Friday, January 13, 2006
Unintended Consequences - Part Deux
Well, my post on children in bars certainly generated a lot of responses, both in posts and in emails. Opinions on both sides. I guess what I really find annoying aren't children per se. As a friend of mine pointed out, I met his wife and son in a bar. And there is something touching about a father and young son bonding over a beer and a soda. I guess what I find to be annoying is when you go into a bar that you have been frequenting for years and then in walks about half a dozen young mothers with their children who probably used to hang out in a Starbucks or something before they passed the no smoking laws. Now all of a sudden they are drinking wine instead of coffee and the bar is packed with strollers and hollering children. But, this is just my opinion and others are certainly free to disagree. I also remember the day when you wouldn't think about bringing a very young child to a movie and if you did and it started to cry you would take it out to the lobby. It just seems that these days people have become almost oblivious to the affect on others that their children's behavior is having. Ahh, I am getting old.
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7 comments:
I don't believe people are that oblivious, they are just that obnoxious and self-centered. I am the mother of a two year old and I can think of some things I wouldn't think of doing... 1) Take him to a movie as he still hasn't mastered sitting still for more than thirty minutes... 2) Keep right on eating at a restaurant if he was throwing a tantrum... 3) Take him to a bar so that he could listen to and see things that are simply not appropriate for him to hear and see.
Don't get me wrong, my child is exceedingly well behaved and is NOT a monster, but I also know that he has his moments and it is not my right to inflict those moments onto everyone else, thereby ruining their time.
Far too many parents do not have enough respect for their children and their fellow man to do something so simple at home as teach manners. These people often do not themselves posess manners and just think it is their "right" to be obnoxious and annoying.
P.S. Where can I find a "Mommy and Me" group that encourages drinking? I could use a glass of wine! ;-)
Over this side of the pond many pubs are 'family friendly' which can be a mixed blessing, current licensing laws (I think) mean that children are only allowed in certain parts of the pub and aren't allowed at the bar. This doesn't seem to stop them from galloping around like it's a new adventure playground while their parents get discreetly pissed in another room. I'm not against children in pubs per se, but the proprieties need to be observed, after all the rampaging six year olds are tomorrows binge drinking teenagers, if they don't learn how to behave in a pub before they can drink legally, why should we expect them to behave properly when they grow up. Sory for the rant!
"It just seems that these days people have become almost oblivious to the affect on others that their children's behavior is having. Ahh, I am getting old."
I absolutely agree with your opinion! and I think it has nothing to do with 'getting old' - it has to do with respect on one side and inconsiderateness on the other side. young parents often think their children are the most important things on earth - others think their dogs are ;)
they are - for them ... but maybe not for me.
No eggs with that Spam, Greg?
I agree that I don't want to see kids in bars unless they are extremely quiet and just sit there. If they misbehave I will just cuss and be offensive in front of the parents. I find the best strategy to combat rude and obnoxious people is to "out-obnoxiousize" them.
Like when someone is being loud on their cellphone on the Long Island Railroad... I might be inclined to take it from them and toss it off the train.
But that's just my vigilante mentality talking.
I'm a little late to the game- but I say, don't breed, I'm just not down with that screaming, shining, snotting, stick-handed sort of kid scene. I guess that makes me a curmudgeon...grrr...
Hell, I'm only 15 and I find it to be annoying. I've got a favorite saying: "No experience is complete without whiny babies, cell phones, chain smokers, other obnoxious distractions..." and so on and so forth. (Originally it was because every single restaurant I've ever been dragged into has at least one whiny baby to tick me off...) Now we just abbreviate it to the first four words, it's one of those weird family in-jokes that only we understand ;-)
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