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Hero Diner Owner Shouts at Noisy Toddler, Selfish Parents and Weaklings Cry Foul


Pong Messiah
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I don't think parents think about because of the same reason that smokers don't realize they smell stinky to a non smoker. They live with it daily and become inured to constant noise.

 

Exactly.

 

Being unable to recognize how awful small children are can be hard for parents; the parasite wears them down, it is a master of altering perception.

 

This isn't an excuse, of course. If you are a parent, someone along the line made the choice not to abort, so it is your responsibility to recognize the decision's effect on others.

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Guest El Chalupacabra

Man. I had no idea non-parents were so sensitive. What a hard life you guys lead.

For me, yes a crying kid is annoying, but my annoyance is directed at the irresponsible and inattentive parent who is not taking care of the kid and just letting it caterwaul incessantly. Such people deserve all the dirty looks they get. I cut parents slack if they are making a genuine attempt to calm their kid down, even if it is unsuccessful. It's the parents that do nothing and let their kids act out or cry that I can't stand. Probably because I have in-laws who are exactly that.

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Man, there is a huge difference between a kid having a genuine cry of unhappiness or discomfort/frustration and a little snot monster having a fury tantrum cause he/she is a little fuck for whatever reason. The former illicits sympathy from me and I wanna see what's wrong and be kind and nurturing.... but the latter makes me wanna swing the little shit round by the ankles and let go at the appropriate time for the trajectory to send said snot monster far far away.

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Then why the celebration of a stranger yelling at the crying toddler, instead of the parents?

She had already spoken to the parents who stubbornly refused to do anything about it. It was time for Plan B!

 

These parents were either too incompetent to shut their monster up or were using their child's voice as a weapon because they were cranky about the wait time.

 

So they were either dumb or evil, and they were making everybody suffer -- but this heroic stranger risked everything to step up and silence the child, rescuing the entire diner from its terrorist mouth.

 

And you wonder why people are celebrating?

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Dudes. A. Pong is trolling. He is a master troll and because of this I love him as a poster. B. That lady was oblivious to her spawn. If it takes 45 minutes to make a person flip like that restaurant owner I believe those parents are crappy parents and while the Facebook thing was completely blown out bad something caused that owner to go ballistic. A lot of people think they are great parents but no one is perfect and your spawn is just as average as everyone elses.

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Pfffft... who needs to troll when you got a screaming toddler ruining everybody's breakfast and a woman just crazy enough to say exactly what the whole room is thinking?

 

I may have used colorful and poky language, but I am totally on the crazy woman's side. Just because she didn't handle the situation perfectly doesn't mean she sucks; I think more people need to step up to the plate and put a stop to bad behavior when they see it. Should she have yelled at the parents instead of the child after they continued to allow the child its screaming? In a perfect world, of course. But the bottom line is this: she took initiative and put herself out there trying to do the right thing, which is more than the vast majority of people would do. Celebrate that ****.

 

Don't give the parents any sort of pass because there was a poor widdle child involved and the diner owner doesn't fit our standards of what a good woman "should be." I can't begin to say how delighted I am at how many commenters saw right through that mom's article.

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It makes me happy that this incident will do nothing to stop crying children in public. All this vitriol for a perfectly natural response from a tiny human incapable of understanding or appreciating any of it. Take that sensitive childless noise haters!! Bwahahaha!!!

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What makes the restaurant owners story more believable than the mother's version?

We've all seen diner owners who are ridiculously harried, bad with people, or just simply rough around the edges.

 

We've all seen parents who bring kids into restaurants who are oblivious/incompetent or simply don't care about their kids causing a nuisance.

 

We all know parents who think their kids can do no wrong, who think they can do no wrong as parents, and we've all seen these parents defend their children's behavior and their parenting choices long after it becomes indefensible. These parents who take requests or suggestions or even simple questions as a personal attack, who, when asked about incidents at a later date, remember things differently than how they actually happened (and oddly, always a way that makes them and their kids look better).

 

Dunno about anybody else, but this is what makes the restaurant owner's account more believable to me.

 

:shrug:

 

Because it's who they want to agree with.

Also, this.
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What makes the restaurant owners story more believable than the mother's version?

