Keep on rollin’
Something went down in San Francisco. It involved a restaurant, a stroller and a some parents who wrote the word “entitled” on a piece of paper and then rolled it up into a teeny, tiny ball and then shoved it up their assholes. You can read the whole story here on Inside Scoop SF, and here is the email that started the whole thing:
The impetus for my email to you is because of an experience that I had last night with some friends. My husband and I traveled into the city to meet 2 friends who had just had a baby 4 months ago. We chose to go to (a popular restaurant). I have dined a few times over the years and have always loved it.
The bottom line is that someone who I think was the manager refused our party service, in part because of the baby stroller. We arrived at the restaurant at roughly 6:15 pm, and put our names on the list (party of 4 plus baby stroller). Upon doing a quick scan of the restaurant, which we realized had limited seating options, my friend (the baby’s mom) had informed the wait staff that she had a stroller and specifically noted that only one table looked like it would accommodate the stroller, out of harm’s and traffic’s way. This table is adjacent to the door and a convenient little alcove. The wait staff told her that it was no problem and that they would be able to accommodate the stroller.
After waiting about 35 minutes, the staff called a party of 3 who had actually arrived after us. This party of 3 was seated at the only table that would accommodate a baby stroller. Shortly thereafter, our names were called. It was clear that the table would not be able to accommodate the stroller. The manager suggested that we order food to go. As an accommodation, I believe she also suggested that the mom either hold the baby while eating or put the main baby compartment with the baby in it on the floor.
Realizing that none of our options were viable, my husband asked the table of 3 if they would consider swapping tables with us in light of the baby stroller. They agreed to move. We sat down at our respective tables, and the manager came to our table telling us that she had decided not to serve us that night. She said it was inappropriate for us to approach another table. We told her we were particularly appalled because her wait staff knew early on that we had a stroller. The manager claims that the party of 3 was irritated that they had to move.
My question is, were we out of line here?
Here is the short version:
- People with stroller waited for a long time at a busy restaurant.
- They wanted a certain table.
- Someone else got the table.
- Stroller people asked those people to move.
- Restaurant kicked some stroller people ass out.
Woo hoo!! Since the “victims” sent an email to to the restaurant explaining how they felt they were shat upon and since this is the age of social media, we also get to dump on them with our two cents. Basically, they went to a really crowded restaurant that had no room for a stroller and they wanted the one and only table that would accommodate them. She says that “this table is adjacent to the door and a convenient little alcove.” Well, la-di-da, that probably means that other people were waiting for that table too. What do we want to bet that the stroller was bigger than a mid-town Manhattan studio and had an iPad attached to it? I understand that someone told them they could have that table but maybe someone else had already told the three-top that they could have it? Or maybe the restaurant decided they didn’t want a big ass SUV of a stroller right next to the fucking front door. She says it would be out of the way, but parents always think their shit is out of the way. Out of the way in the same way that people put a high chair at the only part of the table that allows the server access to it? Uh huh. We all know that “out of the way” means it’s out of your way, not out of the way of anyone else.
So they didn’t get the table they wanted and then they decide to grow a pair of balls bigger than Bea Arthur’s and approach some customers and ask them to move. Now, I wasn’t there to hear it, but I think it went something like this:
Stroller People: Hello. That’s a real nice table y’all are sitting at. Why look at that alcove there. It would be prefect for our stroller.
Regular People: That’s a stroller? I thought it was a mini van. What the fuck do you need that thing for. The baby looks like it weighs about 10 pounds.
Stroller People: Really? Ten pounds? Gee, thanks. She’s on a gluten-free and no carb diet. Her skinny jeans were getting a little tight so we thought we’d better take care of it before it became a problem. Oh, by the way, honey, it’s almost time for her third juice of her juice cleanse. So, anyway, about your table. Can we have it?
Regular People: I’m sorry, what? We just ordered our food. You want us to move?
Stroller People: That would be great. There’s a table back there by the bathroom that you can have and then we can take this great table by the door and the window. The baby needs fresh air. And then we could put the stroller in that little alcove.
Regular People: Fuck off.
Stroller People:Â Language! Anyway, we think we should have this table because, you know, we have a baby. And we’re special. Because we have a baby. You don’t have a baby, do you?
Regular People: No, but I have a dog that I’m about to go get and sic on your pretentious ass. Get the fuck away from us. You’re annoying and your baby is ugly.
