Taking your kid's food to a restaurant
I need a weekly column on restaurant gripes.
Here's our latest outrage; we were eating lunch in a very nice Mexican restaurant that was packed, and I happened to notice that the people at the next table were feeding their child from a McDonald's Happy Meal bag. A quick glance to my left uncovered another family who had brought along a pizza for their daughter to eat, and behind me was another family with a Happy Meal for their spawn, too.
I can understand it if a parent brings jars of baby food or Zweiback toast for an infant, but these kids were way past being old enough to order off the menu.
Why??
I picture a nuclear family sitting in the car, and the mom and dad have both agreed on Mexican, but Miss Terrible Two demands only Italian for herself.
If they're not old enough to eat what's on the menu, then maybe they're not old enough to be ruining my lunch with screams, belches, and spewtum. And if the folks can't afford a baby sitter, then maybe they should be saving a little more money by eating at home.
I don't know what to say. I just don't get the "modern" American family and their bizarre restaurant/shopping/child-raising philosophies.
I still view eating out as something special, and I don't interpret the words "restaurant" and "playground" as synonyms. And I also view eating out as an "opportunity" to teach children how to behave correctly in social situations.
__________________
Living is easy with eyes closed.
Last edited by warrrreagl; 07-30-2004 at 02:56 PM..
|