By itself it doesn't, really. Look: there's the parents' pov, the owner's pov, and what actually happened. To stay objective and without bias, only consider where both accounts agree, discount the rest. Also consider things that are specific and measurable. Fill in the blanks the best you can, and only where necessary. Peer mediation 101.

 

Here's the facts of the case:

 

Family waited 40 minutes for pancakes.

At some point and to some degree, the toddler became noisy.

The owner approached the family about the noise.

The noise continued.

 

Without actually being there, that's pretty much all we know.

In my experience the longer a kid has to sit still, the more restless they become, especially when bored or hungry. This little girl sat for 40 minutes, and so did the parents. You bet your ass the kid is restless. The parents probably are annoyed too; I definitely would be.

 

How many times have you heard a noisy child in a restaurant? Plenty of times I'd wager. Notice I'm not asking if it bothered you. Now, of those instances, how many parents just sit there ignoring the kid, oblivious to their surroundings? I've seen it often. How many times do the parents do their job and take the kid outside? I've seen it, but seldomly. Have you ever seen someone (anyone) actually confront them in it? I've NEVER seen that. People ignore it, or the complain amongst themselves ALL THE TIME. Have you ever seen someone like the owner make them leave because of it? I've NEVER seen that either.

 

Owners don't typically toss patrons out their doors for no apparent reason, crazy or otherwise. It's reasonable to assume the kid was too noisy at this point. The point where the parents should have taken the little noisemaker far enough from the bleeding ears of the restaurantians so that they may begin to regain their hearing. Would the owner really throw boxes at them if Susy was an angel? The kid had to have been pretty bad. Not only does this familiar narrative fit, but it's the only one that makes any sense at all.

 

Even if the parents thought their kid wasn't out of control, they really should have thought "shucks, I really think little Susy isn't that loud... but she's loud enough that this crazy lady heard her and actually came across the counter to confront me. Maybe someone complained. Maybe she's actually louder than I thought, because after all, I am only human and may have made an error in judgement-especially where my own child is concerned. I'd hate to be one of those parents that act like their kid is perfect."

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One other thing where both accounts agree: the owner never approached the parents to discuss the situation. She acted like a petulant child, expected them to know that when she asked someone if a particular table number had their check it meant for them to leave and then threw things and yelled.

 

If you want to say that's appropriate behavior, which you do, I don't think we have anything else to discuss.

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One other thing where both accounts agree: the owner never approached the parents to discuss the situation. She acted like a petulant child, expected them to know that when she asked someone if a particular table number had their check it meant for them to leave and then threw things and yelled.

That's not accurate. Both accounts agree that the owner approached prior to shouting at the toddler and gave them the option to leave or quiet their child. I suppose you could argue that there was never a "discussion of the situation," as it sounds like a brief visit, but from the options given by the owner (again, acknowledged by both parties), the parents knew full well that their creature's presence was causing problems. But they refused to leave or quiet their child -- they just stupidly sat there with their screamspawn until they woke the dragon.

 

Shut your toddler up or leave. Should there even be a discussion?

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Common sense and decency prevail!

 

Diner getting more customers than ever!

 

Notice that the people who are supportive are just going and spending their money there and having a good (quiet) time. What are people on the mom's side doing, you ask?

 

However, there had been a few nasty phone calls from angry people threatening to attack the staff or set the diner on fire, she added.

That says a lot.
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So, what happens when you don't allow your screaming kids to ruin everybody's dinner? I'll tell you what happens: people support you and show empathy, and even pay for your dinner!

 

"The waiter said, 'Someone admired how you took care of the situation and felt bad for you.' I said, 'What? What do you mean?' Will you tell me, who?'" Wistehuff explained.
But the waiter refused.
"I felt so rotten and assumed that everyone was looking at me like I’m a terrible person. Right there the waiter told me what happened. I'm not an emotional person but I had a tear in my eye," she said.
Wistehuff said she then realized she didn't have cash to leave an additional tip on top of the gratuity that the stranger left. The table behind her told her they would leave an extra cash tip.
"Another table said, 'You handled the situation so well.' It was a restaurant full of kind people showing compassion that night," she said.

 

Maybe there is a sliver of hope for humanity after all?

 

:eek:

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