in the car. Like DUH.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)I would imagine they could get fined for allowing a diaper change so close to the food.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)leftynyc
(26,060 posts)thoroughly disgusting (I'm speaking as a non-parent).
lunasun
(21,646 posts)Even more gross are the self absorbed parents imo!! yuck
bunnies
(15,859 posts)And rude. Very very rude.
AndyA
(16,993 posts)It was inappropriate for the baby to be changed in a restaurant, even without a changing table in the rest room. The parents have no respect for others who might not want to endure the smell or visual while they're eating.
They could have gone out to their car to do it.
The father was way out of line by throwing his coffee on the floor. Grow up, people and learn some respect for others or stay the hell home!
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)Apparently, changing a baby where people eat is okay but changing the baby on the restroom floor of the Starbucks is unthinkable.
AndyA
(16,993 posts)when I got to the point about the father throwing his coffee on the floor.
Some people have no consideration for others.
RC
(25,592 posts)That in its self is gross.
AndyA
(16,993 posts)That too is gross--for everyone else.
I think the best option for these parents would have been to take the kid out to the car.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)or you have one in it.
By the time I was done with the diaper changing business, I didn't need to put the kid on anything anyway. In a pinch, you can rassle 'em around and do what needs doing.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)Mostly, we were places with clean floors, so I didn't mind putting down a changing pad, but once I put my raincoat (which needed a good clean, anyway) down and then put the changing pad on that.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)they're eating.
everyone else's poop is gross, but your child's poop is not? please.
RC
(25,592 posts)It never seem to be a big deal. Most of the diners had kids of their own, so they know the problems of babies and being out.
Too many 'public' restrooms do not have any counter space to change the baby on. No one in their right mind would use the floor in one to change the kid.
Or even set the bag down on it. That bag then goes home, to be set on beds and counters there, even IN the baby's crib, bringing with it what ever it picked up on the restroom floor.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)owners, and ok with other diners.
sure it is.
generations of parents changed their kids on bathroom floors. i guess they were all crazy.
maybe *you* don't do laundry, but other people do.
MADem
(135,425 posts)That's why the smart parent brings something called a "baby blanket."
It goes in the diaper bag--you spread it on the floor, or the counter, to shield your little angel from the germs...instead of spreading your kid's germs on tables or benches in a frigging restaurant dining area.
These parents are clueless, low-class, selfish jerks.
RC
(25,592 posts)Who remembers or cares which side was up last time it was used, when it has to be used again, before being washed?
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)in a plastic grocery sack, and toss it in the wash. Then you replace all the shit you've used in the bag so you're ready to go the next time you go out. It's why those stupid little baby blankets actually do make good gifts at those baby showers. They do come in handy.
If you don't have baby blankets, one of those cheap ass beach towels (the large thin ones that are sold at touristy joints) do a good job, too.
It's not rocket science. These things have been done even before disposable diapers were so readily available.
If you go out with a pooping kid, you--forgive the pun--need to have your shit together, and go out PREPARED. It is just not cool to expect The World At Large to accommodate your child's feces in a food service establishment.
Those parents were just dead wrong and stupid. And they doubled down on their stupidity by disrespecting food service workers who don't make a lot of money, and who are not paid to clean up their kid's shit.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)Although, when in public, I prefer a grassy lawn.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)This is just positively disgusting.
msongs
(73,754 posts)HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)their kid's poopy diaper.
riverwalker
(8,694 posts)was uncalled for. Telling her "to clean it up" kind of an arrogant asshole behavior.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)Nay
(12,051 posts)treat diners to a shitty diaper. Sorta like the macho idiot who thinks it's funny to let his big dog lunge at you while you are out walking. It's a way of being an in-your-face asshole and getting your perverse jollies from that. Latent hostility, as someone else said.
Buns_of_Fire
(19,161 posts)As well they should be, IMO. Totally tacky behavior from self-absorbed twits who apparently think the world revolves around them.
