Babies in bars

[Parrothead]

I found this article linked in a blog I read and wanted to hear your opinions on it.

So, babies in bars: Yea or nay?

[Rageaholic]

Well, I think that should be up to the bar owners. Aren't there some bars that are a little more "family friendly"?

On the other hand, those expecting people to not swear in front of their kids can go fuck themselves. If they don't want their precious childrens minds poisoned, than they shouldn't take the little ones to bars. Either that, or find a place like TGIF to get a drink.

[lordlundar]

Well, I think that should be up to the bar owners. Aren't there some bars that are a little more "family friendly"?

Those are not primarily bars (restaurants, pool halls, game rooms, etc.) and usually require separate areas for minors. If a place is primarily a bar, then it is not a place for minors. Bars first purpose is to serve alcohol, and anything that is for minors usually ranks pretty low on the priorities.

[elsporko]

Kids should not be in bars unless it is also a restaurant. Parents taking kids to bars should have protective services called on them.

[Greenday]

If it's a bar only, kids and babies have NO place in them. If it's a bar/restaurant...stay in the restaurant.

[elsporko]

Although Babies in Bars would be a good name for a band.

[Rapscallion]

Kids should not be in bars unless it is also a restaurant. Parents taking kids to bars should have protective services called on them.

Why?

Rapscallion

[elsporko]

Might have something to do with the fact that they think its appropriate to take a baby into a bar. I'm pretty sure those parenting books say something about how exposing babies to drunk people is something that should only happen at family gatherings.

[anakhouri]

Kids have no place in bars. For one, there are drunk people in bars and I would not want my kid to be accidentally injured or exposed to bad behavior. For another, adults need a place they can go without being harangued by little kids. There are plenty of places you can take your kids; go there, or leave the kids at home.

"As a stay-at-home dad, it can be kind of isolating. Bars, as much as they're places to drink, they're places to socialize and meet people," said Gross, 35, a freelance writer, an editor for the blog DadWagon and the columnist behind the Frugal Traveler in The New York Times. "I long for adult contact. ... I don't want to be excluded from the adult world."

Yeah, so go to the library, a bookstore, the park, the zoo, the aquarium, a restaurant, a coffee house...that's what I do. Why do you need to take your kid to a bar?

[McDreidel09]

Personally, I would be pissed to see a baby at a bar. I am legally an adult and I can't get into a bar. Besides that fact, a baby just doesn't belong there. It's really not fair to the people who go there to unwind, only to have a fussy baby come in and cry. Take your baby to the park, the zoo, to Mommy and Me or Daddy and Me sessions, make play dates with the neighbors, etc.

I'm sorry your social life was put on hold. That tends to happen when you have kids.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I'm sorry your social life was put on hold. That tends to happen when you have kids.

This. These people are being incredibly selfish, expecting the world to bend over backwards and accomadate them and their screaming babies. I'm sorry, but I go to bars to chill out with my mates and drink alcohol. I am not going to censor my language in front of your child; and I will certainly not be putting the Barney song on the jukebox.

There's a very novel concept these people need to learn; it's called GETTING A BABYSITTER.

[Nyoibo]

I'm torn on this, my dad used to take be to the pub when I was a kid, I had a ball, playing dart, pool and all the other patrons were cool to me, however, there was no expectation that they would change their language or behaviour around me and my dad didn't expect them too, it was a place for adults to be around adults and act like adults (which is surprisingly immature )

[KitterCat]

It should be the bar owners decision as to wither or not they will allow minors in or have a time when they stop allowing them to come in. After all they do have the choice to make it a 21 or over club/bar and not allow any children in. And I don’t have a problem with it being enforced on a case to case bases. After all even most adults don’t want to see some drunken SC, just as they don’t want to be around a screaming crying kid. Its up to the owners/managers to decide if they need to leave and refuse service.

Where I live downtown is pretty much all classified as either a “pub” or “bar” but they all sell really good food and have more of a restaurant feel to them than a bar. Remember a lot of restaurants also sell alcohol. So if your complaining that kids shouldn’t be exposed to adults drinking remember don’t take them to most restaurants ether - heck even some Chuck-e-Cheeses have beer. Become a shut in, living in only your child’s world where everything’s soft and fluffy for fear that some ass is going to call the cops thinking that Pepsi was a beer.

[elsporko]

If the kid is in a resturaunt then it isn't an issue. However if the place mainly caters to getting people drunk then the kid shouldn't be there and there is no reason for them to be there.

[Lace Neil Singer]

The Wetherspoons places near where I live allow children in up til about 8pm, which is when the boozers come in for the evening. A lot of parents complained when this measure was put in, and said it would end up costing Wetherspoons money; but I don't see them suffering any. Whenever I go to any of these places, they're always packed.