Restaurant Has "No Screaming Children Sign"

[birdie]

I wish more places would do this.

Before I had a kid, this is why I enjoyed sitting in the smoking section, as not many kids were in that section. Now that smoking is banned, you are forced to sit wherever.

I also get extremely irritated when we do go somewhere and are sitting next to hell spawn. My daughter is well behaved, as I tell her that you are not allowed to act "that way" in public. Then she will ask me why other kids are doing it.

I hope more places will follow suit.

[Jester]

Long story short, this restaurant in Carolina Beach, NC has a sign posted up on it's window that says " Screaming Children Will NOT Be Tolerated".

I love this, and I love the restaurant. I hope their food and service are as good as their philosophy on this topic.

On a more amusing note, I have seen a few comical signs in this vein, including "Unattended Children Will Be Put to Work," "Unattended Children Will Be Given Three Candy Bars and a Large Soda" (major sugar rush trouble for the parents, if you miss the problem there), and until the other night, my favorite, "Unattended Children Will Be Sold as Slaves." But the other night I saw one that topped them all, at a retail shop downtown: "Unattended Children Will Be Eaten."

Classic.

I think it's win-win, but I'm sure some parents would disagree.

Of course some parents would disagree. Because some parents are raging fuckwad idiotic entitlement whore asshole holier-than-thou flaming morons.

And yet they're allowed to procreate.

Wow. It takes a lot of courage to put up a sign like that.

But I, for one, would gladly give my business to a restaurant owner who has the courage to take a stand like that, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

You are not alone, brother. You are NOT alone.

I recall reading about a restaurant that put up a much gentler sign, simply saying that children should use their "in-door voices" when inside the restaurant, and that was enough to spark an angry backlash from some parents.

So you're inevitably going to get parents complaining about signs like that because they take it as a personal affront.

I refer you to my above comments about "some parents."

In any case, if your child can't or won't sit down and shut up during dinner, then perhaps you ought to rethink taking them to a restaurant til they're better behaved.

I have no problem with kids being a bit active or rambunctious, but by that I mean talking, even talking animatedly. SCREAMING is a whole different thing. Kids will be kids, yes, but when kids become screamasauruses, they cease being anything to me other than a temptation to make me commit justifiable homicide.

My parents always instilled good behaviour in my brothers and I during dinner time, so when they took us to restaurants, we sat still and didn't make loads of noise.

My mother tried to instill good behavior in my sisters and myself. It usually worked. When it didn't, and we got out of hand, the unmitigated FEAR my father instilled in us took over, as he made it crystal clear to us that certain unacceptable behavior would be dealt with severely and with prejudice.

Dad rarely had to tell us twice.

...how else are they going to learn to use their indoor voice unless there are repercussions? If its an adult we call it making a disturbance and they have to leave.

Amusingly, the other day at The Bar I told this one woman at the bar, "You need to use your INDOOR voice!" Stopped her cold in her tracks, made her lower her voice down to rowdy and rambunctious rather than YELLING AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS, and made her group laugh their ass off.

Why some people cant understand that they need to teach their child manners this is beyond me.

I hate to be a broken record, but feel free to check out my above comments on "some parents."

We used to have those; cept they were labled "Smoking Section" and "Non Smoking Section". I always used to ask to be seated in Smoking, if there was one available, simply cuz that area was child free.

I remember smoking and non-smoking sections, and I distinctly remember many smoking parents being in the smoking section with their kids. So I don't know where you were, but it certainly wasn't in the same restaurants I was in!

Let me tel you, when I was growing up, my parents made sure my sister & myself knew how to talk in doors and out of doors.

None of this "Kids will be kids and if they want to yell, you should let them".

Severely. And with prejudice.

So now it's the restaurant's fault that these children are screaming. If you're feeling agitated by the kids screaming their heads off, you shouldn't be annoyed at the parents, you should be angry at the restaurant for not getting them their food faster!

On the surface, their argument could seem reasonable to quite a number of people. But that argument ignores two crucial facts that I have witnessed personally countless times:

There are well-behaved polite children in restaurants with slow service.
There are loud obnoxious screaming hellions in restaurants with impeccable and speedy service.

Consider this: How sad is it that we as a society have had to resort to actually putting up SIGNS, warning people to control their children?

What amazes me more is that at this restaurant, their SC's actually READ the signs they put up!

Next up, in about 20 years: "Please refrain from openly masturbating at your table. Thank you."

Well, it would make restaurants with inferior food and/or service far more entertaining!

I think that a lot of the problems with brats in restaurant stems from the fact that so few parents now seem to want to teach their kids proper dinner ettiquette. You know; how to sit up at table; ask for stuff to be passed; use indoor voices; ask if they can get down...

My parents never let up on table manners and behaving at dinner;

Therefore, when they took us to restaurants, it basically became an extension of the dinner table so we did all those things automatically; coupled with the fact that we respected our parents and the rules they laid down, and knew the consequences of stepping out of line.

I am going to have to somewhat disagree with you here. My parents were not big on etiquette. We had our elbows on the table. We sometimes slouched in our chairs. We interrupted each other. I come from a very talkative family, so that last part was the norm with us. And, naturally, we talked, sometimes very animatedly.