It was badly handled by the Starbuck's employee, but if I have to choose a side, I'll go with Starbucks.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Buns_of_Fire
(19,161 posts)Heck, I'm sure all the people nearby really wanted to be treated to a good, strong whiff of baby juice to enhance the experience of their pricey Caramel Macchiato.
Their actions were tacky. There are certain norms in a semi-civilized society like ours that we should adhere to. I know that when my ex- or I caught a hint of some intestinal output, off to the car one or the other one of us would go to remedy the situation. Not in the booth, not on the table, not within the confines of the establishment at all.
But I'm probably not the one to debate this, since my norm is the closest Waffle House, where who knows WHAT is going on in the next booth!
Logical
(22,457 posts)Been fine! Embarrassing them on purpose in front of everyone was uncalled for. I would fire the employee! On the spot.
Buns_of_Fire
(19,161 posts)As I believe was mentioned upthread, there aren't any "good citizenship" awards to be awarded to ANYONE in this affair.
Ikonoklast
(23,973 posts)immediately shut that store down.
"Human feces present in area designated for food consumption."
Looks real good on the report.
Starbucks would have fired them all if they got dinged for that.
The parents are narcissists and arrogant assholes to boot.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)
zappaman
(20,627 posts)
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)If you can't change your baby's diaper either in the restroom (with or without a changing table) or your car, make your owned damned coffee. And the dumping it on the floor. Oy. I wish Starbucks hadn't apologized, even though I hate that place.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Not understand how the employee could of handled it. Throwing a rag at the parents? LOL, you sound worse than the parents!
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)stupid enough to think it's okay to soil benches with baby sh*t. The parents sound like rude, spoiled idiots. Not the kind I'd really want business from. However, having had to change my babies on the floor of many a restroom, I would have changing tables in both men's and women's restrooms. He lost me with the coffee dump, and the stupid decision to change the kid in an establishment where food is served.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Back pretty quick! And the act you justify throwing the rag shows you have a anger issue!
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts) I'd still "throw" it at you... and then, when you have cleaned up your mess, and the coffee you dumped, I would show you the door... probably to the massive applause of other patrons. (although I wouldn't be caught dead owning a Starbucks)k
With Starbucks all the way on this. At this point, I doubt the validity of the "throwing" of a rag.
Logical
(22,457 posts)ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)Sorry, but when the immature father spilled coffee (which is an anger-management issue and a half for you right there), he lost all of my sympathy.
The proper way to handle this (which, if baby sh*t wasn't involved and it was just pee, it's ridiculous of the parents not to wait) would have been to ask if there was a someplace to change a baby. I did this a few times with my own children.
actslikeacarrot
(464 posts)Thank you Dr. Phil.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)And could actually do a much better job of spreading disease than the diaper change.
After all, the rag is being used to wipe every table, and they're so concerned about cleanliness they're throwing the rag on the floor.
The coffee dump was childish, but restaurants are far dirtier than you think. Especially somewhere like Starbucks that doesn't have staff clear the table after each customer.
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)(whatever it consisted of)
I have not worked in the food business for a couple of decades... rags are not used to wipe every table (even when I worked at McDonald's that was not the case). If I ended up having to clean up bodily fluids, that rag is going in the trash. We had to switch out rags after every wipedown, else suffer the Health Department.
Really, it should have been common sense on the part of the parents.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)You'd have to carefully peer over the table in order to be subjected to it.
Have you not been in a restaurant in the last couple decades? It only takes a couple minutes watching the staff to realize they're not getting a new rag for each table.
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)We have health departments and codes for a reason. Pooping and peeing in public dining areas isn't allowed by adults, and it's not allowed by children either. These parents were irresponsible and spoiled to boot. There is no defense for that. Restaurants are not spotless, but that is not a reason for careless parents to make it more so. The kid could have any number of very dangerous childhood diseases (if we're going to split hairs).
Pelican
(1,156 posts)Nothing is ok about that...
