Children vs. Cell Phones
In a restaurant, and I'm thinking of a nice restaurant here not Swiss Chalet, most waiters will tell you to refrain from speaking on a cell phone so as not to disturb the other customers. However, do you ever see them checking the behaviour of children? Hell no. They're children, sent from God, adorable...They could smear mashed potatoes all over the wall next to them and it would be ignored. I just don't get it. How can talking on a cell phone be more annoying to patrons than a screaming spoiled child? Moreover, why do parents even take children into nice places? Because ever child needs the opportunity to mangle a $15 dinner? There are family friendly places, which serve decent food and are geared toward a family clientele, and there are not. In family friendly restaurants you expect to see children, you expect the noise and the muck...I even brace myself for it. I realize there are people that know and respect this. My parents knew this, I know this, I'm sure you know this. But the fact remains, there are people who don't. So there I sit time and again eating a $20 meal (which is a treat for me! and I want to enjoy it) and there is the unbearable noise of a bratty kid. Yet, a cell phone is more annoying than this...apparently.
Alright now that I've vented my frustrations I'm sure you all think that I am a hater of children...But I'm not! I simply think there is a place for them! Children are beautiful and wonderful gifts...but they do not belong everywhere. Wouldn't you agree?
posted by Jenevieve @ 1:00 AM
2 Comments:
I was just talking about this today with my buddies EdeO and Alli!
Apparently, one food-shopping chain store has relocated their handicapped parking and assigned Family Parking to a block of space near the front doors. Alli's friend Lily, who has MS and requires assistance getting in and out of vehicles, could not enter the store to shop for food, since the H spaces were too narrow for someone to assist her getting out of the car. Wheelchair lifts? Unusable!
Lilly's sister Jenna want into the store, all fired up, and demanded the manager's attention.
"Being Handicapped," she apparently said, "is not a choice! Having children is a life choice! Why is it that parents get special treatment because of their personal choice, and my sister cannot even come into your store any longer because she can no longer get the help required to get in and out of the car?!? What, does she have to have a kid around here just to be able to shop?!?"
The manager wasn't too forthcoming with any line of reasoning which would suggest why they'd specifically move the handicapped parking to something to narrow and unusable, and repurpose those choice spots to the Swerving Minivan crowd.
Being a parent is an important decision, but it's neither a right nor a duty. And I hope that most parents can act like adults and don't need coddling like kids.
As a parent, let me say that I don't take them everywhere.
You are right, there is a time and a place to take your children, but in the eventuality you must, or feel compelled to take them, their behavior should be your main focus.
Hell, I expect my kid to behave ANYWHERE he goes, not just certain places. I get frustrated with parents who don't watch their kids, and give the rest of us a bad name.
Lunchbox, as for your comment, I understand the thought behind the Family Parking, and I encourage it. However, every place I've come across, it still takes a backseat to handicap parking. Is your friends beef the fact that they moved it, or just that the space is too small? If it's the later, I agree wholeheartedly with her complaints.
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