Quote:
Originally Posted by artplumber
Mike read your post again. Do you see the dichotomies? Then think about the the assumption that the "old guy" "hates kids" and the thought process that gets to some of the attitudes you expressed. Why didn't you like loud kids? What about anyone else who is disturbed by loud people (not just kids)? If you (or anyone else) knew you had a child who was going to be unable to deal with an enviroment, why would you put them in that situation (and set them up to fail)? Go to somewhere that the behaviour is more acceptable like ChuckECheese. From the other view (in this case the "old guy"), it seems pretty selfish to insist that he shares these kids' outbursts just so those parents can eat sushi, don't you think? It's just like going to the movies and having kids disturb the audience (or cell phones for that matter).
Frankly, kids don't need to be in a restaurant to learn good behavior at mealtimes.
And yes, I have a kid. And yes, we didn't eat out for a while.
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I completely understand the dichotomy which is one of the reasons I posted it to begin with. In fact, before the altercation I had mentioned it to my wife because I noticed the baby (being that it was right in my ear basically). Still, even prior to my own kids I had some understanding that kids are far from perfect all the time and babies can do no wrong.
Both sides had some wrong here - the parents handled it badly but they were approached very badly by the old guy.
It could have gone much better if the old guy had simply spoken calmly and respectfully to the parents but he did not do that.
It could have gone much better if the parents had left the kid at home with a big bowl of food instead of trying to be normal folks who go out to the neighborhood family friendly sushi place (ok - I'll admit some bias).
I've dealt with situations like this - I fly RC airplanes and occasionally (read often) I act as a self proclaimed safety officer at our field. If I see something that could very easily go very badly for someone happening I say something. I try to be as tactful as possible and the more friendly you are the better the chance the guy you are dealing with won't turn off his ears. Approach badly and tell him to stop trying to kill himself and everyone around him and he won't hear anything you have to say.