Photo of the Year

I took this photo sometime early in 2009. The location was a parking lot outside Sgt. Peppers restaurant in Woodbury, MN. I have no idea who left these diapers, or why they were left here, nor why there are two. All I know is this scene spoke to me.

I have tried all year to come up with a creative backstory to explain how these diapers ended up here, but I have been completely unsuccessful. I have tried to imagine every conceivable situation where two soiled diapers would be left on the base of a lightpost in a parking lot outside of a restaurant in suburban Minnesota, but I can't.

If the parents needed to change the diapers, wouldn't they have gone inside the restaurant? This is Minnesota - we are very kid accommodating, so even if you weren't eating here, they would let you use the restrooms to change the kids. Plus, it is really, really cold here. Wouldn't you want to change your kids inside instead of out in the parking lot? It doesn't make any sense - these were left not 30 feet from the entrance. All of this leads me to the conclusion that the kids were changed inside of the vehicle.

Call me crazy, but that sounds like a really, really tough thing to do. Even if it wasn't a poopy diaper, changing a kid in a vehicle seems tough. Plus - if they did change the kid in the car, did they stop somewhere to do this, or was the car in motion? If the car was stopped, why didn't they go inside? If they have to stop somewhere, why not at a gas station, or restaurant. If they didn't stop and the vehicle was in motion - that not only sounds tougher, but isn't it illegal and dangerous to take a kid out of a car seat to change them?

But perhaps the most perplexing part of this photo is why are there two diapers. Did the kid need to be changed twice? Or, were there two kids? From what I know about kids (limited), they don't typically behave so well when it comes to needing to be changed. Even if they were twins, it doesn't seem likely they would be on the same schedule - it seems too convenient. From the limited bit I know, if kids are one thing, it is unpredictable. The only explanation I can come up with is (a) it was one kid on a long trip and they had to be changed twice, without stopping the car or (b) they were siamese twins who share a significant portion of their digestive system and/or lower intestine, which forced them to have to go at the same time. If it was (b), though, it seems like the difficulties of changing kids while in a car would multiply.

I am looking for help from parents to explain this one to me. I am at a complete loss to come up with any sort of coherent answer for this image, or a reasonable explanation why two soiled diapers would be left side by side in a parking lot outside a restaurant in suburban Minnesota.

That is why it is my choice for Photo of the Year.

Happy 2010