Are People Who Hate Kids Jerks?Article

[guywithashovel]

I don't think the idea of having some childfree spaces is a bad idea, either. I'm talking about some spaces in restaurants where children aren't allowed, things like that. Heck, I'm sure even many parents would appreciate those. Surely they wouldn't mind having a nice evening in the company of other adults where "adult conversation" could be done. On a similar note, many people love their significant others, but still enjoy going out with the boys/girls every so often.

[jackfaire]

I decided to reply to the article as a parent myself and point out things I did when my daughter was just a baby.

1) Keeping her calm on flights as best I could.

2) Taking her outside when she got upset so that the other patrons could enjoy their meal/movie and then bringing her back in when she calmed down.

It's simple consideration for others.

To any other parent that felt they shouldn't have to do these things I ask, "Then why do you complain when someone starts talking on their cell phone in the movie I mean after all why should they have to leave the theater just because your being inconvenienced"

[Lace Neil Singer]

Exactly. I'm not saying that all parents and children should be rounded up and locked up, or banned from all public spaces. All I ask is a little consideration for others.

[PepperElf]

for me it depends... mainly on how old the kid is and how much he or she is screaming.


if a kid is screaming and he or she is too young to really know any better... even if it annoys me I try my best to be tolerant.

but when they're a little bit older and they KNOW the screaming - especially the ear-piercing kind - is annoying everyone else, but they're still doing it... thats when I try to avoid them cos... the shit that I think of saying to them would land me in jail.

[jackfaire]

for me it depends... mainly on how old the kid is and how much he or she is screaming.


if a kid is screaming and he or she is too young to really know any better... even if it annoys me I try my best to be tolerant.

For me the parent knows better. I get that the kid is upset and can't help it but like I did the parent can and should remove their child from a situation that is upsetting them and calm them down.

Not doing so is not only rude to the other patrons but also neglect as far as I am concerned.

Continuing your meal while make half hearted remarks to your child is like telling them "shhhh" while trying to finish your show instead of trying to help your child in your own living room.

That child is crying because they need you for something.

[Racket_Man]

the slightly "evil" side of Bill Cosby from "Himself" in a bit called Jeffery
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs0cYJUqJys

note that this is a comedian doing a routine but......

10 years ago I was on a flight from San Fran to Chicago (4 hour flight) and some baby or young kid cried and screamed for the first 3 hours of the flight. even with my CD player's volumn turned all the way up I could not block out the screams. Really annoying. parents did not seem to be doing anything.

[Gravekeeper]

10 years ago I was on a flight from San Fran to Chicago (4 hour flight) and some baby or young kid cried and screamed for the first 3 hours of the flight. even with my CD player's volumn turned all the way up I could not block out the screams. Really annoying. parents did not seem to be doing anything.

Heh, I remember that bit. I love Cosby's old stuff. It was before my time, but the stories and the humour are timeless really.

But yeah, I don't hate kids, I hate kids that are disturbing others because their parents suck. I hate the parents too. But I hate the kids pre-emptively because they're probably going to grow up like their parents. ;p

[PepperElf]

For me the parent knows better. I get that the kid is upset and can't help it but like I did the parent can and should remove their child from a situation that is upsetting them and calm them down.

Not doing so is not only rude to the other patrons but also neglect as far as I am concerned.

Continuing your meal while make half hearted remarks to your child is like telling them "shhhh" while trying to finish your show instead of trying to help your child in your own living room.

That child is crying because they need you for something.

very true. although i do know sometimes there's not much a parent can do.

i've had a couple of customers who just had kids who were too young to know better... and the parent really didn't have any place to go. yes i know they could have left but i also know it's not easy getting time set aside to go to my store to get the computer fixed. (mainly cos we're the only one in like 50 miiles i think).

[Lace Neil Singer]

To me, as I have said before, it's the amount of effort the parents are making to quiet their child that matters. If someone is trying their hardest to shush a crying child and getting no response, I tend to feel more sympathetic than if they're just tuning the screaming out and inflicting their child's noise on others around them.