If you don't want to use the bathroom floor or counter or your lap or your car or at least the outside.. then stay the hell home because you are obviously unprepared to interact with the rest of society.
Logical
(22,457 posts)ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)over another. Your business would kind of sink... not to mention stink.
Logical
(22,457 posts)ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)escorted out. No apologies.
Logical
(22,457 posts)ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)Codeine
(25,586 posts)and if some self-entitled dickhead changed his baby's shitty diaper in my grocery store he would be escorted off the premises with more than a few choice expletives delivered his way. You do NOT change a diaper in a place where people are eating, drinking, or shopping. That's so far fucking beyond repulsive that words fail me.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Codeine
(25,586 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)Codeine
(25,586 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)
Arkansas Granny
(32,265 posts)You don't change a baby where food is being served and eaten. Dumping your drink in the floor is pretty juvenile, too.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)forcing the store into egregious noncompliance with basic health code standards.
NO CRAP WHERE FOOD IS SERVED!!!! What is so hard with that concept, you jackasses??
Take the kid home and change the diaper on your own furniture, but don't subject to public the your nonexistent hygiene.
Auggie
(33,150 posts)
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)I completely side with the barista on this one. Gross! It's not like they were trapped on a plane and didn't have options.
TYY
JVS
(61,935 posts)
grilled onions
(1,957 posts)There must be many places where there are no changing tables. Most parents carry bags--even back packs so why couldn't they carry a mini changing station with them that would be workable in a restroom?
When I was diaper age the big city did not always even have a restroom to speak of. Women often walked or went by bus with their diapered offspring. When walking I believe they used their baby buggies. They did not really have strollers until later years. Of course when they traveled by bus they had little but the bags they carried. They may have used a park bench or one at a bus stop or ? The main thing was they used real diapers back then so some may not have been in a hurry to change junior since they would also have to haul the dirty diaper home.
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)that were easily folded and stored. Many times I changed my daughter on the floor of a bathroom, or in the backseat of a car.
name not needed
(11,665 posts)If I wanted to be exposed to human shit while I'm eating, I'd go to Taco Bell.
MadrasT
(7,237 posts)#1: Parents should not be changing diapers where people eat.
#2: Starbucks employee acted like a jackass, they didn't need to toss a rag and shout rude comments.
#3: Father overreacted with the drink on the floor thing.
If the story is accurate, they were all behaving like jerks, but DO NOT be changing diapers where people freaking eat. Jeez Louise.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)woodsprite
(12,582 posts)NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)He's actually the one I was talking about.
Logical
(22,457 posts)NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)At that point, it's hard to blame the employee.
I will grant that maybe a quick warning like "hey, get your baby and his shitty diaper off that table" would be appropriate first.
Logical
(22,457 posts)NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)I'm glad to not know anybody who would change dirty ditties on a dining table. Disgusting.
Logical
(22,457 posts)NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)It doesn't change anything I said, though. I have no desire to sit in baby crap.
Logical
(22,457 posts)NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)If it makes you feel any better, I don't want to sit in urine either, but that's just me.
Response to Liberal_in_LA (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
richmwill
(1,326 posts)Here's what I'm seeing- "Oh no- there's no changing table! Here, let's change the shitty diaper on a table in the middle of this room with people eating and drinking". (Employee asks customer to clean area afterwards) Father- "What??? How dare you make me and my wife feel bad (pours drink on the floor) Now CLEAN THAT UP, it's your job boy!". What entitled asses!!!
The Velveteen Ocelot
(130,533 posts)It was disgusting for the parents to change their baby's diaper in the area where people eat; the Starbucks employees reacted badly; and the dad was a dick for throwing his coffee on the floor.
And who names their kid Thiago?
Matariki
(18,775 posts)as they clearly demonstrated by vengefully dumping coffee on the floor.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)in both mens and ladies bathrooms. That would solve the problem. I wouldn't like sitting in any place indoors while a parent is changing a poopy diaper. I would have no problem if we were outdoors. It isn't right to customers in the store.
