If you go to "family restaurants" then you will dine with families which typically means loud children. If you go to more expensive restaurants then you will usually see few, if any, children and the ones you see will typically be better behaved. (the well-to-do parents won't tolerate the little darlings embarrassing them in public)
There seem to be a lot of kids raised without the parents ever setting any limits. Complain to the parents about, oh, say, syrup poured down your back in a restaurant just for instance, and they glower at you and imply you're a grouch for not enjoying the whole thing. The screaming during dinner or a movie is not exactly pleasant either. (I'm old enough to remember when theaters had "crying rooms" where parents could take unruly children or crying babies so the rest of the theater would not be bothered--or deafened--by the din.)
supposedely behaving badly in public? I think what we are seeing is a bit of a natural backlash against the inevitible result of the abdication of discipline in our society for the last 30 years or so.
I agree that children should be well-behaved in public, but if you put a big Thomas-the-Tank-Engine display in the middle of your store and invite children to play on it, you're going to get some squealing and excitement. It's not reasonable. If the bookstore is going to be a place for quiet, take out the things that encourage three-year-old boys to get excited.
Ping
you ain't gonna like this title!
(According to an e-mail going around, this was voted the Best Commercial Ever in Europe).
A couple weeks ago, I was shopping at the local Ross. The loud speaker was begging parents to take control of their children. When a child walked in front of me and threw a hanger, I asked the grandmother to please watch him. The next thing I knew, the mother was confronting me and telling me that it was just a baby. Well if it is just a baby, why is he allowed to run wild in the store? By the way the local Ross store has a staggering amount of broker merchasdise. Wonder why?
Children running wild costs store owners money and make everything cost more. People please control your children in the store, or leave them home. If they start screaming or misbehaving, take them out of the store. It is really simple to teach a child proper behavior. You just don't allow the bad behavior to continue.
Oh, for the good old days where corporal punishment by ANY adult close enough to take a swipe at you was the norm. If I or my 5 brothers and sisters were ever caught 'cutting up' in public, we would be summarily smacked by the closest adult at hand - no questions asked or answered. Then we would be marched to our parents where we would be smacked - IN PUBLIC - again! Somehow we managed to survive our childhood intact. I see similar situations now and yearn for the opportunity to introduce the little brat into the world of limitations on behavior.
Hmmmm. 'Destroy another foetus now, We don't like children anyhow' -- Leonard Cohen. Much as I'd like for all children to behave in public places, the fact is that, even with the best of parenting, they won't, and that screaming children are just part of life's rich tapestry. And as for those who refer to parents as 'breeders', well...
My experience of such women, and of their kids (and it's fairly extensive) is that the women are relieved to have kids at all, and consider them to be so precious that they must always be handled very gently.
The result is as one would expect -- kids who generally don't behave well.
This is not always the case: I also know older women whose kids are absolute gems. It all boils down to the mother (and the father, if he's around).
Well, all I have to say about that is my grandchildren are models of exquisite perfection, and whenever we enter a restaurant or a mall people stop whatever they are doing in order to admire their stunning beauty and their impeccable manners.
Problem with this story was they chose an ambiguous example. Didn't sound to me like these kids were out of control. You provide a kid with a bunch of toys an you expect him to sit there and quitely admire them?
My guess is that she doesn't go to the bookstore to purchase anything, but to give her darlings a place to play.
could be worse. every once in a while i have parents that bring in kids into my bar. since the owner will not institute a "no kids" policy, i get to suffer. i hate the people that come in with their kids and all of their kids' friends, order two large pizzas and a pitcher of soda, then sit there and drink and smoke, letting the kids run wild. a huge mess gets made, paying customers leave, and then the parents usually stiff me on the tip.