That’s Not BBQ Sauce…

(It’s the slow period after the lunch rush, and there are only a handful of customers in the dining room, including a woman with three children. I’m sweeping and cleaning tables when, to my horror, I see the woman put her youngest child up on the table and start getting ready to change his diaper, right next to her food, no less. I am stunned into silence for a few seconds but thankfully come to my senses before she can get the diaper off.)

Me: “Ma’am!”

Customer: “Huh?”

Me: *still somewhat in shock* “We… have changing tables in the restroom.”

Customer: “Oh, no, thanks. I don’t want to take him all the way over there.”

(Granted, she’s sitting on the opposite side of the building from the bathrooms, but it’s a short trip and would take maybe ten or fifteen seconds even at a slow pace.)

Me: “I’m sorry, but for sanitary reasons, I really can’t let you change him in the dining room.”

Customer: *looking bewildered* “Okay.”

(She packed up her diaper bag and went to the restroom, but I still thoroughly sanitized that table the second she and her kids left, extremely grateful that this hadn’t happened during a busy time. The strange thing is, she was perfectly friendly the whole time and just seemed confused that she couldn’t change her baby on a restaurant table. Makes me wonder what places have allowed her to do that before.)