Photo via Delectably Chic.
I reserve Sundays for completely chilling out to get ready for a hectic week ahead. So when I venture out for dinner, it's typically at some low-key spot in a quiet neighborhood.
This past Sunday was no different as we headed to a family-run Asian eatery in Uptown. With a bountiful BYO selection in tow, we were pretty satisfied when we were the first people in the dining room. We picked a pretty good table off to the side because we knew the room would soon fill up...and we wanted to take advantage of the short-lived silence.
Less than 10 minutes after we popped the cork on the bottle, a cute little family entered the dining room. Mom, grandmom and three kids—all under the age of four—made their way straight to our section. Uh oh. Then they sat directly behind us. UH OH. The three children immediately started doing what little kids do: yakking loudly and running around.
I said in almost a whisper to my dining companion, "Really?! They had to sit right behind us in an empty restaurant?" I asked him if he wanted to move to another table.
Before he could reply, the grandmother heard me, even though I said it under my breath, and pretty much threw a tantrum. She started talking very loudly about how they were going to move instead since "these people don't want us to sit next to them." She repeated it several times, each time getting louder and louder. She even started banging chairs around for effect. Really?!
I didn't say anything because I didn't think it was necessary, plus I knew I was in the right: When you know you have small children who have a tendency to get rowdy, DO NOT sit next to people in an empty restaurant. Pick the other side of the room. For us it made common sense, but apparently not to her.
So please explain why is it that people forget basic social graces at restaurants when they've got small children in tow?!
4 comments:
I can top that: I was out to dinner with friends and this large COGIC church group allow the small children to prosletize (sp) going from table to table asking any and everyone if they believed in God.
Why would people do that?
aaarrrgh
Ruined dinner for me.
This stuck a chord with me. Not because it isn't your right to have a nice enjoyable dinner, but because it's the complaint I work to avoid when my family goes out. For the most part, we rarely go out. When we do, we go early. When we have to go out with our child later, it's often because of a larger event - like a birthday or family dinner. This is where the restaurant the family chooses makes a big difference. We went to Little Goat last night at 5pm. They gave us crayons, a booster, and put her dinner in early. They seated us more in a corner. Not every restaurant will go out of there way, but when they do it's really appreciated. I hope next time you go out, you can ask the server to re-seat you if you think it will be an issue. There are just some parents who won't care and will be rude. Try and avoid them.
This stuck a chord with me. Not because it isn't your right to have a nice enjoyable dinner, but because it's the complaint I work to avoid when my family goes out. For the most part, we rarely go out. When we do, we go early. When we have to go out with our child later, it's often because of a larger event - like a birthday or family dinner. This is where the restaurant the family chooses makes a big difference. We went to Little Goat last night at 5pm. They gave us crayons, a booster, and put her dinner in early. They seated us more in a corner. Not every restaurant will go out of there way, but when they do it's really appreciated. I hope next time you go out, you can ask the server to re-seat you if you think it will be an issue. There are just some parents who won't care and will be rude. Try and avoid them.
People forget basic social graces everywhere these days - the concept of modifying one's behavior to suit others is completely lost in the U.S. But the small children in restaurants thing is the worst. My barely audible comment in these situations is usually "Babies love sushi!" or "Babies love fine dining!" It's bad enough to bring unruly kids to any restaurant, but I'm stunned how often they're brought to places that clearly are not geared toward them and that they can't enjoy (and you, the parents, can't either). Everyone loses - and the restaurant most of all. The number of desserts, after dinner drinks, etc., that never get ordered because people like me leave early to escape others' children is probably quite high.
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