Letters to the Editor
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Huzzah and Kudos
I have nothing but admiration for this brave barkeep, and people like him--the resturaunt owner in Chicago a few weeks back--for their brave defense of sanity. He is exactly right, just because your kids are the center of your world, doesn't mean that they have to be the center of mine and everyone else. Sadly the problem of parents and their brood extend beyond just airplanes and bars, just last night my friend and I decided to get a couple slices at the Upper West Side pizza institution Sal and Carmines (if you don't know about it, you should its the best slice in the world, no bullshit) anyhow we're sitting in the back and in comes, stroller and all, a couple and their two ritalin posterkids, who then proceeded to march up and down the very long thin counter area of S&Cs loudly chanting something along the lines of "tick-tock-tallymock" over and over again, real conversation of just quiet enjoyment of a great slice now impossible. This went on for at least five straight minutes, no interupption, I swear to god. I;m sure precious little Jake and Will (I think that was their names) had no clue how annoying their behavior was, but their goddamn parents were totally oblivious, did not even ask them once to calm down, use their "indoor voice" perhaps? So basically this got too unbearable, so we had to go. As we're leaving the fucking parents have their stroller parked across the very narrow counter area, making an easy exit impossible, and behind them, almost out the door, were three or four other adults with looks of equal distress, annoyance, homicidal rage, etc. The worst part is how oblivious the parents were to how obnoxious their behavior was, no notice or recognition of the other five or six people in the joint. "C'mon buddy I got your slice, let's go!' "Honey come out from under the table, we have to go home now.." The kids are fucking kids, they don't know any better, but the parents, what is wrong with people like this? Do they have any boundaries of acceptable behavior for their kids? I'm going to start carrying a blow-gun packed with aderol laced darts.
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Hooray for the barkeep
I have always believed in two things for which I will never accept any compromise: I believe in the absolute separation of Church and State and I believe in the complete separation of children from places where I choose to drink.
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Park Slope? Please.
Give me a break! Park Slope is for tossers.
Seriously, I went to a party at the apartment of a Pornographer once in Park Slope and (aside from the ridiculousness of the length of the subway ride out there)... ok, you are not going to believe this but it's true... he had hundreds of books in his "library" and instead of grouping them by theme or alphabetically he had them all grouped by the color of their spines. That's the one thing I always think of when I think of Park Slope.
Can we all just agree that people who live in Park Slope are just so full of shit it's pathetic? Williamsburg is even worse. If you are in your 20's and you live in either Park Slope or Williamsburg then... god don't even get me started. They should just turn the whole place into a Branch Campus of the Rhode Island School of Design.
And by the way, anybody who doesn't like children is truly a warped individual.
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How ridiculous....
...that this is even a question. When I had my daughter, I knew a lot things would change, including my social life. I am lucky enough to have a bright, well behaved little girl who tends to act better than some adults when she's out and about, so behavior is not the issue. But I do have a responsibility to my little one to act like a parent and treat her as a child, and not as a drinking buddy. I haven't seen an R-rated film in four years, and most of the beer I've consumed has been at home with my boyfriend after we put thelittle one to bed. That's what happens when you have a child. Live with it, or just don't have kids.
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What is so special about drinking alcohol?
I totally understand that ill-behaved children or crying babies can be annoying, but the article wasn't about behavior, it was that the mere presense of a child would spoil their enjoyment. The funny thing is, there wasn't any explanation as to why this could be so, other than a general charge that its not "responsible" to have a child in a bar.
So, what's so special about drinking alcohol that it shouldn't be done in the presense of children? We've been taking our daughter to bars since she was a baby, and now at five is able to chat with the bartender, order for herself, meet new people, and generally have a good time along with her parents. I think that setting aside alcohol in particular as having an adult mystique elevates it to a point that can cause abuse problems later.
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So, so tired of bad parenting...
The whole thing with indulgent parents letting their kids do whatever, whenever is really sickening. I fly a lot for business, and I have learned that it's useless to speak to the parents when, for example, their child is kicking my seat. If I find myself sitting in front of a misbehaving child who is kicking my seat or causing a lot of commotion, I turn around, make direct eye contact with the child, and politely ask him/her to stop. If asking once doesn't do the trick, I turn around again and very sternly TELL the child to stop, while raising my voice a tad. Usually this works, as children are pretty surprised that a stranger has addressed them directly. I think we need to do more of this in response to children who are allowed to behave badly: BYPASS THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS PARENTS ENTIRELY and discipline the child ourselves. Because obviously the parent is never going to do it. Hey, maybe this is the kid's only chance to be taught some manners and what it means to respect adult authority, which they will have to face a lot later in life anyway.
That said, I have only so far done this while on a plane. I have not worked up the nerve to do the same in a bar/restaurant/coffee shop. Yet.