Captain obvious

ATTENTION PASSENGERS
WITH CHILDREN
PLEASE WATCH YOUR
CHILD AND NEVER TURN
YOUR BACK WHILST YOUR
CHILD IS ON THE CHANGE TABLE

THANKYOU STATION MANAGER: STRATHFIELD

It was with a certain amount of quiet amusement that I read this sign in the disabled toilet at Strathfield Station. I was so impressed with it that I pulled out my trusty mobile phone, who incidentally has been named The Little Dude, and took a quick snapshot. I actually took two photos of it, owing to the fact that the cl-click sound my phone makes when taking a photo, considerably louder than I am comfortable with in a small tiled underground room, startled me and made me jump as the first photo was being taken. As I braced myself for the second cl-click sound to invade the small room, I hoped that nobody walking past heard it. The disabled toilet opens onto the main concourse, so any number of unknown commuters may have been walking past at that time. And lets face it, there are few acceptable explanations for a twenty-something man to be taking photos, alone, in a disabled bathroom.

This sign is wrong on so many levels, not the least of which is its DUH!!! factor. It could only be eclipsed in the DUH!!! factor stakes if it had was worded:

NEVER TURN YOUR BACK WHILST YOUR
CHILD IS ON THE CHANGE TABLE
THEY MAY FALL ONTO THE FLOOR
WHICH IS NOT GOOD FOR YOUR CHILD

I've changed plenty of nappies in my time, both at home and in shopping centres, and it has honestly never occurred to me to leave the child alone on the bench while I turned my back. I mean it's just not a possibility. The nappy, talcum powder, "wet-ones" (or wet wipes if you are not in Australia), tissues, nappy-rash cream, some kind of toy for distraction and a plastic bag for the dirty nappy are all laid out ready to go like a surgeon's tools. This is especially true when out in public. As some of you may know, going anywhere with a child still young enough to be in nappies is quite a production. It isn't uncommon to see strollers (or prams for our non-Aussie cousins) laden like little wheeled pack-mules with all manner of baby paraphenalia. Surely someone organised enough to load up a stroller, in such a way that it doesn't become unbalanced and tip over, is organised enough to change a child without dropping it.

It really, really, worries me that the station manager at Strathfield feels the need to point this out. I was left wondering what his/her motivation was. Was it that a child had in fact fallen from the bench and they didn't want it to happen again? Perhaps they feel that the people of Sydney are dim enough to think it harmless to leave a child on a bench and decided to warn against it? Or maybe they are just generally caring and good-natured, saw the possibility of a horrible accident and decided to warn against it?

It's kinda cute in a way, but very, very, scary in another.