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She's My Kid!
We had one of those sets of poles out in front of our front counter that was used to keep customers in a line, single-file during peak periods. It consisted of brass poles and wooden bars, and our customers used to jokingly comment on how much it looked like a maze. The wooden bars would sometimes come loose as a result of the kids swinging on them, and I was constantly trying to tighten them up for fear that one of these days, someone was going to end up getting hurt. One day, a couple came in with their daughter, and while waiting to place their order, their daughter was swinging on one of these bars, doing somersaults, and hanging upside-down, and so on. Well, one my co-workers on his way to the men's room, stopped and asked her to stop. He very politely explained to her that the bar was loose, and it might pop out and hit her, and he told her that he didn't want to see her get hurt. Apparently her father didn't take too kindly to that. He followed my co-worker to the men's room, and went up to him, grabbed him by the shirt collar, and practically picked him up off the floor. He told my co-worker that he will dish out the discipline as far as his daughter was concerned, and if he had a problem with his daughter, then he should take it up with him. This kind of thing happens way too much in our society, and I think it's downright rediculous. Too often people have a tendency to jump the gun in these situations. Parents take their children into public places and just let them run wild, doing whatever the hell they want to. And heaven forbid should an employee of that establishment have anything to say about it. Don't people realize how inconsiderate they are being? Most people come to our restaurant, for example, for a nice quiet relaxing meal. They don't come to our place to sit and listen to a bunch of children running around up and down the aisles, and screaming their heads off. A few days ago, we had two young women come in with their kids. And while one of my employees was trying to mop the dining room floor, these two little boys were running around chasing each other over that wet floor. Now how much would you want to bet that if one of those kids had slipped and fallen on that wet floor, their parents would be visiting an attorney within a few days, and then they'd be filing a lawsuit. If you don't want to deal with your children when you go out, then for pete's sake hire a babysitter and leave them at home. Don't expect everyone else to deal with them just because you don't want to. They are your kids, after all, so act like you're responsible for them. |