Stroller People: She’s not ugly, she’s a newborn. And we have already started a bank account for any future cosmetic procedures she may want or need. Honey, can you peel of her facial mask? I think she should be exfoliated by now. So, anyway, can we have your table?
Regular People: You know what, I’m gonna go talk to the manager. You’re nuts. Excuse me.
(The Regular People get up and go find a manager.)
Stroller People: Oh, look they’re letting us have their table. Thank you, thank you so much! Okay everybody, we can sit here now. Waiter? Waiter? We need new place settings and some bottled waters. We’re in a hurry.
Two minutes later, the manager shows up and escorts the Stroller People out.
It’s so typical of so many parents to assume that the world revolves around their precious bundle of fertilized egg. It doesn’t. When these people first arrived at the restaurant and saw that it was really busy and had no room to accommodate a stroller, maybe they should have gone somewhere else. They have a baby now so things are different. Not every place is going to have a changing table or an alcove for the stroller. Your life changed when the baby fell out of the vag. Your life. Not the life of anyone else. When will entitled parents realize that they are the ones who have to make changes not us?
I know that this blog post is going to get a lot of parents’ panties in a twist but pull up your Pull-Ups and get over it. Maybe the restaurant overreacted, but I bet that the Stroller People were already pains in the ass from the second they rolled in and when they asked another table to leave it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Management saw how the rest of the time with them was going to be and decided they could go have their egg-white omelettes with turkey bacon somewhere else. You can roll that playhouse on wheels you call a stroller somewhere else. Fuck off.
Anonymous
If the Stroller People were promised that table, why should the party of 3 who arrived after get it instead? That’s the part I don’t get. Stroller People piss me off but I was on their side until the next part, when they insist the seated party move. At that point, fuck’em.
DHB
I’m sorry, BE, but I think it’s you who has a piece of wadded-up paper stuck up your ass that has “entitled” or maybe “princess” written on it.
If I were part of the party of three, I would be more than happy to move tables. I would also ask the manager why we were seated before the people who were waiting longer. It’s called “empathy.” Look it up.
Furthermore, if the larger group was forced to leave because it’s just too damn inconvenient for the staff to accommodate them, I would leave, too; and never come back. There are thousands of other restaurants I can go to; I don’t need any particular one. Businesses need people, not the other way around, Mr. Entitlement.
Marsha Cowan
I am a mother of four, and a grandmother of 6, and I totally agree with all you are saying. Many people go to restaurants to get away from the the drudgery of everyday life, to relax, to enjoy conversations that are not on a sixth grade level, and just enjoy a few moments of the day over a good meal. I am love my family immensely and am fiercely protective of them, but In public I must abide by the same social protocol as everybody else and not allow my children (or my grands) to intrude uninvited on the lives of those around us. The parents should have gone to a restaurant designed for families with children, and even without a child, to ask strangers to give up their table under any circumstances is beyond rude. Good article. Half of America already feels entitled in so many ways; let’s not add another population to that list.
Linda
I love you Bitchy Waiter. That’s all XOXO
Alyxx
It makes me happy that my restaurant is located in such a way that we just don’t get people with strollers. We aren’t on a street that gets foot traffic or in the parking lot of a shopping center, so if you want to eat there you have to drive up and park in our lot. The only foot traffic we get is from the hotels across the street, and even then I don’t think I have ever seen a stroller. We just get giant car seats and people who insist on placing high chairs in the aisle even after we remove a chair from the table so they can place their beloved infants out of harms way instead of in a place that makes it likely they might get tripped over by someone with a heavy tray of hot food.
Outraged
I’ve been to places where parents with strollers think they’re entitled to whatever and everyone else is out of luck. I am outraged that the family with the stroller made three other people move from their assigned seats so that they can be entitled. Does not work that way and I am glad to read the management kicked the family out for acting like spoiled brats. They should have had the children out of the strollers if the family had wanted to eat there, therefore, the family is out of luck.
vern
If these strollers are so big, maybe Michael Cera could play chess on top of them.
