Gripes and Pet Peeves

Pet Peeve

There was a time when parents brought their children to restaurants only when the child had reached a suitable age and had a grasp of proper table manners. However, today, this unspoken code seems to have vanished and one is just as likely to see a week-old infant drooling at the next table or experience a two-year-old's tantrum than not. And moreover, it appears that parents not only bring their small infants and children to restaurants regardless or their age or time of night, but the parents are apparently void of any skills of discipline and parental tact, as well as common courtesy to other diners and the restaurant staff.

A dining experience at a local favorite will likely include toddlers running through the dining area, weaving in and around as if the tables and chairs had been set up specifically for their enjoyment, their own special obstacle course, their own special playground. And all the while the parents or grandparents or whoever brought them, calmly finish their food and drinks, seemingly oblivious to the fact that their children are running rampant through the restaurant. Not only are the children disturbing other diners but servers loaded down with trays of food and dishes are forced to side-step in order to dodge them

Then there are the parents who pretend to be deaf, ignoring the blood curdling screams of their infants or toddlers. One would think that at the first whimper, the parents would take the child outside to quiet him or her. One would think that if one's child was screaming in the middle of a restaurant, whether gourmet or a local hamburger joint, that the instinct of common courtesy would force a parent to appreciate the fact that there are many other people around who are not deaf. At times it is impossible to hold a single thought, much less a conversation due to some child crying.

Parents of small children should be aware that there is a large segment of the population who go to restaurants, not only to enjoy good food and company, but often to escape their own small children at home. Moreover, parents should not bring their children to restaurants late at night, children should be asleep in bed at ten o'clock at night, not causing chaos in a dining establishment somewhere.