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)
KT2000
(22,151 posts)if the parents did not have access to a car for changing, just one of them should have gone on the coffee run and the other stayed home with the baby.
Starbucks should not have apologized
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,848 posts)
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)If zombies were outside the store and eating everyone is sight, no one would have cared if the parents changed the diaper in the bathroom or at the booth. Zombie apocalypses make most everything better.
Buns_of_Fire
(19,161 posts)Other than that little eating-your-brains compunction, and the fact that they're not terribly good conversationalists, they're not really bad people. And they don't hog all the biscotti, either.
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)
Neoma
(10,039 posts)I have seen poo coming out of a diaper when a toddler walks. Going down all through his pants to his foot, and oozes of poo going everywhere he walks/runs.
Would there be a similar reaction? Because heh, shit happens.
Ms. Toad
(38,637 posts)where food is being consumed.
distantearlywarning
(4,475 posts)Self-entitled parents. Ugh. Do not fucking change your baby's diaper where people eat. Period. End of story. If there isn't a changing table, go the fuck home. And grow the fuck up instead of throwing coffee when people are (rightfully) disgusted by the fact that you are changing your offspring's diaper in a public place where people eat. It shocks and appalls me that there are people on this thread defending the parents. WTF? Crazy town. 
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)The parents (self absorbed) .... the employee (the way the employee handled it was hardly appropriate)
JI7
(93,616 posts)makes me think the parents are just asshole types. and i really would like to know if they had a car because that would make it even worse if they did but didn't go there to change the baby.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)caused a mess with his drink. And seriously, changing a diaper in an eating establishment on the seats is disgusting and unsanitary. Even in the old days, when "changing tables" were unheard of, I know of no one who would've done such a thing.
Most people would've gone to the car to change the kid.
Also, that was no "coffee run." A run implies running to pick something up, and leave. Which is clearly what they were not doing.
Samurai_Writer
(2,934 posts)As an infection control nurse, I know exactly what type of contaminations they were exposing onto that table where other people EAT.
Are people really that stupid? Take the kid out to the car. Or better yet, get the coffee to go and take the kid home and change him.
mainer
(12,554 posts)Which is an aggressive act.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)There is no aggression in it.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)watch you change its smelly, poopy diaper while they eat.
and anyone who wasn't a narcissist would get that.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)How is a diaper an aggressive act? I hope you aren't around children much with that attitude.
NBachers
(19,438 posts)be quite aggressive about it.
Sometimes they're all smiley and it's a fun little game.
But other times they're so pissed off about it and full of rage that they'd disintegrate you if they could.
That's when you have to get aggressive about it.
Otherwise, it sounds like the parents were inconsiderate, entitled, uncouth jerks here; the Starbucks staff may have been a young, not-yet-being-around-babies person who just didn't handle the situation properly.
pipi_k
(21,020 posts)isn't an aggressive act.
Changing a diaper in an appropriate area isn't an aggressive act.
Changing a diaper where people eat is a passive aggressive act. Self-centered. Arrogant. Disgusting. Inconsiderate of others.
No changing table in the bathroom? Use the damned floor. Floor dirty? Use a changing pad. Don't want to contaminate the changing pad? Put paper towels down on the floor beneath the changing pad. No paper towels? Go out front and ask for NAPKINS to put down on the floor.
People always seem to have some excuse or another for being self centered little assholes. If they can't handle leaving the baby in a dirty diaper for an extra 15 minutes while they finish their coffee, then they need to stay home.
Mariana
(15,626 posts)Hell, yes. I used to work in a restaurant, with no changing table, and this situation came up from time to time. One of the employees would have gone in and quickly cleaned sanitized the restroom floor, if someone asked us nicely. And/or we'd have supplied some old, ratty (but clean and sanitary) rags that were about ready for the trash to lay under the kid. There's just no excuse for changing a baby in the dining area.
Response to HiPointDem (Reply #269)
Post removed
mainer
(12,554 posts)The parents would have had a car.
