Kisa's Rant on Parents and their Kids

[AnaKhouri]

Oh sure, we have watched A LOT of Thomas the Tank Engine and George Carlin is the very best narrator. Alec Baldwin is the worst. He makes James sound like a flamboyant drag queen.

[Arwyn Q]

I actually find kids more understandable than half the customers at my work, mostly because we have a lot of first generation immigrants with heavy accents. I'm *terrible* with accents and the customer usually becomes frustrated before I can get what they're saying. It's embarrassing and I'm working on it, but that's why I usually love their kids. The school age kids typically speak very clear English and are able to translate for their parents most of the time, be it just a heavy accent or directly from what language the parent speaks.

[singerchick]

I worked at a coffee shop a million years ago, and what amazed me the most was the number of parents who would bring little (like, kindergarten age) kids into the shop, let them order for themselves, and NOT KNOW WHAT THEIR KID ORDERED. I just started making a habit of listening to junior, smiling like they were the cutest thing I'd ever seen, then looking up at Mom/Dad and asking them, "Is that okay with you?" They'd inevitably ask why I asked, and I'd have to explain that the cookies and cream milkshake li'l bit had just ordered came with about four shots of espresso in it. Just wanted to make sure that was what they really wanted. The horrified looks on the parents' faces were priceless.

[Andara Bledin]

now if I could just do a through-the phone-slap for the parents (meaning slapping the parents) who think it is REAL cute and fun to have their 5 or 6 or 7 year old call and "attempt" to make a large pizza order.

I'm fairly certain that you could argue that ordering food by phone constitutes a form of verbal contract, and as such, the caller needs to at least sound like they could be over 18, and thus legally allowed to form contracts. That way, you could ignore that you have teens ordering (whose to say that they don't sound old enough), and bar any toddlers or grade schoolers.

Some people would argue that a well done medium steak is quite rare, but at that point we're just getting into word play and brain fucking.

As a fan of a true medium, this amused the hell out of me.

I happen to be fairly conversant in toddlerese. To the point that I could translate for the only toddler I've spent any time around in the last 10 years for said toddler's mother. Generally speaking, it's mostly an accent with some mixed words, so it's pretty similar to helping an English-as-a-second-language individual.

Of course, at the order window it's suddenly a magnitude more difficult because you lose a lot of context and similar terms no longer become interchangeable.

^-.-^

[rose_metal_nz]

I worked at a coffee shop a million years ago, and what amazed me the most was the number of parents who would bring little (like, kindergarten age) kids into the shop, let them order for themselves, and NOT KNOW WHAT THEIR KID ORDERED. I just started making a habit of listening to junior, smiling like they were the cutest thing I'd ever seen, then looking up at Mom/Dad and asking them, "Is that okay with you?" They'd inevitably ask why I asked, and I'd have to explain that the cookies and cream milkshake li'l bit had just ordered came with about four shots of espresso in it. Just wanted to make sure that was what they really wanted. The horrified looks on the parents' faces were priceless.

This amuses me greatly. My MiniMe is now nearly 10 and it amazes me how many food places try to sell her coffee or caffeine drinks. I can understand a mocha-something or rather, so if she asks for / is offered one, I just smile & say "No, hun, that's got coffee in it. You & I can go halves in an iced chocolate if you like tho?" ... But RedBull? For a KID?!

[Jester]

/jawdrop I never realized that was him.

Oh, then this should absolutely blow your mind....

But RedBull? For a KID?!

Yes. Red Bull. For a kid. Why? Two reasons. 1. Kids drink that stuff. To be precise, a lot of kids drink a lot of that stuff. 2. Businesses are in businesses to make money, and food businesses do so by selling stuff. I have no problem with them selling it to kids. It's caffeine, which is prevalent in most of the popular sodas kids drink gallons of. Now, if the parents don't want junior swilling Red Bull, that's fine, but it is NOT the businesses' job to parent the child.

Now, *I* wouldn't let my child drink Red Bull, but then, not everyone is like me. Hell, my parents fed us constant streams of Coke, Pepsi, and Doctor Pepper. We were highly caffeinated and highly sugared. And we were not abnormal in that respect....nor would we be today. So, what's the difference between Red Bull and caffeinated soda? Oh yeah....bubbles, taste, and price. That's about it.

[Kristev]

Mother used to make us learn money, at home, not at stores.

[blas]

I didn't get a lot of soda as a kid.

This is probably why I over indulged in it as a young adult, and why I need to put limits on it now.

Note to everyone, never assume that teaching kids healthy habbits works for life. As soon as I had my freedom, I vowed to never touch veggies again. And I haven't.

[XCashier]

Oh sure, we have watched A LOT of Thomas the Tank Engine and George Carlin is the very best narrator. Alec Baldwin is the worst. He makes James sound like a flamboyant drag queen.

I don't know, I think Michael Brandon is the worst. He's too singsongy. At least Alec Baldwin knows how to tell a story (even if he does make James and Gordon sound awful!)

I do agree that George Carlin was the best one, though. Though I liked Ringo, too.

(Yes, I have a little boy who loves trains, can't you tell?)

[Jester]

Mother used to make us learn money, at home, not at stores.

Well, it depends. I think it's okay if they do it when the store is slow....the cashier/associate/clerk might even be amused, if the kid is somewhat cute. But to do it when it's slammin' busy? Oh, HELL no.

[notlovinit]

In this same vein, how about the families who get up to order, and always seem to be IN FRONT of me in line, and no one has a clue what they want, the parent is trying to figure it out, and the kid is not paying attention. First of all, figure out what widdle pwecious wants BEFORE you get in line, and then order for them. It will save a lot of time and aggrevation on teh part of the rest of us!

Yes. This. Times 100. I hate when parents wait until they get up to the counter or the drive thru speaker box to even ask their kids what they want. How hard is it to find out on the way to the store? There are three options for kids. Or choose for them if they are young enough. I had one woman do this to me on counter and she turns and asks her kid what he wants and he would not reply and she kept asking him and then he walks out of the store and she yells at him to come back and he's like "No! I'm just going to get something really quick!" and she proceeds to chase after him. This leaves me alone with the dad waiting on them with everyone in line behind them giving death glares. If I was in that situation at the very least I would be paying for what I had already ordered and order for the kid later to not hold up the line, but that kid definitely deserved to not get any fast food for the way he was acting.