But despite etiquette not being enforced, there was a line, and we all knew where it was. Other diners might not have liked our boisterous conversations, but they were not screaming matches. We started screaming or running around like wild children, my father would end that really quickly, either with a death glare, a somewhat raised voice, a scarier very quiet voice, or a smack to the rear. He had three children, not one, and he could keep us all in line because we (a) respected our parents and (b) feared the hell out of our father.

I believe that you can be well-behaved without being a slave to Miss Manners. Many children are. I have no problem with active children. It's the out of control ones I want to impale and roast on a spit over mesquite.

Which brings us to a side story that I have told in CS.com before: one day years ago, I was on break out of uniform at the restaurant I worked at, sitting down at a table in the dining room eating. Suddenly these two ten year old boys go SCREAMING past me at Mach 2. "Typical fucking kids with lousy parents," I thought.

I was wrong.

Right after they went hauling ass past my table, an adult (not huge, about my size) who was apparently with their party (one of their fathers, uncles? I don't know....but definitely an authority figure to these kids) came up behind these two boys, clamped a firm hand down on a shoulder of each one, and said in a quiet but very firm voice, "This is a public restaurant. You will conduct yourselves...accordingly." The threat was implicit in his voice, and the boys immediately went limp under his firm grasp and commanding stare, and quietly went with him back to their table. He was my newest hero, and he still is! These boys clearly respected this man, but were also just as clearly scared shitless of the repercussions of not listening to him. Kids WILL occasionally be kids, even the best of them, but a good parent can almost always get them back under control.

To paraphrase Gordon Gecko, "Fear is good." Children SHOULD have some fear of their parents. It makes for better discipline. Hell, one of the reasons I am such a hard worker at my jobs is because I am scared SHITLESS of being fired, although in my adult life I have only ever been fired from one job. (Let's not talk about the three newspaper routes I got canned from as a young teen.....)

Yeah, some people may think it's not polite for my sister to let my 5 year old nephew play his DS during dinner - but it generally keeps him occupied and quiet.

Another reason I don't stand too much on proper etiquette. Is a DVD player or video game at the table proper, according to etiquette? Probably not. Does it keep a lot of kids from bouncing off the walls and causing heaps of strife for their parents and other diners? Hell yes. So I say, let the kids have them! Hell yes!

Take off landing, ok... but the 8 hour WHOLE TRIP?!

Yes I have been on one of those flights.

Now you have me worried. I am flying across the country in two weeks, and really am going to need to sleep on the outbound flight. I swear if there is a screaming kid on that flight, I will throw him out of the plane myself, no matter what the altitude. So far in my life I have been lucky to have not had to deal with that bad a situation on a plane, but I wonder how long my luck in this can hold?

[Jester]

Has anyone read the comments left on the story?

After I finished my post here, I went to the link specifically to read the comments, but I didn't see any there. So....where are they?

[Racket_Man]

Take off landing, ok... but the 8 hour WHOLE TRIP?!

Yes I have been on one of those flights.


.

maybe not an 8 hour flight but 4 was enough long enough for me. flew from San Fran to Chicago. youngish baby literally screamed the whole flight. even my CD player cranked up to the MAX could not totaly shut the sound out. he quieted down 15 minutes before landing

[Lace Neil Singer]

The wetherspoons, back when smoking sections existed, had a rule laid down that no kids were allowed in the smoking sections. It used to be very entertaining to watch parents arguing with the bar staff over that rule; kind of like dinner with a show.

I don't mean that kids should be straitjacketed and gagged during dinner, but it's surely not unreasonable to suggest that they sit up at table, use indoor voices and don't screech like banshees.

Lol @ "screamasaurus". XXD I shall be using that word forever after now.

[IDrinkaRum]

After I finished my post here, I went to the link specifically to read the comments, but I didn't see any there. So....where are they?

It looks like they've disabled the comments? I'm not sure why. Yesterday evening there were like 22 pages of comments!

Does anyone know why the comments are no longer being displayed?

[Skelly]

It looks like they've disabled the comments? I'm not sure why. Yesterday evening there were like 22 pages of comments!

Does anyone know why the comments are no longer being displayed?

I'm thinking that the comments may not have been what they wanted. It's pretty common over here for newspapers to delete their comments on political stories...usually when people point out inconsistencies, bias and flat-out lies from the journalists.

[Jester]

The wetherspoons, back when smoking sections existed, had a rule laid down that no kids were allowed in the smoking sections.

That seems to have been the exception, though, not the rule, it seems.

I don't mean that kids should be straitjacketed and gagged during dinner, but it's surely not unreasonable to suggest that they sit up at table, use indoor voices and don't screech like banshees.

Not at all unreasonable!

Lol @ "screamasaurus". XXD I shall be using that word forever after now.

I aim to please!

I'm thinking that the comments may not have been what they wanted. It's pretty common over here for newspapers to delete their comments on political stories...usually when people point out inconsistencies, bias and flat-out lies from the journalists.

Or inconsistencies, bias, and flat-out lies from some of the other commenters!