Knightraven
(268 posts) Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)Yet another couple that feel entitled to dump the consequences of their proclivity on everybody else.
"The more I know people, the more I love my animals."
mainer
(12,554 posts)Not all breeders are alike. Some actually have a modicum of common sense.
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)and there are parents. Breeders are the idiots.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)Cronus Protagonist
(15,574 posts)Werd.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)I am proud to present your award.
treestar
(82,383 posts)Geez Louise.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)not Starbucks
Warpy
(114,615 posts)at the sink and no chair. Either one would do for restroom diaper changing, but architects never think of mothers with infants and toddlers when they design such things.
They need to start.
Nobody wants to smell used diaper or watch a kid's ass being wiped while they're trying to relax, eat and drink. I sympathize with everybody who complained. However, I sympathize just as much with a mother who seemingly had no alternative.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)I know the Starbucks I go to has NO floor space - people upthread are claiming you should change the baby on the bathroom floor - the Starbucks in my area has a bathroom where the door opening takes up almost all of the floor space. There is no space to lay a baby down on the floor - it would get whacked at some point with the door (or the mom would). And there's no counter space to change either. I can see how a mom, IF she had no car, and it was winter outside or raining, seemingly felt like she had no alternative.
That said, I think it's pretty gross to change a diaper next to food. And also IMO there is a positive correlation with how gross it is and the age of the baby. The older the baby the grosser it gets. And the dad behaved horribly in response to the employee. It's just one of those situations where everyone looks like asses.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Where in the US is it winter?
I believe we can safely that it was not winter.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)Also, judging by the looks of it, it's not a pedestrian friendly area, so I really doubt they walked there.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)It was not therefore I don't sympathize as much. BTW I'm in Canada and we're not without snow for good sometimes till the end of May, so excuse me if my timeline of your winter is off.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)We tend not to live year-round in igloos down here.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)And we tend to be a bit more polite.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Isn't it true that you can die of exposure in 15 minutes outside in Toronto in July without a parka and a rescue radio?
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)darkangel218
(13,985 posts) NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)Niceguy1
(2,467 posts)Side until he dumped the drink on floor, which was childish.
d_r
(6,908 posts)my 9-year-old boy was a baby. We went to eat in a restaurant in a hotel. So it wasn't like we drove there, we didn't have a car. It wasn't the hotel we were staying in (this was at disney world, it was the italian restaurant at the dolphin and we were staying at the beach club), and in the middle of the meal he needed a change. So, my wife and her mom enjoying their meal I did what most men do and volunteer for the duty. But I get to the men's room and there was not a changing place. There really wasn't even a counter space that could hold a changing pad - we had one of those folding ones. So I went out of the bathroom and couldn't figure out what to do. So I went out a door to an outside little alcove and changed him at the concrete bench around a water fountain. There was no one else out there. It was discreet. It never in a thousand years would have dawned on me to go back in to the restaurant and change him at the table. I mean seriously.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)i would have thrown a rag at them too.
they should have apologized to starbucks and the waitstaff who were expected to clean up after their poopy child, not to mention the drink the father spilled on purpose.
i am the most tolerant person you'll find of kids in restaurants, but i draw the line at diaper changing in the dining room. disgusting, unsanitary, inconsiderate. i can't imagine the mindset of people who think it's ok.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)If your child acts up in restaurant, throwing food and annoying others, you should pay your bill and leave. If your child shits his diaper/pants, pay for your stuff and get out of there. Simple as that.
Bonobo
(29,257 posts)The greatest areas of petty whining and outrage seem to come over the smallest of issues.
Nay
(12,051 posts)having over 'large' issues. The more people are impolite and act like special snowflakes, the ruder and degraded society itself becomes. That leads to the "I've got mine and fuck the rest of you" attitude that we see in libertarians, republicans and others. It's all of a piece, in my mind.
