On our way back from Orlando last week, we stopped somewhere north of Gainesville to take a potty break. I pulled into the convenience store, walked in, and did a quick scan to hopefully find some helpful signage pointing the way to the men’s room. This particular store had the “facilities” in the back right corner of the store, and, like so many others like it, required a Garmin GPS system to navigate around the heat lamp hot dogs, potato chips, magazine racks, cheap trucker hats, and sunglass displays to get the bathroom.
While in the bathroom waiting to wash my hands, I noticed one of those molded plastic baby changing stations mounted to the wall with the big blue Koala bear logo on it. Maybe it was because I was brain-dead from the road or maybe it was because the dude holding me up at the sink was obviously OCD about clean hands…whatever the reason…I started reading the label on the baby changing station.
And then I noticed it.
In the lower right hand corner there were these little bumps that, after closer inspection, I realized was Braille. Yep…you got it…Braille! Yes, THAT Braille, silly.
And that led to some obvious questions…
(See…you are already asking them! Don’t get ahead of me now.)
My first thought was to remember the labyrinth I had to walk through to even get to the bathroom in the first place and wondered how on God’s green earth a blind person would make it to the bathroom.? With an infant? Unassisted?
And even if they were able to pull off that feat at this particular establishment, how many convenience stores did they have to go to before they FINALLY found one that had a baby changing station? How many MORE did they have to go through before they found this store that provided such stellar customer service as to even provide a baby changing station with Braille?
And now you have a blind guy, in the men’s room, unassisted, with an infant strapped to the baby changing station. Is he REALLY going to be able to change the baby by himself? Didn’t someone drive this dude to the store? Can’t they change the baby for crying out loud?
“Sir, that is not where the diaper goes.”
Here is a picture of a baby changing station just like the one I saw. Next time you see one like it, look for yourself to see if I’m lying about the Braille!
So as I’m looking online to find the above photo, I read one of the descriptions given by one of the web sites that sell these baby changing stations. Here is what I found describing one model. (My comments are in red and emphasis is mine.
Surface Mounted – Baby Changing Station Horizontal Supports static loads up to 400 lbs. (400 lbs? That gives new meaning to the term “dirty diaper”. You definitely don’t want a blind guy changing THAT load! And what does it mean by “static” load? Can’t jump up and down on it?) Steel-on-Steel hinges with 12 guage steel mounting supports ADA compliant with proper installation. Child protection straps and diaper bag hook. (Something else the blind guy has to find.) Molded-in liner dispenser will hold approximately 25 sanitary liners. FDA approved blow-molded high-density polyethylene with Microban… More Antimicrobial additive (resists odors and bacterial growth). Reinforced full-length steel-on-steel hinge mechanism, with 11-gauge steel mounting plates and mounting hardware included. Molded in graphics and safety messages in six languages and Braille. (And you thought I was making this up!) Contoured changing surface area (nice) is 442 sq in (2873 sq mm). Horizontal Changing Stations: Dimensions: 36 L x 22 W x 4 H
I also stumbled upon this photo, which I will save for another post. I know you are already asking questions about it also.
Do people actually just hang their kid on the wall while they use the john? What has our world come to?
Recent Comments