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I work on the staff of a huge folk festival, and one year I was in one of the dance halls, and these two boys, must have been 4 or 5 years old *old enough to know better* were running up and down the edge of the dance floor on the side of the room where I was sitting. They plowed into one women, and almost sent her to the floor. The next time they ran by me I shouted at them to sit down, stop running, and that it was a dance floor, not a playground. They stopped still and looked at me all big-eyed - I think their parents were the crunchy granola types who think that yelling at a child who is insisting on misbehaving will somehow scare them for life (it won't - I was yelled at, and I am very thankful in this day and age that I was).
They stopped, and stayed back in a corner of the room until they and their parents (who were dancing and had no idea any of this was going on) left.
Hey, I didn't care if their parents found out and weren't happy (I do run into them at the regional folk dances I go to)- one of my jobs being on staff is making sure that everyone has a pleasant, safe experience, and that includes not getting hurt. They were both under the age of 12, which means they were supposed to be under constant adult supervision, as per our festival rules. They weren't.
And neither of these situations involved a 10 month old baby boy, sitting in his own place, making noise.
I don't know what the scream level was, but recently I walked by in a store a child in a carriage and just as I was beside them the child let out this ear deafening scream. It hurt my ear and it was ringing for about 10 mins. This is unacceptable. Yes, I know kids scream but I have seen parents laugh when it is ear piercing instead of scolding and telling them to tone it down. I remember if we ever screamed that loud in private, nevermind public my dad would give us this look that meant we were in deep trouble. I also see parents take young toddlers and babies out to restaurants at 8pm. The child is dead tired and cranky. Be considerate, take your children out earlier in the evening, they really should be in bed at 8 at that age.
As to the women, I would never do that. I might be upset and speak to my waitstaff. When we go into a restaurant these days and see small children we will ask to be seated elsewhere just because we don't want to be around screaming, especially ear piercing screams.
ETA: Appropriate answer is all 3 were wrong. The parents for letting the child scream (distract him if he is not just crying take him out if he is crying), the manager who was rude to the women as they were customers to entitled to enjoy their meal, and the women who should have spoke to the manager and not write a stupid note like two teenagers.
I can't imagine the women would go to the trouble of writing a note if the kid just yelled for a moment, but I have been in a restaurant where a child was screeching at a high decibel level for more than just a minute and when I got out of there, my ears were ringing from the din. And the parents, presumably already deaf, did nothing.
The mom should have taken him out as soon as it was obvious that the noise wasn't going to stop anytime soon. Diners who are paying for a meal have the right to expect an environment that doesn't call to mind a rock concert or a manufacturing floor.
A toddler is significantly older than a 6 month old.
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Yes he was significantly older however that's when we started taking him out before that we started training him at 6 months or even before with no and other demands
You go to a family restaurant, there are going to be kids and some will occasionally be screaming. I would have knocked out those geriatrics if they gave me a note like that.
Parents should have taken the kid outside so he doesn't disturb others. I realize that parents need a break from the responsibilities of parenting, but not at the expense of others.
It was mean-spirited to leave the note. But why should they have to endure this in silence?
The manager had no business tossing them out. In fact, he should have been trying to quiet the noisy table.
Hmmm. I guess I'm most sympathetic to the women who spoke out about something that was bothering them.
Makes me think of a time at a movie; there was a crying child on the other side of the theater. The dad took the kid out, but then came back in--kid still crying--on my side of the theater. I was really annoyed--he's moving the problem away from the mom, but still sharing with strangers.
This is an old story and was covered in another thread more than a year ago. Back then, most posters sided with the couple and against the mother. (I did not because the Texas Roadhouse is noisy, anyway, and why should children be expected to be any quieter than adults?)
I have never heard adults scream in Texas Roadhouse. Just because a restaurant is loud doesn't mean people want to hear screaming.
When you are out in public with a child, you need to remove them if they start screaming, especially at a restaurant. I can't tell you how many times I have been out and a child starts screaming and the parents do nothing. Tell them no and remove them until they stop. If they don't stop, they don't get their dinner. That simple. You don't get to ruin everyone else's meal! Clearly you aren't being a very good parent because you are ignoring your child instead of parenting.
If you go to family-friendly restaurant, you should expect families. Babies should be expected. The onus is on the annoyed person who expects privacy and quiet in a public and loud place.
If you REALLY want to ensure no screaming babies, there are tons of restaurants I can recommend. Most nicer restaurants here in NYC will have no babies. Basically any restaurant after 8 PM won't have babies.
But if you're going to a Texas Roadhouse at, say 5 or 6 PM, you better expect babies, and yeah, there may be some crying.
You went from screaming to some crying pretty quick.
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