A café in the small town of Sanson has come under fire on the court of social media after a ‘ghastly’ response to a request for a change table in the men’s bathroom.
“Hi there! We love your cafe, and often stop on our way to our Turangi holiday home from Wellington,” customer Rebecca Williams wrote in a message to Viv’s Kitchen. “Just some feedback – please consider putting a change table in the men's toilets. It is dad's responsibility too to change their baby's nappy, and not just fall back on mum. It sounds pedantic but it's a super important way of messaging that looking after our children's needs is a parental responsibility, not just a mum's job.”
Williams received to response to the first message so followed it up days later, before receiving a reply.
"The reason for the delay in a response is due the fact that we have a lot more on our plate to worry about than another change table being put in the men's toilet," the café wrote in response. "I have however asked numerous people about their opinion on this and have to say your request is very much in the minority.
"At Viv's Kitchen we endeavour to create an atmosphere of times gone by when mums were the ones who changed their babies, however fathers are more than welcome to use the changing table in the ladies if they request to do so.”
The story was made public when Viv’s Kitchen posted about it on their Facebook page. Naturally it attracted outraged parents, who went on to write negative comments on the page and leave bad reviews. The post has since been deleted, but the café is standing by its original message in a subsequent post. It has also turned down offers of donation of a new change table, saying that there is not enough room in the men’s bathroom. It reiterated that the women’s changing room is available to men if they ask.
