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Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should

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  • Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should

    The pub allows children into the building until 8pm. They are also only allowed in the pub if everyone in their party is having a sit down meal, just to discourage bad parents coming in and drinking themselves stupid in front of their children. Although the 8pm limit works just fine during weekdays, I feel that the cut off point should be earlier during the weekend. This story is the prime example why.

    Saturday night is the busiest night for the pub. It can get very, very crazy. It can get to the point where every single table and chair is occupied, the bar is four people deep with customers waiting to be served, as well as large groups of people who have been unable to find a table standing around. The time that this starts to happen is usually around 6pm, two hours before the official kicking out time for children.

    So picture the scene I just described. Very busy and very loud. And then the family enters. Mother, father and three children, all of which are under ten. One is still in a pram and one is being carried by the dad, while the oldest runs on ahead to look for a table. They look like the perfect middle class family with little Billy, Jimmy and Susie (names obviously made up).

    Any sane parent would have turned around and walked out. There is a family themed restaurant not ten minutes walk from the pub. But no. The best place for this family to sit is inbetween a stag and hen party, the loudest and most foul people in the building.

    The dad goes up to the bar to order, but feels that it is appropriate to take the two smallest children up with him. Up to the massive crowd of people pushing and elbowing each other to get to the bar. It was a miracle that one of them wasn’t stomped on.

    CW serves the dad.

    D: Don’t you think it’s a little loud in here???

    It is loud, but not from music or TV. It is loud due to the masses of people talking and laughing. CW can’t think of an appropriate response to such a stupid question, so decides to ignore it. What was he to do? Go around shhing people?

    Dad has placed little Susie on to the bar top. The bar top that hasn’t been wiped in a few minutes and is therefore covered in spillages.

    D: You’ve ruined her dress!!!!

    No. You ruined her dress when you chose to place her on a strange surface that is clearly not suited for children. CW does a fake apology and completes the order.

    A customer accidentally drops and smashes their glass just near to where little Billy was crawling around. Because it’s appropriate to have a two year old crawling around the bar area on a Saturday night.

    D: If he cuts himself, you will be hearing from my solicitor!

    He returns to the table. The stag and hen parties have merged together and it is turning into a borderline orgy next to their table. There are also large groups of students downing shooters and cheering at the top of their voices about five feet away from them.

    I wanted to go over and recommend that they leave. But what was I to do? They were within the correct hours, so technically hadn’t done anything wrong.

    They ate their meals looking uncomfortable and terrified. The younger children were not even bothering to touch their meals, as they were too interested/scared at what was going on around them. The pub was getting busier. The crowds were growing larger. No other families were to be seen. Everyone else’s sole purpose in the pub was to get as drunk as possible because it was the weekend. People were loud, people were singing and people were swearing.

    Dad appeared at the end of the bar.

    D: I need to speak to the manager! This place isn’t family friendly at all!

    Dad goes on a full rant about how his dining experience has been ruined by drunk people. How little Jimmy, Billy and Susie were now going to be scarred for life because they were so frightened. How dare people go to a pub and drink on a Saturday night?? He should have taken control and threw all the offending people out (99.9% of the customers) so they could have had a nice, quiet family meal.

    Manager could do nothing but apologise. He wanted to rant back at the dad about common sense, and that maybe, just maybe, the busiest pub in town on a Saturday night wasn’t the best choice for a quiet family meal. But he couldn’t, as he was within the correct policy.

    That policy seriously needs reviewing. Just because you can take your children to the pub on a Saturday night, doesn’t mean you should. And you should certainly not expect the whole world to change to meet your needs.

  • #2
    But, to a lot of people with kids, their kids should be welcomed anywhere and everywhere they go.

    This includes, and is not just limited to.....action movies (yeah, whoever you are that brought your baby to Avengers...you should be shot), R rated movies, sports bars, plain old bars, fancy restaurants, botiques, tanning salons (under 16 NOT ALLOWED in a tanning area), spas where there are tons of tools, hot oils, hot rocks, chemicals, sharp things.......
    You really need to see a neurologist. - Wagegoth

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    • #3
      Honestly, if I were the manager there, thats exactly what i would have told them. That going to an actual pub on a saturday with the family isn't the smartest of plans. Despite the policy of Children being allowed until 6, doesnt make it in their best interests. I mean, I'm allowed to stick a fork in an electrical socket, but it doesn't mean i should.

      Edit: oh hey, just noticed the title. :/
      Last edited by Krivak; 05-21-2012, 11:26 AM.

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      • #4
        and if you dare suggest it's inappropriate... some parents get the knee-jerk "how dare you tell me how to parent" reaction.

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        • #5
          Quoth blas View Post
          But, to a lot of people with kids, their kids should be welcomed anywhere and everywhere they go.

          This includes, and is not just limited to.....action movies (yeah, whoever you are that brought your baby to Avengers...
          This is why the local Medical Laboratory collection center has a sign up "All children MUST be restrained by an adult in the collection rooms. Do NOT let children touch bench tops."

          And yeah, the last time I went to the movies it was to see "Kill Bill". Part 1 was about the bloodiest, action filled movie I could imagine and one mother (sitting near me) brought her 6 or 7 year old daughter. I don't know how she got through the door as here it is a "R" rated movie meaning 18+ only.