Nine
(1,741 posts)That includes having changing tables. It's a piece of plastic that folds down from the wall; the cost of it is not going to put Starbucks out of business. The restroom floor is no place for a baby, and not everyone has a car or can easily duck out to change a diaper. The behavior of these specific parents is irrelevant; customers should not be placed in that situation to begin with.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)you carry a small blanket or towel, lay it on the floor, and change the baby. most corporate bathroom floors are kept pretty clean, actually.
the behavior of these particular parents is *very* relevant. there was no reason whatsoever to change their baby in the dining area except their own self-centerness. They didn't want to subject their baby to possible contamination from *other* people's poo, but they are fine with subjecting other people to the stink & possible contamination of *their* special baby's poo, not to mention leaving the minimum-wage employees to clean the area after.
Disgusting.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)I would choose the dining room before the bathroom floor.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)Nine
(1,741 posts)Not wanting to put your baby down on a dirty restroom floor makes your baby a special snowflake?
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)for that purpose when you decided to go on your 'coffee run'.
if you think that will be too traumatic for your little darling, one spouse can stay home with baby darling rather than subject strangers to the sight & smell of you changing it while they are trying to consume food & drink, and rather than expecting minimum-wage waitstaff to sanitize the area after you are done with spreading shit around.
the shit that is too terrible for your little darling in the bathroom, but just fine for everyone else when it's *your* child's shit.
Nine
(1,741 posts)Next time you go to Starbucks, bring a beach towel. Lay it down on the floor and get down on it and tell me how clean it is. I'd rather sit at a booth where a diaper has been changed than get down on a restroom floor.
I'm not saying changing a baby on a restaurant seat (not the tabletop) is ideal. The point is that the parents were left with no good options because Starbucks failed to provide basic facilities.
But your attitude seems to be that babies can either lie on a restroom floor or be confined in their homes until they're out of diapers.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)diaper issues in places other than dining rooms.
there is no right to a fucking changing table. absence of a changing table doesn't give you the right to change your poopy kid in a food service area.
if you can't deal with that reality, stay the hell home until the kid is out of diapers. that's exactly what i mean. you don't want to change your kid where other people have shit; other people don't want to eat where you are changing your kid's shit.
how hard is that?
morningfog
(18,115 posts)Do you also hate the disabled? Elderly?
Response to morningfog (Reply #266)
Post removed
SpartanDem
(4,533 posts)Lol its a convenience.
They could have taken their coffee home.
They could have "forced" their child to stay in a dirty diaper for, oh, 20 to 30 minutes while they finished whatever they were having. I doubt CPS would be too concerned about that since many babies stay in dirty/wet diapers at home while they nap for an hour or two.
What was so URGENT about having to change a diaper in an eating establishment?
If it was shitty, opening it up was gross and disgusting and inconsiderate toward others. Take the kid home and do it.
If it was only urine, another 20 minutes would not have mattered.
grasswire
(50,130 posts)It happened here just a couple of weeks ago. Dozens of people down with norovirus; it was traced back to a baby changing station in a public place.
So there can be toxic consequences for changing baby in an area that others will come in contact with.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)and laundered them frequently.
pipi_k
(21,020 posts)some asshole parent likely changed their kid on the table without using a barrier of some kind beneath it.
Like...oh...a changing pad.
Or a paper towel from the dispenser
Or a bunch of toilet paper
Or some napkins from the counter
There's always something handy to put down on those changing tables.
El Fuego
(6,502 posts)Just because you managed to procreate doesn't make you special.
People like that are pet peeve of mine. I applaud the Starbucks employee who had the nerve to stand up to them.
I gather the OP is meant to be sympathetic to these total assholes. Seriously?
The article says they were "making a Friday night coffee run." Here's a thought: Maybe now that you are parents, no more "Friday night coffee runs" for you? Didn't you get the memo that parenthood mean your life changes? And why couldn't Mrs. A. Hole stay home with their spawn while the Mr. A. Hole made the "Friday night coffee run"?
Nine
(1,741 posts)I can think of a few better ways that could have been handled. I don't approve of the father dumping coffee on the floor either, but I don't see anyone applauding him for that.
