The Daily Peeve / Rant

[iris lilies]

Continuing on with my somewhat dissatisfied mode: After the not so great play, we went out for a mediocre meal at a nearby tavern, and we paid a price that was equivalent to about a week's worth of groceries. That is not too unusual these days though, and it's not the reason for my rant. Rather, I am ranting about the family in the next booth with their overexuberant, ill-behaved little monsters. I'm not terribly fond of small kids, but I feel like I've mellowed as I've gotten older, and although they were making a lot of noise and there was even a baby crying at one point, I was pretty chill about it. However, towards the end of out meal, there were two young ones standing and jumping up and down on the booth bench and looking over at us. As we were leaving, an adult male in the booth said "sorry." My too-nice sister said "that's OK," but I gave him my best dirty look, because seriously, if your kids can't behave any better than that, they don't belong in a restaurant. I understand that kids sometimes act up, but if you can't control their behavior in public, you should take them to Chucky's Cheese's or McDonald's.
Exits grouch old lady mode. End of rant.

I honestly cannot think of a time in recent decades where we were bothered by children, at nice restaurants anyway. People just did not bring their kids to city restaurants we frequented. I like it that way.

there are a couple of cool restaurants I can think of in the city of St. Louis that would be “family friendly “and I would not be at all surprised to see children, but we just never get around to going there.

[rosarugosa]

IL: This was not particularly fine dining, but it was the Hale Street Tavern, so the name sort of implies that it's not a Chucky Cheese kind of place.

[SiouzQ.]

The "kids-in-restaurants rant reminded me of something that happened a few years ago when we were down in Truth or Consequences at out favorite higher-end steakhouse (not that there are very many places to dine there).

We were eating our salads when a large family (four children ages toddler to maybe 12 plus both parents) was seated at an extended table right next to us. I automatically got a defensive, irritated feeling, assuming that they were going to be disruptive. To my utter surprise and delight, those children were the most well-behaved kids I had seen in a long, long time. The parents spoke calmly to them, asking what they would like to order and gently offering their advice. They waited patiently for the server and talked amongst themselves in indoor tones. No one spoke out of turn or too loudly. It was clear the parents had set their expectations and that maybe they had practiced playing restaurant at home.

Needless to say, I was very impressed!

[catherine]

Yes, rosa and SiouzQ, it's all in the training. I'm going to brag about my own kids... when they were 3 and 5 we were driving around after church hungry, and we came across what looked like a family-friendly place to get a bite for breakfast. Well, when we got inside it was a very quiet, white-tablecloth/white gloved server type of place. But we were too hungry to back out.

We had a very nice breakfast. When we got up to leave, the maitre d stopped us on the way out and said to DH, "Sir, I must commend you on the behavior of your children. Normally we have to batten down the hatches when we see children come in here."

The maitre d didn't know that we had intentionally sat one boy on each side of DH, so that the minute they started acting up, DH would give them a "reminder" pinch on the underside of their thighs and that was enough to stop them, without having to verbally check them.

[iris lilies]

Yes, rosa and SiouzQ, it's all in the training. I'm going to brag about my own kids... when they were 3 and 5 we were driving around after church hungry, and we came across what looked like a family-friendly place to get a bite for breakfast. Well, when we got inside it was a very quiet, white-tablecloth/white gloved server type of place. But we were too hungry to back out.

We had a very nice breakfast. When we got up to leave, the maitre d stopped us on the way out and said to DH, "Sir, I must commend you on the behavior of your children. Normally we have to batten down the hatches when we see children come in here."

The maitre d didn't know that we had intentionally sat one boy on each side of DH, so that the minute they started acting up, DH would give them a "reminder" pinch on the underside of their thighs and that was enough to stop them, without having to verbally check them.

That’s a nice story Catherine but I don’t expect little boys that age to sit still and be “good” so bless them for doing that.

There used to be a woman on this forum who had two boys, and she ran them like dogs. This woman wanted to start a healthy candy shop. does anyone remember her? Anyway, the lesson about kids I learned from her is that she dedicated her daily life to getting her boys exercised.

I remember she talked about most days planning a morning physical activity and an afternoon physical activity. She recognized the reality of her children being children and needing to use their bodies to develop their minds.

By “ running like dogs” I mean that in a practical way not prejoritively. You exercise your dogs for their own good. You exercise your children for their own good.

[Tybee]

That’s a nice story Catherine but I don’t expect little boys that age to sit still and be “good” so bless them for doing that.

there used to be a woman on this forum who had two boys, and she ran them like dogs. this woman wanted to start a healthy candy shop. does anyone remember her? Anyway, the lesson about kids I learned from her is that she dedicated her daily life to getting her boys exercised.

I remember she talked about most days planning a morning physical activity and an afternoon physical activity. She recognized the reality of her children being children and needing to use their bodies to develop their minds.

By “ running like dogs” I mean that in a practical way. You exercise your dogs for the room good. You exercise your children for their own good.

I totally don't remember that. A healthy candy shop? When was this?

[iris lilies]

I totally don't remember that. A healthy candy shop? When was this?

Oh man, decades ago. She stuck in my mind because she seems so clear headed about her single parent status. She had married a man who swore up and down he wanted children and then when they had two small children, he cheated on her and left her.

she was a stay at home mom so her ex-husband was paying enough in child support to fund that.

I remember she had us all brainstorm about names for the candy shop and the name “Indie Candy” sticks in my mind. She lives somewhere in the South.

[iris lilies]

This is the Indie Candy lady (summary by AI) She is still plugging along at this business:

Indie Candy was started in late October 2009 by Hanson Watkins. She opened the gourmet candy shop in Mountain Brook, Alabama, initially to provide her son and other children with food allergies with safe, naturally allergen-free treats.

• Founder: Hanson Watkins
• Start Date: Late October 2009
• Location: Mountain Brook, Alabama
• Purpose: To create and sell gourmet candies that are naturally free of common allergens like gluten, dyes, and other additives.
• Origin: The business began as a way for the single mother to create safe treats for her son, who has multiple food intolerances.

[Tybee]

Wow, this is not ringing any bells, and I was present in those years. Good for her!
















[/QUOTE]

[Klunick]

The more I think about this, the more I get angry. Long story short... a former co-worker who left our office about a year ago was supposed to come back a couple weeks ago. We figured he was coming back because the Supervisor who he hated got reassigned somewhere else. We were never told why he was coming back. Turned out, he had been kicked out of two other offices due to aggressive and sexually deviant behavior. So much so that people had gotten protective orders against him. Again, we were told nothing. I am pissed. Why would HR put this guy in our office knowing there are four females in here? To make matters worse, in this office, he would have access to various weapons. (I work for the Police where confiscated weapons are housed as well as the firearms given to Officers).

We lucked out and he got arrested the weekend before he was supposed to come back. He assaulted a family member and then fought Police. In custody, he revealed that he wanted to kill people "in any manner that would hurt the worse". He was sent to the psych ward and ended up getting kicked out for being sexually aggressive with the female staff. Got rearrested and is back in jail until his hearing this Friday. I hope and pray that they keep him locked up or send him away for good and he doesn't end up back in my office. If so, I will quit immediately.