          The kid sat next to me, kicking her legs and singing to herself the whole movie, and didn't really look up at the screen, even when Gogo Yubari gets some nails through the foot and screams like a banshee, the kid was still sitting there looking down.

          I have not been to the movies since. I can't stand parents doing that sort of thing to their kids.

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          • #6
            WTF?!!! What a dumbass! No bar is family friendly! Bars in Florida don't allow minors there and it's a good thing they don't.
            I don't get paid enough to kiss your a**! -Groezig 5/31/08
            Another day...another million braincells lost...-Sarlon 6/16/08
            Chivalry is not dead. It's just direly underappreciated. -Samaliel 9/15/09

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            • #7
              Quoth blas View Post
              (yeah, whoever you are that brought your baby to Avengers...you should be shot), .
              Way back when I worked in a daycare I had a pair of six year-old twins who had seen Austin Powers the Spy who Shagged Me. In the theater.

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              • #8
                Quoth Krivak View Post
                Honestly, if I were the manager there, thats exactly what i would have told them. That going to an actual pub on a saturday with the family isn't the smartest of plans. Despite the policy of Children being allowed until 6, doesnt make it in their best interests. I mean, I'm allowed to stick a fork in an electrical socket, but it doesn't mean i should.

                Edit: oh hey, just noticed the title. :/
                Agreed. Yes, they were within the timeline, but once they saw the situation, you'd think common sense would dictate they go elsewhere. I would've been tempted to also ask if he really thought we were going to throw out 99% of the customers just so he and his little family could have a nice quiet meal? Good economics, that is!

                Then again, of course, considering where we are ...

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                • #9
                  This also reminds me of a PFB letter i read.

                  The LW brought their kids to an R-rated movie and proceeded to harass the adults for DARING to swear in front of kids, only to find themselves kicked out for being a nuisance.

                  Cos apparently some idiots think that "I brought my kid" means the establishment must accommodate them and become instantly kid-friendly.
                  Last edited by PepperElf; 05-21-2012, 02:51 PM.

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                  • #10
                    The scene you described would be just a bit too crowded for ME, let alone bring my own kid into!

                    See, I'd have been hard pressed not to respond to the parents, "Gee, it was pretty obvious that it's loud, crowded and full of people who are DRUNK. I mean, we're a PUB, on a weekend and that's what some people do on their weekends. Also the two parties were here long before you. If that didn't bother you when you came in, I see no reason why you should be bothered by it NOW."

                    I get the feeling that the parents saw this as a great way to get a free meal for the family. Way to set the example there, 'rents.
                    If I make no sense, I apologize. I'm constantly interrupted by an actual toddler.

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                    • #11
                      Quoth NateTheChops View Post
                      Way back when I worked in a daycare I had a pair of six year-old twins who had seen Austin Powers the Spy who Shagged Me. In the theater.
                      Must have been the same mother in my theater who took her kids to see the original.
                      To right the countless wrongs of our days... We shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise...Oh, what a wonderful world such would be...

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                      • #12
                        Quoth raudf View Post
                        The scene you described would be just a bit too crowded for ME, let alone bring my own kid into!

                        I get the feeling that the parents saw this as a great way to get a free meal for the family. Way to set the example there, 'rents.
                        I agree with both of these. It really does sound like he was trying to find something to go wrong - bad enough to get the entire bill to be comped.
                        I am so SO glad I was not present for this. There would have been an unpleasant duct tape incident. - Joi

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                        • #13
                          Quoth customersruinmylife View Post
                          Dad has placed little Susie on to the bar top. The bar top that hasn’t been wiped in a few minutes and is therefore covered in spillages.

                          D: You’ve ruined her dress!!!!
                          No, you ruined her dress, dumbshit, you're the one who sat her on the counter where people normally set beer and food.

                          Why, oh why do parents set their children on counters?! Other patrons don't want your kid's butt where their food is going to be placed! And it's a four foot drop to a hard floor. Your attention is diverted for one second, Little Susie is going to end up with her head split open.
                          Quoth customersruinmylife View Post
                          A customer accidentally drops and smashes their glass just near to where little Billy was crawling around. Because it’s appropriate to have a two year old crawling around the bar area on a Saturday night.

                          D: If he cuts himself, you will be hearing from my solicitor!
                          If your solicitor has half a brain, he's going to laugh in your face because you're stupid enough to let your child crawl around on a pub floor, where there is most likely going to be spilled beer and broken glass! Don't let the door hit you where the Good Lord split you!

                          Stupid, senseless parents are one of my major pet peeves. I could go on for hours about them.
                          I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
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                          • #14
                            I never understood, at the grocery store, why people put their kids on those dirty conveyer belts.

                            I won't put new clothes on them, why would you put your child on it?!
                            You really need to see a neurologist. - Wagegoth

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                            • #15
                              Quoth blas View Post
                              (yeah, whoever you are that brought your baby to Avengers...you should be shot)
                              When we were checking on our (then under construction) house in '01, we stopped by to catch Hannibal. There were people bringing toddlers to that one!

                              Makes me wonder about some parents.
                              I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

                              Who is John Galt?
                              -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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