Film at 11: No Velociraptors

[athelind]

Restaurant Says "NO" to Screaming Children

Excerpt the First:

A restaurant in Carolina Beach is stirring up controversy over a couple of signs reading, "Screaming children will not be tolerated."

Excerpt the Second:

"I've never seen a restaurant say, don't bring your screaming kids in here," said Ashley Heflin, who is a mom of two. "You can't help it if your kids scream."

YES. YES, YOU CAN.

You can either pay attention to them -- and that includes "discipline", if need be -- or you can stay the BLEEP home and take care of them.

You can even find a baby sitter, if you just need some out-of-the-house time and a break from parenting.

When I first reacted to this story, hoodahdc said, "Athe is angry about babies."

No, Athe is angry about parents.

Nine times out of ten, when I see some kid screaming its head off in a restaurant or a mall or in my BLEEPing store, the parents are blithely ignoring it and doing their damnedest to hold a conversation over their progeny's howls.

I would, for the record, consider the stereotypical parental brush-off of "not now, dear, Mommy's talking" that is media shorthand for "parental neglect" vastly superior to the parents I see who flat-out ignore their offspring.

So yes. YES. Hooray for Brenda Armes, and I hope beyond hope that she's the harbinger of a trend.

Comments

When a child misbehaves, smack the parents.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Y'know, in grocery stores, I tend to tune it out, or have some sympathy for the parents.

I do not sell the necessities of life. I sell comic books, toys, and overpriced collectibles, largely based on cartoon characters.

There is nothing that fills me with deeper contempt for my own hobbies than watching a parent completely ignore his or her squalling children so that they can buy toys for themselves.

And let me be clear: I mean completely. Child not just squalling randomly, but actively trying to share in their parent's interests: "Ooh! Look at this! Look at this! Look at this!"

And the parent doesn't even treat them with respect enough to say, "hold on" or "not now" or "I'm trying to talk to the gentleman behind the counter". They don't even respect their child enough to say "shut up". They just keep talking to Your Obedient Register Monkey, occasionally shoving their child out of the way when the poor kid sticks something in their face just to get some glimmer of attention from their uncaring gene donor.