The problem is the parents. I have had many dinners completely ruined by screaming kids...and I mean screaming that lasted 40 minutes. People bring their children out when they are tired and don’t care about other patrons. THAT’S the real problem.
I agree that parents should always remove a disruptive child, if it’s humanly possible. (You can’t get off an airplane in midflight, and there is no way to “discipline” an airsick infant.)
And it’s not just restaurants and airplanes. People take little children to see movies aimed at teens or adults, and ignore the natural behavior of a little kid trapped in the dark bored out of his mind.
I’m constantly telling my children, “Think about how this affects others. How can you avoid being unnecessarily annoying? Yes, it’s fun to make your brother scream in church. You’ll also enjoy washing all the dishes for the next week, I’m sure.” I’m hoping that someday consideration for others will be instinctive.
Screaming children, barking dogs, loudmouthed a..holes bellowing into cell phones. All part of the same me me me me attitude that so many people exhibit. They have no consideration for anyone else. They're totally self absorbed.
My topper of a story happened in the dairy school cafateria at cornhole you in Ithaca. I was eating lunch and some woman came in with a crying baby and changed its #2 diaper right on a table nearby. Nothing quite like the smell of fresh sh!t from a diaper on the table nearby to get your appetite going at lunch! I complained to the management and they told me she was the wife of one of the faculty members (like that exempted her from acting like a human being.)
Last year I was waiting for my fries to finish at MacDonalds when some family came in ant the woman plopped a kid diaper down on the counter. In that case the management told the woman to get the kid off the counter. She gave the MacD's employee some lip but ultimately complied. (I noticed that they didn't clean the counter after though)