What is it about restaurant playplaces?

[eltf177]

The writeup was totally bogus, and your manager should be ashamed of himself!

[wordgirl]

My mom is super-sensitive to cold right now so if there's outdoor seating, that's what she wants. At her favorite chicken place, that means eating in the play area and yes, I make ample use of the package of sanitizing wipes I carry in my purse.

The thing that gets to me is the kids who are pretty obviously dropped off without their parents buying them any food or leaving money for food. What kind of parent drops their hungry kid off at a place that is positively reeks of kid-tastic food?

[Ironclad Alibi]

What kind of parent drops their hungry kid off at a place that is positively reeks of kid-tastic food?

The kind that gets written about in this forum. They are a sub-species all to themselves.

[Sparklyturtle]

Play equipment = kids area = free babysitter. Therefore it's OK to dump their little darlings in there to eat with no supervision. Now I don't fault parents for wanting five minutes of peace and quiet or at least the chance to stuff food in their craw without fending off food moochers (hell I want and I don't even have kids, just a disabled husband and a dachshund), but they need to do what our parents did: pay someone to watch their minions when they need time alone.

I don't have kids, either, just three cats, but when I was a kid my parents made us sit quietly and eat while we were supposed to be sitting quietly and eating, and that was the end of any discussion. We were also expected to clean up after ourselves. There were no play areas in the towns where we grew up until my brother was a teenager and my younger sister was about 10, and by that time we were really too old for play areas. All my mother had to say was, "Do I have to take you outside?" and we were instant angels because we knew we'd be in big trouble.

[wordgirl]

I don't have kids, either, just three cats, but when I was a kid my parents made us sit quietly and eat while we were supposed to be sitting quietly and eating, and that was the end of any discussion. ....

Have you tried that with the cats?

[Kristev]

Personally, I say it's the manager who should be written up.

[Shotgun Chuck]

The writeup was totally bogus, and your manager should be ashamed of himself!

Personally, I say it's the manager who should be written up.

Well, to be fair, I could have gone faster... and I'd had an inkling that I probably should have just gone and asked if they wanted me to stay... but I still think a writeup is a bit much in that situation. Just... fricking chill.

Of course, it's a bit different at that place. They throw around writeups like confetti, and have no specific number that triggers termination proceedings. One of the obnoxious veterans apparently got written up four times in one day (probably about incredibly trivial things), and he's still there, so whatevs.