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Last night, I was at my favorite place of business. The back room is used for various performances and talks. All kinds of events take place there - bands playing, movies being screened, etc. Last night's event was a live show, with audience interaction.
One of the audience members was a little girl whose mother works there. There were no other children present, and this little girl has the idea that she's somehow an honorary adult, and that people are going to be more than willing to drop what they're doing to entertain her.
Now, I've talked to this kid before, and she's friendly and outgoing, but that doesn't mean that I view her as someone to whom I can talk on an adult level. She's ten years old (I heard her mother talking about her one night a couple of months ago). She is interested in the things that concern a kid that age.
So, last night, during an intermission in the stage show, I was talking to an audience member when this kid came along and started hanging on my chair, pushing herself in between me and the person I was trying to talk to, and in general, being a royal pain in the ass. I ignored her completely and kept talking. I knew that she wouldn't be interested in the topic of conversation. (I was right.)
Finally, the kid took off for another room, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I said to the other person, "That kid's driving me nuts." It turned out that the person I was talking to thought the kid was mine! I explained why the kid was there, and we continued talking.
The kid, of course, came back and started hanging off my chair again. I ignored her again. I didn't know where her mother was, and as annoying as the kid was being, I didn't want to call her on her behavior in public. I firmly believe that, at the age of ten, she's more than old enough to stay out of private conversations, as well as to amuse herself without interrupting what others are doing. I also didn't want her to feel conspicuous about being such a pain in the ass. She was doing it later, too, hassling some guy while he was trying to talk to a friend. Judging by the look on his face, I don't think he was happy about it, either. I, for one, felt as if I'd been thrust in the role of babysitter, and an unpaid babysitter at that.
Now, I don't know what to do. I was thinking about approaching the owner and explaining to him what this kid was doing and how disruptive it was. I don't know the mother well, and I doubt that she would take kindly to me, a virtual stranger, telling her something like this. In my experience, parents tend to take it either as personal criticism on their parenting, or as someone telling them the right way to raise their child.
So, has anyone else here dealt with something similar, and if so, how did you handle it?
One of the audience members was a little girl whose mother works there. There were no other children present, and this little girl has the idea that she's somehow an honorary adult, and that people are going to be more than willing to drop what they're doing to entertain her.
Now, I've talked to this kid before, and she's friendly and outgoing, but that doesn't mean that I view her as someone to whom I can talk on an adult level. She's ten years old (I heard her mother talking about her one night a couple of months ago). She is interested in the things that concern a kid that age.
So, last night, during an intermission in the stage show, I was talking to an audience member when this kid came along and started hanging on my chair, pushing herself in between me and the person I was trying to talk to, and in general, being a royal pain in the ass. I ignored her completely and kept talking. I knew that she wouldn't be interested in the topic of conversation. (I was right.)
Finally, the kid took off for another room, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I said to the other person, "That kid's driving me nuts." It turned out that the person I was talking to thought the kid was mine! I explained why the kid was there, and we continued talking.
The kid, of course, came back and started hanging off my chair again. I ignored her again. I didn't know where her mother was, and as annoying as the kid was being, I didn't want to call her on her behavior in public. I firmly believe that, at the age of ten, she's more than old enough to stay out of private conversations, as well as to amuse herself without interrupting what others are doing. I also didn't want her to feel conspicuous about being such a pain in the ass. She was doing it later, too, hassling some guy while he was trying to talk to a friend. Judging by the look on his face, I don't think he was happy about it, either. I, for one, felt as if I'd been thrust in the role of babysitter, and an unpaid babysitter at that.
Now, I don't know what to do. I was thinking about approaching the owner and explaining to him what this kid was doing and how disruptive it was. I don't know the mother well, and I doubt that she would take kindly to me, a virtual stranger, telling her something like this. In my experience, parents tend to take it either as personal criticism on their parenting, or as someone telling them the right way to raise their child.
So, has anyone else here dealt with something similar, and if so, how did you handle it?
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