[IDrinkaRum]

Opposing opinions to Old Salty's stand on screaming children

The one for the policy is written by a woman.

The one against the policy is a man who has an autistic son.

Even the dad of the Autistic son is saying it's discrimination against those with autism.

OMFG.

Will these people fraking wake up and smell the coffee?

I do not expect everyone to cater to me because I have an autistic child. That's what these people are doing.

What is wrong with these people? Or am I a bad momma because, knowing the obstacles my daughter faces in her life, if she can at least behave in public, that's one less worry for her?

These idiot people need to get a grip.

[Boozy]

The opposing viewpoint seems to boil down to "Some other people are assholes, so I can be an asshole too."

As if society's only option is to put up with assholery in some form at all times.

He also states that the reason his child is annoying is due to autism, but no one else has an acceptable excuse -- immediately after using the example of some elderly people who tend to shout.

Perhaps they're hard of hearing, sir?

Why is autism an acceptable reason for your child to raise their voice, but age-related hearing loss is not?

I agree that people should expect to put up with some mild annoyances when they leave their homes. And I've always said that people who go to McDonald's on a Saturday afternoon and expect a quiet meal are ridiculous. But there's nothing wrong with a restaurant's attempts to foster an atmosphere by prohibiting loud children.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I find that a lot of of these people expect the world to bend over backwards for their children; not for their kids to work around the rest of the world. Basically, they're just being the same entitlement whores we all know and hate, cept they're bleating "Wah wah! My child's autistic!" as an excuse. If it wasn't their autistic child, it would be something else. And I have to wonder how many of these kids are correctly diagnosed; they could just be brats and their parents need an excuse for poor parenting.

[Jester]

But there's nothing wrong with a restaurant's attempts to foster an atmosphere by prohibiting loud children.

That's what makes me laugh. The restaurant is NOT prohibiting loud children.

It's prohibiting screaming children.

There's a huge difference.

Lord knows that my sisters and I when we were kids (and yes, now) would never have been described as "quiet." We were talkative, vocal, opinionated, and even somewhat argumentative with each other. And to a degree, my parents tolerated that, and most people didn't seem to mind, because we were just kids being kids.

What we were NOT doing, and what "kids being kids" is NOT, is screaming our fool heads off, screeching, wailing, whatever you want to call it. Because (a) that wasn't our style, and (b) if we decided to have a screaming tantrum, our father's hand would find the offending party's ass at a very high velocity.

On the autistic thing, I wonder if these people use that excuse if/when they bring their autistic children into a library. "Oh, you are just discriminating against my child because he's autistic." No, lady, we're telling you that this is a fucking library, and everyone has to be quiet, you dumb shit.

"But restaurants are different." Some are, some aren't. If a restaurant, which is a privately-owned business that can set their own policies, states that they do not tolerate screaming children, guess what? You can't have your child screaming in there. Just like a fucking library. Only with better food, one would hope.

[IDrinkaRum]

On the autistic thing, I wonder if these people use that excuse if/when they bring their autistic children into a library. "Oh, you are just discriminating against my child because he's autistic." No, lady, we're telling you that this is a fucking library, and everyone has to be quiet, you dumb shit.

How much you want to bet that if this was 10 years ago, Ms. Chambliss would screech how the restaurant was discriminating against her child with ADHD?

I know my daughter is autistic because I took her to a developmental pediatrician. The county where we live also gave her a psychological exam. Both were in agreement and a diagnosis of autism was given to us. I don't have the official documentation to carry around, but I can give them the name of the doctor we are seeing and have the people talk to them if they are so inclined.

I do not want my daughter treated differently than other children just because she is autistic. I might be a little overprotective, but I want her to enjoy herself like other kids. However, I do not tolerate her screeching either at home or in public. But I seem to be in the minority when it comes to all those parents out there who think that autism = screeching behavior and nothing can be done about it.

[Peppergirl]

If it wasn't their autistic child, it would be something else.

QFT!!!

And meanwhile, good and responsible parents of autistics (like Rummy) get to see shit like this and seethe.

And you're right, Lace - if it wasn't Autism it would be something else as an excuse.

It was fashionable back when my kids were little to have them diagnosed as ADHD. My youngest is/was. Did this give me an excuse to let him run wild and scream and disrupt the restaurant? According to this disgusting new breed of entitlement whore parent, I guess it would have.

[DGoddess]

I do not want my daughter treated differently than other children just because she is autistic. I might be a little overprotective, but I want her to enjoy herself like other kids. However, I do not tolerate her screeching either at home or in public. But I seem to be in the minority when it comes to all those parents out there who think that autism = screeching behavior and nothing can be done about it.

I think you can thank television for the stereotypical image of the autistic screamer who can't communicate.

You have some people who aren't around children with special needs, and what they see on television is only what they see, so in their minds, that's an accurate depiction.

So when they actually get out in public and see that not all special needs children are either deaf/dumb or constant screechers, this disrupts their sense of "known reality" and their brains cannot process that television is not always accurate.

Their brains don't have a clue as to what the family of a special needs person has to go through on a daily basis and the majority of them never will, sad to say.

In which case, you can simply smile and mentally tell them to go fly a kite.