I remember once when I used to work on checkouts; it was a Saturday afternoon and I was counting down the hours til I could go home, when a father appeared with a child around school age. The child was screaming with a high pitched shriek, obviously done on purpose, and grinning from ear to ear. I thought my head was going to explode from the noise and I did in fact have a splitting headache as a result.

A customer tapped the father on the shoulder and complained about the shrieking. The father replied, "Oh, it's just happy noise."

That is the kind of attitude which really gets on my wick. I don't give a rat's arse if your child's noise is happy, sad or indifferent; if you are in a public place and your child is shrieking, then you do what you can to shut them up out of respect and consideration for everyone else nearby. Especially those who are trapped behind their checkouts and can't leave and get away from your child's screeching.

The amount of times I have wanted to do exactly this... well, I lost count years ago. XD

[Rageaholic]

You know, a lot of the time, the annoyance comes from the parents either overreacting from something minor the kid is doing or from the parents ignoring the kid when a simple answer would shut them up.

I remember once I was at the store, or somewhere, and some kid was lightly tapping something. It barely made a noise, but the reaction the mother had made much more of a commotion than what the kid was doing. While there are some parents who think their kids can get away with murder, there are others who overreact.

Then there was a time when a kid was asking his mother for her book. She kept asking and asking and asking, but mom would not answer her daughter. What made this so annoying was how easily this could have been resolved, but because mommy was on the cell phone, she couldn't simply answer her daughter.

I try not to blame the parents too much since they get blamed for everything their kid does wrong, but I've seen some real facepalm inducing reactions from parents.

[jackfaire]

very true. although i do know sometimes there's not much a parent can do.

Circumstances do need to be taken into account and a frazzled parent trying to calm their child while they wait in line because they need this done today is a lot easier to be patient of.

Those are also times where I am more about get in take care of my business and get out. The remove your child from the situation more applies in situations designed for enjoyment.

In those cases often you are out with another adult who can hold the seats while you calm the child. You will be applauded for attending to your child.

My ex-wife and I were at a chain seafood restaurant as one of the few times we got out when my daughter was young. Unable to find a sitter we took her with us on the understanding we would trade off who would handle her fussing. Throughout the meal she only fussed twice and both times one of us would take her outside.

When it came time to pay the check it turned out another couple had already done so out of appreciation for how we handled our daughter.

I know that seems like "Nuh uh no way" but it was a military town that existed to support the fort I was stationed at and people would do little things like that.

[PepperElf]

actually... i can believe it.

i've seen guys come back from liberty all surprised cos they were wet-behind-the-ears sailors and some vet picked up their tab just cos he wanted to treat the newbs.


and mom & dad had their own story from the early 70s... back when this wouldn't raise red-flags-from-hell.... they went out to some restaurant with sis, and some older man picked her up, called her "pickles" and walked her around the restaurant and entertained her for a while... to give Mom & Dad some 'adult conversation time'



now as a quick side note... back in my apartment from hell in va beach... the one family with a crying baby ...even with the baby noise i was never bothered by it. i figured "it's a baby - it eats, it poops, it cries". not much you can do to stop that.... now the other neighbors who would scream at each other, or have loud sex... those were the ones i wished would go far far away and die in a fire. cos they COULD control their noise.

[jackfaire]

those were the ones i wished would go far far away and die in a fire. cos they COULD control their noise.

1) yeah I miss the service at times *sighs*

2) Yeah when I first moved in with my mom I insisted on getting the garage because I wanted to maintain the illusion of having my own place, I will admit feels a bit like being a loser having to be here, but after a year of listening to the neighbors in the other garage fight in ways that well they should be on trial for human rights violations I got tired of it.

[Nyoibo]

when a father appeared with a child around school age. The child was screaming with a high pitched shriek

A customer tapped the father on the shoulder and complained about the shrieking. The father replied, "Oh, it's just happy noise."

Yeah, not happy noise, being a brat noise, happy noises like that are when the kids just learning its voice can make all sorts of sounds and they're experimenting, and those noises are actually cute.

[jackfaire]

Yeah, not happy noise, being a brat noise, happy noises like that are when the kids just learning its voice can make all sorts of sounds and they're experimenting, and those noises are actually cute.

Happy noises are like when my daughter was around that age and she would puff up her chest and proudly declare to anyone that would listen "That's my daddy"