A father from Florida has recently made national headlines with this photo. Donte Palmer, a Jacksonville-based high school teacher, and dad of three took a photo of himself changing his baby son’s diaper. This photo made a much-needed statement that men’s bathrooms should feature changing tables. In the viral Instagram picture, Mr. Palmer is seen crouched in a public restroom, balancing his son on his lap to change the diaper. It’s quite clear from the picture that the two had to struggle to find balance since the men’s bathroom didn’t have a changing table. Apparently, most men’s bathrooms don’t!
The Message
Mr. Palmer wrote a message alongside the photo. In a very serious tone, he urged to change the impractical system of men’s bathrooms not having changing tables, as if fathers don’t exist! He also went on to ask football quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick to raise awareness on the issue as well as tagged The Shade Room, an entertainment news site.
The Event
Mr. Palmer has three sons, aged 12, 7, and 1. As he explained, the picture shows just a routine moment, when he stopped at the Texas Roadhouse for lunch with his family. While his wife went to the counter to order food, his youngest Liam started fussing and Mr. Palmer knew that he needed a diaper change. He headed to the men’s bathroom with baby Liam and his eldest son Isaiah, who was the photographer of this photo.
The Reactions
At first, Palmer’s message got a few eyebrow-raising reactions, where people commented that he could’ve changed his baby’s diaper in the car. Some even called his wife lazy for not doing the job by herself. However, there were also plenty of people who were on board with Palmer and shared his message. Some even shared their own snaps of similar experiences. The call for change seemed to spread fast with some hopeful results in the near future!