Brittiny
Okay, while I don’t think people with kids should have to forgo eating at a restaurant…I don’t ever take the stroller in! If the child can’t hold its head up, then I take in the carseat after making sure the restaurant has high chairs that the seat fits on. A stroller, even a smallish one seat stroller, is too big for most restaurants! And if my child CAN sit in a high chair on their own, I just take the kid in and ask for the same high chair, but sit the child in it properly, instead of sitting the carseat on top. More than likely, (as this is how I would usually handle the same situation as a hostess) the servers/hosts probably said they would do their best to accommodate, or one said yes to the alcove, and another seated it without communicating…either way…
Shay
There are a lot of assumptions being made about the author of the e-mail. Assumptions which support a certain attitude, but which none the less are not confirmed details.
For instance, it was assumed this woman had a “HUGE STROLLER”. Nobody alluded to the size of the stroller in the original mail, so there is no way to know if it was ungainly and large or not. I know of many strollers which are quite slim and light, which many parents I have met take specifically when going out someplace where they need a more adaptable device. Perhaps it was a very small, easily accommodated stroller? You don’t know this.
Being told you can be accommodated at a specific table and then people who come in AFTER you get sat at the table? That is plenty reason enough to be frustrated and I would have asked for the manager at that time. I don’t see that as “entitled”. I see that as a reasonable circumstance in which one might get upset and want the situation rectified.
I do not think it is rude to politely ask another human being if they are willing to help you out. We in America like to think we all live in our little bubbles and only someone in management/authority can be allowed into that bubble and all else are rude INTERLOPERS. Come on, they were human beings asking other human beings to help them out. The party of 3 could have said no, but they said yes, and everyone could be accommodated. Win-win. For the management to then refuse to serve these people…I think that was making a mountain out of a molehill.
I also think in America, people often have the attitude that bearing children means suddenly entering another world where dining and entertainment is closed off to you unless you shove your child onto a babysitter or nanny. In other countries, children are treated like the part of the culture they are, and are brought along and included in life, not treated as burdensome accessories that you can only trot out at the bouncy house. I think we would have much better socialized little citizens in our children if we treated them like people instead of this “other”.
And by the way, I have no kids. Childless by choice. I would have given up my seat in a heartbeat if it meant these people could have their child with them at dinner. Why wouldn’t I? Any other response is frankly selfish.
Marsha Cowan
We had better children years ago when they were taught their place in life which was that they were children, not in charge, not needing to be catered to, not needing to be always heard and talked to and pampered. Kids were better people when they were taught how to do chores at a young age to help out the family, when they had to go outdoors to play, gather wood to keep the fires going, sit and snap beans or shuck corn with the adults so they could eat, and help fill the wringer washer on wash day so they would have clean clothes. That is what including children in everyday life is all about, not catering to them at a restaurant where they can intrude on the lives of others without being called out for it. Make real people out of them by doing some of the above before taking them in public, then people in our society won’t cringe so much at the sight of your “little darling” coming into the restaurant, and grow some manners so you won’t find yourself in the embarrassing position of asking strangers to accommodate you because you are an atrocious me first person. I am the mother of 4, and grandmother of 6 who is told every where I go that my offspring were welcomed because they were so well behaved and unobtrusive, but that is because they had been raised right and were self sufficient, confident little people who do not have the need to be seen by everyone everywhere they went. They knew their place as children, and now they know their place as adults with careers in education, marketing, sports, and accounting. That is what including them in everyday society is really about.
Mike
Who the hell in their right mind would take their 4 month old to ANY restaurant??? Especially one with limited seating. Hello, that’s what take out is for, or better yet, DELIVERY. KTHXBAI!
PS, I have two kids.
Mike-
Emma
I work in a very family friendly establishment (Kids eat free, colouring sheets, the works). Anyways, we have a few tables the can kind of accommodate those monstrosities people call strollers nowadays. You cannot have your stroller at your booth. Sorry, we won’t let it happen. We’re in a suburban area where most people drive, so it’s not usually a problem, but I’ve seen a few people throw fits about it. One of those small, collapsable ones, sure you can fold it up and it’s not in the way. Put your kid in a carseat (especially because the car seats are usually built into those massive ones) and put the car seat on an extra chair or next to you at the booth. SERIOUSLY, you don’t need the whole damm stroller if you’re SITTING AT A TABLE NOT MOVING.
Mary
For all the people who work in the food industry who have the audacity to bitch about serving the public, accommodating children or calling anyone entitled, get a fucking education, and get a job doing something else and you won’t have to bitch. Also, don’t refer to your establishment as “posh,” you are still serving the public and working for “tips and wages;” that is all.