Bennyboy
(10,440 posts)these people were idiots and had to have the cops called on them. what a couple of douches. take the kid to the car like everyone else would do.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)Gee, after exposing patrons and employees to their little bundle of joy's bodily wastes? Really?
Go figure.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)
proud patriot
(102,513 posts)LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)An entitled prick. Find his photo and put it on twitter so everyone can tell him what they think.
burrowowl
(18,494 posts)America is weird! Called 911!
I'm glad Star$ apologized.
Nine
(1,741 posts)I'll bet if they did use one the same people who are claiming that it would protect a squirmy baby from germs on a bathroom floor would argue that a changing pad doesn't protect the seat of a booth from the baby's germs.
Amazon has wall-mounted changing tables for under $200 by the way. I don't think that's out of Starbucks' price range. Starbucks also has a "kids' drinks" category on their menu so it's not as if they present themselves as an adults-only establishment.
Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)Olive Garden.
Apophis
(1,407 posts)No one wants to smell stinky baby shit while drinking their expensive drinks. Go out to your car and change Junior Son of a Bitch's diaper.
GiaGiovanni
(1,247 posts)The parents should never have changed a baby in a restaurant area. Health codes alone should forbid this. Baby urine and fecal matter on tables and chairs spreads bacteria, regardless of how "careful" parents are.
The Starbucks employees, while justifiably upset by the parents' behavior, had no business throwing rags at and insulting customers.
However, the "father" who dumped coffee all over the floor took it a step too far. The employees had every right to call the police after his action. He should have actually been charged with disorderly conduct.
Boudica the Lyoness
(2,899 posts)We managed without making people feel sick. I would never have changed a diaper in a place where people eat and drink.
Years ago, at a drive in, I was enjoying the movie and snacks, when the family in a nearby pick-up changed their son's shitty diaper in the pick-up bed. I had my baby with me and I remember thinking that the were being really in-your-face-gross. They made no effort to be discreet. They tossed the shitty diaper and wipes on the ground right next to our car. Filthy people. I just remembered that incident. My baby grew up to be a responsible adult, but I bet that baby of their's is a piece of shit, just like his parents.
NuttyFluffers
(6,811 posts)I'm entitled! i don't even have to be incontinent, 'cuz it is no one's business. yay!
flvegan
(66,280 posts)Customer service being a lost art, except I guess at Starbucks where tossing overpriced java at hipster douchebags is a profit center. Or not.
The father, Alex, is also wrong. Lashing out is the wrong avenue.
That said, tossing a rag at the couple and shouting instructions probably doesn't pass with the health inspector, regardless.
So again, fire that barista.
Skip Intro
(19,768 posts)You don't have a right to ruin my dining experience. At least go to your car, you inconsiderate jerks. They should have been asked to leave, and if they did not do so promptly, should have been escorted out by cops.
Rude, arrogant people piss me off.
malaise
(296,103 posts)Those parents are assholes
Quantess
(27,630 posts)That's really trashy behavior. (Of the parents, I mean)
Squinch
(59,522 posts)To all of those who feel people are entitled to change a dirty diaper in a restaurant dining room, you get the prize for most completely batshit crazy position taken in an argument for 2013.
MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)Disgusting. They deserve to be thrashed on the internet.
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)Dirty diapers = bacteria. Not something I want along with my pastry and coffee.
They should have changed the diaper in the restroom.
REP
(21,691 posts)Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)... the coffee tasted like baby shit.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Must be the same idea
Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)... which is a euphemism for "bland". The baby shit gave the coffee the body it so desperately needed.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Given the choice between Starbucks coffee and runny warm shit, I'd have to think on that for a while.
TransitJohn
(6,937 posts)What the hell is that?
As to the rest:
Change your kid in your car or somewhere....the world isn't your toilet.
Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)
itsrobert
(14,157 posts)That's one of the reasons I stopped going to Walmart.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)They show their faces as they tell their story on TV.
