Anarchy in the diaper nation

I have become one of those mothers. You know, the mom who changes her baby on the bench at the zoo.

But I was driven to it by Staples. And A was on a changing pad the entire time and nothing gross touched the bench. The diaper came home with us to be discarded, like the zoo doesn't have waste products but we are of a "pack it out" mentality here.

A and I got the task of shipping off the holiday gifts, so we found ourselves at Staples yesterday. This required putting A in the sling, getting a cart, unloading the boxes from the car, and waiting in line. A made it all through the addressing of four boxes before he started to have a fit. Then he started wailing.

He needed a new diaper, so the nice lady at Staples reassured me that I could go change him while she printed up my bill. There was no changing table in the bathroom, so I ended up on the floor, trying to spread a ghastly amount of paper towels under me, my baby, and the diaper bag. Bathroom floors are gross.

How does this relate to the zoo? Well, once I felt like society really didn't care about my diaper-changing needs as a mom, I decided society had left me at large to determine my own problem-solving mission for meeting those needs. Hence, anarchy in the diaper nation.

But it's truly a cop-out, since I know the zoo has diaper changing tables in the bathrooms. But the nearest bathroom was far away and I swear he didn't touch the bench. Plus there wasn't anyone around (I wouldn't change him without asking nearby people if it was okay) and we were on a less-traveled stroller/wheelchair access route through the zoo.

Anyway, I will ask before I change my baby next to you. I won't change the baby on the table at a restaurant. I will use the diaper changing stations when available and prudent. But I understand where that mom in Wendy's was coming from now.