Grace
News flash Miss Experience Virgin, having an education does not automatically equal a job in your intended field. We aren’t living in the 60s anymore. But you still have to work to live, and any job will have something to bitch about- but freedom of speech is a thing. Google it. If you don’t like the bitching, why are you here? Doing research on the real world from the lofty heights of your parents’ mansion? Clearly your condescention stems from your privilege and ignorance.
Mary
Go work in a factory. There are no babies or parents there. And, to answer your question, no; the crowded, musty, lows of my studio basement apartment. Privileged? No! But with all the things going on in the world, I love that there are people moaning about having to do, not only their job, when many people do not even have a job, but complaining about having to perform a simple aspect such as accommodating a somewhat annoying person at that job. Poor servers! Your job is so horrible! How dare me to click on a link on a facebook page where hundreds of people were already appalled by the stupidity and audacity of you fucking idiots, as shown through their many comments, and come here and feel the need to also be appalled and astounded by your stupid whining and bitching and desperate moaning. Cheers bitches!
Ryan
Go fuck yourself, you inane little bitch. Oh no, people on Facebook were appalled by something! Tell me, how’s it feel to be such a weak little cunt that words from someone you look down on hurt you?
Marsha Cowan
Excuse me, but I worked my way through college as a waitress, have a very high IQ, and did a waitressing job because I was smart enough to know that I would need the flexible hours. Most of the people that I worked with were highly intelligent people who had goals beyond the restaurant, and to whom the restaurant was just a stepping stone where they could make the most money and have the most flexible schedule. We were no less servants than the receptionist at the doctor’s or attorney’s office, or your local police and firemen, or the bank teller who hands you money. Service is service and in my 62 years on this earth and myriads of time eating at various and sundry restaurants, I have very seldom run into a bad waitress or waiter. Most are very good at their jobs, and I am a big tipper because I know that they make a third minimum wage at best because they also get tips, so most will do a good job to get a better tip. Just doing the basic job of waiting on tables is exhausting even before you add the accommodations for special needs of one kind or another, and most waiters and waitresses make special accommodations on average for about a third of their customers every day they work, so they are always hopping to get the job done in a timely manner. Cudos to all waiters and waitresses everywhere! I love you guys!
Ryan
Go fuck yourself, you inane little bitch. Oh no, people on Facebook were appalled by something! Tell me, how’s it feel to be such a weak little cunt that words from someone you look down on hurt you?
Ryan
… Ooops, totally posted that in the wrong thread. My bad!
Mary
For all the people who work in the food industry who have the audacity to bitch about serving the public, accommodating children or calling anyone entitled, get a fucking education, and get a job doing something else and you won’t have to bitch. Also, don’t refer to your establishment as “posh,” you are still serving the public and working for “tips and wages;” that it all.
mo
Once again, another person who doesn’t realize this website is called “The Bitchy Waiter”. It’s sole purpose is to be a place where we can bitch.
Yelp is that way >>>>>
EmilyH
I don’t think you understand just how tired we are at being told to “get an education.” How about you fuck right off. I have an education, you self-righteous twat. I have a bachelors degree, graduated cum laude, and my serving job PAYS for that education. You need to hop off that pulpit, pick up a tray with 4 martinis, 4 beers, and the accompanying h2o, then wind your way through a room full of tables, chairs, wandering red-hats looking for the bathroom, and squalling kids who should be at home in bed instead of being ignored by their parents. Then, and only then, will you have the necessary perception to comment with knowledge and intelligence.
Alicia
Mary here seems like a women who probably never had to put in a hard day’s work ever to survive. Good for you for working so hard.
Marsha Cowan
Yes! Yes! Yes! I am so totally in agreement with you! Being a waitress or waiter prepares you for all walks of life and all types of people you will meet there. In
Israel, all high school graduates are required to serve three years in the military before going to college. In America, I think all high school graduates should have to wait tables for at least a year before going to college or any other career.
maxi
Thank gods I work in quite a posh restaurant these days that while not actively discouraging children, isn’t the type of place that one would take childrent to. However, we do get children from time to time and as we are in a pedestrian-only part of the city this means we get pushchairs. Gah! I hate them! Our restuarant is not set up for these and half of it is cobbled anyway so impossible to push them through. Fortunately, as I said, this is a rare occurance.
