Imagine this: You’re out shopping with your 5-month-old son, and he needs a diaper change—urgently. You search high and low for a family restroom, but there isn’t one in sight. What do you do? This is the exact situation one dad found himself in recently, and his decision to use a changing table in the women’s bathroom has sparked a conversation about parenting roles, public facilities, and how society still has a long way to go in supporting dads who are hands-on with their kids.
One dad on Reddit did what many of us would consider the logical next step—he headed to the men’s restroom. But there was a problem: no changing table, not even a counter to improvise on. So, he asked a store employee for help, thinking maybe there was another restroom he hadn’t found yet.
The employee assured him there were changing tables in the bathrooms and led him right back to the restrooms he had already checked. Frustrated but determined, he went back into the men’s room—still no changing table. By the time he came out, the employee had disappeared, and his son was still in need of a diaper change.
At this point, desperate and running out of options, the dad made a decision—he took his son into the women’s restroom, knowing there would be a changing table there. But as soon as he walked in, he faced the inevitable: a woman saw him and immediately told him he was in the wrong bathroom. When he explained his situation, she softened, sympathizing with his dilemma. “Bro, that sucks,” she said, acknowledging how tough the situation was.
As he was hurriedly changing his son’s diaper, another woman walked in and was less understanding. “Get out! You can’t be here!” she yelled before storming out to report him to a store employee. Fearing further confrontation, the dad quickly finished, grabbed his son, and made a beeline for the car, avoiding the employee trying to stop him.
When he later recounted the story to his family, he found mixed reactions. His wife supported his decision, but his own mother called him an “idiot” for going into the women’s restroom. When asked what she thought he should have done instead, her suggestion was shocking: she believed he should have asked a random woman—either the one washing her hands or the female employee he first spoke with—to change the diaper for him. Understandably, the dad felt that this would have been both inappropriate and presumptuous.
