Friday, December 2, 2011
Food & Life Power to the babies
Posted by Cliff Bostock @cliffbostock on Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 1:00 PM
- From "Safe Baby Handling Tips"
In a restaurant whose indoor seating is limited to 8 stools at that counter, there's really nowhere else to put your baby. So, as far as I can see, the rule effectively eliminates the presence of the cute little bawlers for good reason. (Presumably, there's no problem with setting babies on the picnic tables outside.)
The presence of babies and children (usually under 6) in restaurants is a perennial controversy. Over the years, a few restaurants in Atlanta have explicitly banned them, causing considerable outrage among parents. I reported on a national brouhaha over a kiddy-ban last summer at a Pennsylvania restaurant.
Now there's another storm, an intercontinental one that began in the UK. Cosmo, a large buffet-style chain restaurant, has been charging a $5 "baby tax." This has recently produced a lot of commentary there and in this country. This, from a UK blog called Stroller Derby, seems to succinctly express the way many fed-up moms feel:
[As another blogger wrote:] “Many parents feel marginalized, even bullied when they take their toddlers out to a restaurant. While they may have gotten used to fellow patrons complaining about their crying babies, being charged extra for the privilege is the last straw.”Exactly. Restaurants banning kids, airlines forcing babies to the back of the plane or splitting families up altogether. And here’s another one Yahoo sites: moms in the English town of Bath were charged $3 for bringing in baby food and not ordering off the children’s menu. After moms protested the restaurant withdrew its baby fee policy. Sheesh. What’s next? A breastfeeding tax? Or as one commenter on the Evening Standard wrote: “You might as well charge a pregnant women for taking up extra space.”
Of course, the controversy has produced the usual tirades about parents who fail to respect the serenity of other diners.
Comments (5)
Showing 1-5 of 5
I have two kids.
Babies don't need to be at restaurants until 1+ unless they're sleeping.
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regardless of your opinion on this issue the point is that a business has a choice to set guidelines within their place of buisness. its private property. if your too much of a cunt to hold your baby then dont bring the bastard in. or just dont eat at that fucking restaraunt. you liberal whores.
Laura from London says:
Is Johnny the typical product of your wonderful education system and what does he do with the space where the majority of us have their brain?
laura from london, when was the last time you went to a dentist?
anyway i can see the validity of a kid fee. someone's got to clean up the god awful mess most kids leave behind. you might think it's utterly adorable that your child is throwing cheerios around the floor like a bad maintenance day at general mills but the people who work there are definitely not amused
let me tell you about the time i spent two unpaid hours with a chemical-soaked rag trying to undo the infantile artistry of three toddlers whose parents thought it would be precious to arm them with magic markers and set them loose on our booths and tablecloths
or when i had to specially disinfect a high chair for a very picky woman who then, of course, left it (and the carpet) slathered in tomato sauce and pureed bananas
or just a couple weeks ago when a parent got VERY angry at our manager because the parent didn't notice their little angel playing right outside the kitchen door. yes i'm very sorry that one of our servers effectively kicked your child in the head but you should probably keep a fucking eye on them, shouldn't you? a restaurant is not a playground
oh yeah about three months ago a child running around the floor knocked into a server with a tray full of mixed drinks, causing about sixty dollars of glassware and liquor to go crashing around the child. thank god the kid didn't get cut, we would have been sued
just think of it as a babysitter fee. you have no more inherent right to inflict your children upon others in a restaurant as you do at a gun range, or strip club
i mean some kids are great. i know servers who receive art from children and keep it on their home fridge. i'll fetch little treats (strawberries, bits of cake too ugly to sell) free for the good ones. a little boy told me last week he likes my beard, and it made my night
but still, bad parents ruin it for everyone
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