Jessica Eaton
haha! I waited until I was almost 30 to have a baby (twins actually) and I worked in the service industry for a decade before that so I really do understand both sides of this argument. The one thing I will say on behalf of parents is that what might come off as entitlement might actually just be an overall sense of being overwhelmed and exausted. Those parents probably didn’t even want to go out with their friends to dinner but agreed so that they can pretend they still have some similance of a life. They were probably fighting for an hour before they left because they are both sleep deprived, overwhelmed, and under appreciated. The baby probably JUST settled down for a nap after fighting it for 3 hours. They probably wanted to keep it in the stroller so it would sleep instead of moving it and waking it up and having it scream and cry because it’s super cranky. All day they have been struggling just to stay afloat with responsibilities so when they finally get out to relax with their friends and all the sudden they can’t get a table and they can tell everyone is annoyed with them it probably just broke their hearts and they were trying to make the best of it. It’s hard being a parent! I don’t ever feel entitled, I just feel exausted most of the time.. and that means I snap easier. and when people try to help me out, I could almost cry from the appreciation I feel.
Grace
So uh, maybe hire a babysitter? Or if you don’t trust other people to do that, maybe make friends that you like going out with? Or, y’know, just don’t have kids.
anne marie in philly
“Or, y’know, just don’t have kids.”
WINNING! 🙂
Denise in WI
FYI, “similance” isn’t a word. I think you’re looking for “semblance”. Anyway, strollers are for STROLLING. You stroll the sidewalks with your kid, not in the restaurant. I don’t bring my bike in the restaurant, you should not bring your transportation, either.
Anne
We dined out many a time with our newborn, then growing baby, etc, and it never occurred to me to bring the stroller inside the restaurant. We did bring a carrier (which just required a chair) or just held the baby while we ate. Surprisingly, many people like to hold little babies (even their own), so it never seemed a problem.
If parents are now bringing strollers into the dining room, does this mean I can wheel my grocery cart in, if I want to grab a bite on the way home from the store?
Please say yes, bitchy!
The Bitchy Waiter
Yes!
Anne
Thank you! I think I will be revolutionizing the DC food scene with my shopping cart. With my dog.
ShezAnEnigma
Most people, and until now, I thought every person dining with a baby would bring in the car seat – I have never heard of bringing in the stroller.
cubbie
I’ve actually seen this happen on the local public busses as well. I’ve got bitched at a couple of times because I’d trip over them while getting on and off the bus.
Denise in WI
Ooooh, one of my HUGEST pet peeves! Parents will flip up all three sideways-facing seats and park their stroller there (intended for wheelchairs) and then plop down on another seat and put their crap on yet another seat, so two people are taking up FIVE seats! Even though our bus service has a policy against strollers, the bus drivers don’t dare say anything (and I don’t blame them) because it’s not worth the fight.
Megan
Obviously a lot of these people do not have children. “Restaurant’s have seats you don’t need a recliner”… A 4 month old baby can not sit up on his/her own. I’d hate to see what you guys would have to say if, heaven forbid a handicapped person in a wheelchair wanted seating. If you can’t accommodate a stroller, you can’t accommodate a wheelchair. The restaurant should not have told them they COULD accommodate them and have them waiting if they could not.
Scargosun
There is a huge difference between a stroller and a wheelchair. If you can’t see the difference you have lost your mind.
Ashley
“If you can’t accommodate a stroller, you can’t accommodate a wheelchair.”
Wrong. Wheelchairs are chairs. They are roughly the size of a regular chair, albeit usually a bit bigger. They can be pushed in and the persons legs fit under the table so therefore, they take up slightly more space than someone seated in a regular chair at the table. Again, they are chairs. Even standard (not gigantic) strollers are roughly twice the size of a regular chair and can’t be pushed under the table. The handles will stick out into the aisle no matter what. Wheelchairs are much more easily accommodated than strollers. See the other comment on this page about the store whose aisles met the wheelchair requirements, yet people’s strollers wouldn’t fit.