They are inconsiderate assholes, and they don't even have the slightest inkling that they are.
Beacool
(30,518 posts)They were at fault, not their staff. Although, they shouldn't have made snide little comments about the couple.
Beacool
(30,518 posts)In BuzzFeed I recently saw a photo of a woman changing her toddler's diaper ON the table of a fast food restaurant. Totally disgusting!!!!
Why should other customers have to be subjected to someone changing a diaper where they are eating? It's not only the visuals, if the diaper needed to be changed so desperately, then there would be smell too.
Put bluntly, I don't want to smell sh*t when I'm eating.
The parents were at fault, particularly after the "classy" father decided to throw the coffee on the floor.
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)big health hazard.
There was a story a few months back that was posted about parents using a portable potty right there in the restaurant at the table. Why the hell do people think that their little darling's bodily functions are okay for the rest of us to have to deal with.
Beacool
(30,518 posts)We seem to have become a society where anything goes and common courtesy and good manners have almost disappeared.
Ms. Toad
(38,637 posts)despite the loudest voices in this thread.
As someone said upthread (paraphrasing) food + shit = bad.
It is a matter of health. Otherwise I might be siding with the folks calling the barristas rude (although that is a close call, and I can't tell whose recitation of the rag incident (handing or throwing at) is correct).
Kolesar
(31,182 posts)...I was staying at in a state park far from home.
I carried all my dishes and utensils back to my site and washed them. The park preferred to keep food smells out of each site so as not to attract bears and other varmits, but I was too grossed out to use the facility.
I don't think mommy drenched the counter and sink with Clorox solution when she was done.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)arely staircase
(12,482 posts)i have two children by two different women. when the kids were still in diapers I was expected to do as much or more of the changing as the respective gf/mom did. so I am certainly sympathetic to the situation. but I have used car seats to change diapers many times, and so could theses people.
changing a shitty (or even wet) diaper in a place that serves food is disgusting and surely illegal thing to do. it is trashy to say the least
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)...that this stupid thread has generated 350 or so replies.
On edit: Wow. Exactly 350 posts. Cool. But I'm still outraged!
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)like kudzu, are going places! 
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)This sort of thing is like GD crack.
Response to Liberal_in_LA (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
phylny
(8,818 posts)As a mother of three, although all of mine are grown, I remember when VERY FEW STORES or restaurants had changing tables. I carried a diaper bag with a changing pad in it. I would excuse myself to the restroom, and put a cushy blanket down, then put the diaper pad down on the floor of the restroom and change my kid. She had a buffer between herself and the disgustingly dirty floor, and I had a place to change her in relative private. If I had to, I'd sit on the freaking toilet in the stall and change her on my lap, depending upon how small she was. If I had no other choice.
Adding to the delight of this thread, yes, I breastfed everywhere, including while coaching a volleyball game (21 years ago, in fact) but I never cleaned up my daughters' shitty diapers in a public place where there were people eating, drinking and relaxing.
Never, ever.
AngryOldDem
(14,180 posts)The diaper bag, in fact, came with a pad for just that purpose.
I'm sorry, but you don't change a diaper in an open area, especially in a food establishment. I am amazed at those here who don't understand that.
d_b
(7,463 posts)next time smear the shitty diaper on the walls
Orrex
(67,111 posts)I mean, in a Starbucks, who could tell the difference?
In any case, the parents were acting like assholes.
Response to Liberal_in_LA (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)on restaurant furniture in China?
Jamastiene
(38,206 posts)1. Allowing people to change shitty diapers where people are eating is a full fledged health hazard.
2. Throwing the rag while people are eating is nasty too.
3. Starbucks should not be apologizing to the parents. That means Starbucks does not know what the parents did is a health hazard. What else don't they know when it comes to cleanliness when handling food/drinks?
The parents ruined other customers' experience. I am surprised at some of the people in this thread who are saying it is a-ok to change a shitty diaper in a place where people eat. 