Eireann
12-18-2008, 11:36 AM
Yesterday evening, I was relaxing in a tearoom with a friend. Tearooms here are wonderful. They're not the ultra-sophisticated, expensive places you might think, where carts piled high with goodies are wheeled from table to table. They're fairly quiet, with an extensive menu of black, green, fruit, and other types of tea from around the world. You order, it's brought to your table, you can get refills on some types, and you can stay there forever.
So. I was sitting at a table with a friend, and said table was next to a low wooden platform at one end of the room. Two adults were sitting on this platform with their baby. The platform has a couple of low tables, and people take off their shoes before sitting there. It's popular for couples with babies, because the babies can crawl around and the parents know where they are.
So after a while, I noticed the smell of ammonia. I asked my friend if he noticed it, but he had a cold and didn't have full use of his sense of smell. We agreed that it was probably the baby, and left it at that.
Turns out, it was the baby. I know this because the mother changed the baby, on the platform, right next to me. By "right next to me", I mean "one foot away". There was also a firm stench from, I assume, the mother, and the combined effect was so sickening that I got up and left, standing outside while a homeless man asked me if I had any cigarettes, and if I'd like to buy some wine.
After some time, I returned and sat down. The couple and their baby left and took the stink with them.
Then a toddler wandered in. She seemed to be having a good time climbing on the platform, toddling around, climbing down, going into the next room, then repeating the process.
Yes, of course... I noticed a distinctly ripe smell coming from her. Her mother came in, talked to her, then sniffed a couple of times, planted her nose firmly in the little girl's butt, and took action.
She brought in a diaper, a changing pad, and other accessories, while I excused myself and left again, spending more quality time with the homeless man outside. When someone else came out and lit a cigarette, I returned to the tearoom. Fortunately, the mother was almost done changing her daughter.
(As a side note, there ARE bathrooms in this place.)
I didn't want any more tea after that little show, so my friend drank the rest.
So, I thought, I'm out of the impromptu baby-changing area. This is good. I can go home. I went home.
This morning, when I was leaving to go to work, I discovered that kitty had peed on my coat and scarf.
Do you think someone's trying to tell me something?
So. I was sitting at a table with a friend, and said table was next to a low wooden platform at one end of the room. Two adults were sitting on this platform with their baby. The platform has a couple of low tables, and people take off their shoes before sitting there. It's popular for couples with babies, because the babies can crawl around and the parents know where they are.
So after a while, I noticed the smell of ammonia. I asked my friend if he noticed it, but he had a cold and didn't have full use of his sense of smell. We agreed that it was probably the baby, and left it at that.
Turns out, it was the baby. I know this because the mother changed the baby, on the platform, right next to me. By "right next to me", I mean "one foot away". There was also a firm stench from, I assume, the mother, and the combined effect was so sickening that I got up and left, standing outside while a homeless man asked me if I had any cigarettes, and if I'd like to buy some wine.
After some time, I returned and sat down. The couple and their baby left and took the stink with them.
Then a toddler wandered in. She seemed to be having a good time climbing on the platform, toddling around, climbing down, going into the next room, then repeating the process.
Yes, of course... I noticed a distinctly ripe smell coming from her. Her mother came in, talked to her, then sniffed a couple of times, planted her nose firmly in the little girl's butt, and took action.
She brought in a diaper, a changing pad, and other accessories, while I excused myself and left again, spending more quality time with the homeless man outside. When someone else came out and lit a cigarette, I returned to the tearoom. Fortunately, the mother was almost done changing her daughter.
(As a side note, there ARE bathrooms in this place.)
I didn't want any more tea after that little show, so my friend drank the rest.
So, I thought, I'm out of the impromptu baby-changing area. This is good. I can go home. I went home.
This morning, when I was leaving to go to work, I discovered that kitty had peed on my coat and scarf.
Do you think someone's trying to tell me something?