Melissa Lamb
God forbid you hold or touch that child!-George Carlin
ShezAnEnigma
Well, first, who would think it’s okay to bring the stroller into a restaurant? I think it is a safety issue. But, once they told the staff that they had a stroller and the staff acknowledged them and accepted the situation, the staff should have kept their word and seated them at the table that they asked and waited for. It was wrong of the staff to seat a group that came after them at the table they committed to the stroller people. If the stroller was a problem – they should have been told that immediately. Should they have asked the other party to move to the other table? Well, to be honest – once the other patrons were sat at the table that the staff committed to the stroller people, if I were the stroller people I would have left. That was a personal decision the stroller people made, to ask. If the other party did not want to move, they should have said no. The manager was wrong to not serve the stroller people, because – in all honesty – when they arrived they said they had the stroller – and again – the staff agreed it was okay and they could have that table – so, they lost credibility as a service staff. They made a verbal agreement then went against it. With no word to the stroller people that they had changed their minds. I hate disruptive guests. But one thing my manager always said “If you tell a guest you are going to do something, bust your ass to get it done.” _ the stroller people only had the word of the staff that they could have that table – a table they waited for. They were not given a reason why they didnt get that table. They were then sat at a table that did not accommodate their party’s needs. They have a right to be upset. And the manager that made that decision should apologize. maybe the manager did not actually know that the stroller party had made their needs known upon arrival and were assured they could be accommodated. Maybe it was a lack of communication between he staff and the manager?
Lisa, Colorado, USA
Entitled. Typical. What you should leave is not 30% of your crappy bill. In light of the fact that your kids are not ordering and you are taking up a table that could accomodate 6 people that might actually order several courses and bottles of wine or mixed drinks because they are not under pressure to get in and out before the kids have a meltdown, while your kids are eating the food you brought from home for them and the server will still have to clean up your (free) mess, you should be leaving 25% of whatever that server SHOULD have made off that large table before you set up camp with your brood. In other words, you should get a sitter, order takeout or stay home. You relinquished the right to dine “like everyone else.” YOU had kids, not everyone else. “Babies sometimes require strollers,” yes, that is true…on the sidewalk…not in a restaurant. “Parents are here to stay”? Um, “parents” have been around a lot longer than your whiny, clueless, entitled ilk, and so have babysitters. Get one. This article was not about unruly children in restaurants, it was about their clueless parents.
Scargosun
Love the back and forth between stroller people and regular people! Too funny. I worked in retail at a place that rhymes with Lottery Yarn and the looks I would get from people when their giant strollers got caught on things was just lovely. I mean, we already made sure we followed ADA guidelines for wheelchairs, if a BABY stroller could not fit what the ef?!
Karin Wolchko
If they saw the place was busy and there wasn’t alot of table options when they arrived, they should have gone elsewhere right at the beginning. Maybe the place did seat another 3 top ahead of them. Mistakes happen. If they were that bent on eating there, they could have folded the thing up & held the child. My question is……WHY OH WHY WOULD YOU BRING A 4 MONTH OLD OUT WITH YOU FOR DINNER AT PEAK DINNER HOUR IN A STROLLER?
Oh and can you say ball-zie…to ask complete strangers to change tables…….2 words for ya
GRANDMA & BABYSITTER
Theresa
When my husband and I had twins, we took them (perhaps they were 5 months old) and our then 5 and 7 year old daughters to a busy restaurant to eat. Why not? Having children and the required gadgets and logistical items does not mean we cannot have a life and dine like everyone else.
We asked for and received a large table, where we secured the car seats to the child booster seats the restaurant provided. At one point, we even fed our twins from jarred baby food, as our other children happily and quietly colored in coloring books we had brought. No mess. No yelling or wandering kids. We had raised our children to behave properly in social settings. And no screaming babies. Had one child or baby been loud even once, one of use would have left the establishment with the offending child and the other children, and the other would have settled the bill. The last thing we would have done would have been to allow our children to diminish the dining experience of other customers. I realize we may not be the norm.
That particular day, we had no less than one person from from 3 different tables near us come up to us at some point and tell us how refreshing it was to see well-behaved children, and parents who were not afraid to live a normal life despite what must be great difficulty taking two babies out to dinner.
Please do not assume that all or even most parents are lugging around minivan-sized strollers and are so stupid or as you say, “entitled,” that they cannot see or simply do not care if their stroller is in the way. Most parents I know are very aware that when we enter a restaurant with children and equipment, the wait staff is giving us the evil eye and praying we are not sat in their section.
Even when my children grew older, I could see waitresses cringe to see a family with 4 small children. And I can assure you that not once – ever- did one of my children have any sort of meltdown or hissy fit in any establishment we took them to.
Were I part of the couple in this story, I would not have accepted the other table. Having been promised the table by the door, I would have asked to speak with the manager the second I realized the table of 3 were being seated where we were promised to be seated. If we had been treated as poorly as the above couple, we would have simply left and never returned to said establishment. And you can bet that every person I knew, my husband knew, and our large families knew, would not have patronized that restaurant either. Nor would the establishment have received a good online rating.
