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warrrreagl · 12-10-2004, 07:58 AM

It's been several months since I had a good rant about kids in restaurants, so I figure I'm overdue.

Last night, my beautiful bride and I decided to eat at our local O'Charley's. There is a server there who is particularly excellent, and we like their salads and burgers. But first, we had to clear the hostess hurdle.

What in God's wide world would lead a hostess to believe that a childless couple would want to sit in the booster-seat section? There was a small area toward the back that had a railing around it and several tables inside the railing. We'd never sat there before, so it seemed kind of cool at first. By the time we left, every other blessed table in our section had at least one booster seat with the obligatory screaming children in tow. This was clearly the toddler section, because they didn't seat these families at any of the other available tables; they simply herded all of them straight to us, as if drawn there by some curse.

There is a damn good reason why my wife and I don't eat at Chuck E. Cheese; we don't WANT to eat with children. We want to enjoy ourselves at a nice dinner out.

Hostesses: Don't assume everybody loves children at dinner time. My wife and I love kids, and I taught elementary school for 12 years, but I DON'T want to eat with them.

Parents: Recognize that if you take your kids out to eat in public, this would be a MARVELOUS opportunity to teach then how to behave in public. Let them explore themselves and their vocal ranges inside your home, NOT at the table next to me. What would happen to me if I started making deafening chimpanzee noises inside a restaurant? Then why should kids be allowed to do it?

12-10-2004, 07:58 AM	#56 (permalink)
warrrreagl pinche vato Location: backwater, Third World, land of cotton	It's been several months since I had a good rant about kids in restaurants, so I figure I'm overdue. Last night, my beautiful bride and I decided to eat at our local O'Charley's. There is a server there who is particularly excellent, and we like their salads and burgers. But first, we had to clear the hostess hurdle. What in God's wide world would lead a hostess to believe that a childless couple would want to sit in the booster-seat section? There was a small area toward the back that had a railing around it and several tables inside the railing. We'd never sat there before, so it seemed kind of cool at first. By the time we left, every other blessed table in our section had at least one booster seat with the obligatory screaming children in tow. This was clearly the toddler section, because they didn't seat these families at any of the other available tables; they simply herded all of them straight to us, as if drawn there by some curse. There is a damn good reason why my wife and I don't eat at Chuck E. Cheese; we don't WANT to eat with children. We want to enjoy ourselves at a nice dinner out. Hostesses: Don't assume everybody loves children at dinner time. My wife and I love kids, and I taught elementary school for 12 years, but I DON'T want to eat with them. Parents: Recognize that if you take your kids out to eat in public, this would be a MARVELOUS opportunity to teach then how to behave in public. Let them explore themselves and their vocal ranges inside your home, NOT at the table next to me. What would happen to me if I started making deafening chimpanzee noises inside a restaurant? Then why should kids be allowed to do it? __________________ Living is easy with eyes closed. Last edited by warrrreagl; 12-11-2004 at 04:56 AM..