Parents are here to stay, and we don’t think we should have to hide in our homes. Babies sometimes require strollers. Get used to it. We tend to tip generously. Or not. Treat a couple happy to be out of the house with their kids in tow kindly, and maybe you’d get the 30% tip I always left.
Scargosun
Perfect little angels your kids seem to be. I am not sure how considering how entitled their mother sis. I can practically sense your nose in the air at those that see your stroller as a major obstacle (patrons and waitstaff alike). There are already seats in restaurants, you do not need to bring recliners in for your kids. It is a place of business, not your living room. No one asked you to hide in your home. What people who don’t want to trip over your stroller DO ask for is common sense on your part. It seems that when some people have kids, that flies out the window. Tables are set up in a restaurant so that wait staff and patrons can move about somewhat easily, your kiddie-SUV obstructs that flow. Also, not being addressed here, FIRE HAZARD! Hello! Of course, you would not see it that way. You think we should all just kowtow to your needs because you are a “parent”. Nope. Sorry. Not going to do it. Being a parent does not entitle you to special treatment. It just doesn’t.
Heather
Your whole reply made me snort with laughter.
I have 3 small boys. They are usually pretty decent in a restaurant too as I know when to get in and get out before anyone loses their shit.
And, I’m glad you’re such an exception to the rule – I would love to wait on you with your 30% tip.
HOWEVER, it seems like a lot of parents don’t give a rats ass if I have to clean up their kids cheerios they dumped on the floor, or the rice they smashed on the table and then scraped off to the floor. Most people think they are entitled – kids or no kids – to act however they want in a restaurant.
Why you bothered to reply with your kids are perfect don’t persecute all parents bull shit is beyond me. Obviously if you don’t do the same things the couple in question did – it’s not about you and your off spring. or – I forgot – as a parent now everything is about you?
ShezAnEnigma
I too had small children and went to dine. I also had people tell me how impressed they were with my children’s behavior. I – as a server have had wild children crawling all over the booths and I have had perfect little angels. I always make sure to commend the parents of the good kids. They seem to get fewer and fewer now adays.
Marsha Cowan
No, you don’t have to hide in your home, but you would not have had to complain to a manager about your seat being given away either if you had not tried to bring a large stroller into a busy restaurant. The large stroller is the issue here (and the audacity to ask other people to give up their seat), not the fact that you are bringing a child into a restaurant. Most people have no problem with parents going out with their children for a meal. The issue is that some of those parents expect the world to give way so they can do it, instead of finding a way to eat out that is safe and practical for all concerned. Again, if there had been no large intrusive stroller, their would have been no blog post.
Stacey
I work in a restaurant where we have what we call “stroller alley” where parents can store their stroller and remove the other part (car seat) with the child. Our place doesn’t have room for a stroller with the exception of maybe 4 tables out of 110. These tables aren’t very accommodating either, but they can fit them. If a parent insists on bringing a stroller it takes up basically anywhere from 2-3 tables because we have to move them around and make them unusable. A high chair wouldn’t be a problem, but a stroller is. Thus, having the server lose tables from their section because the parent can’t “part” with the stroller. I hate entitled parents…. Any reasonable person would just remove the car seat (which most SUV strollers have, making them so big). But no, we can’t make anything reasonable happen when I am the queen of the world.
Marissa
I have refused service to a family who brought in TWO apartment sized strollers, and wanted to leave them in the middle of the restaurant while they ate. When I suggested leaving them outside on the patio, the man asked me if I was personally going to go outside and keep an eye on his $500 strollers for him. They were asked not to come back.
Robert
Man: Are you going to personally go outside and keep an eye on my $500 worth of strollers?
You: No but when your not looking I will slap a sign on them that says, “FREE!”
Wendy
LOL Robert! I like your idea. 😉
@newaitress
I applaud the restaurant. The stroller people had no business approaching the other party. if there is literally only one table that will fit your stroller you need to leave and go elsewhere. I don’t understand when parents decided they should take their kids everywhere with them. When I was a teen I had regular babysitting gigs because parents never considered dragging small children with them wherever they went. When parents went out to eat, kids stayed home with a sitter where they could be fed and put to bed at a reasonable hour.
LoriHin
I have 2 children and I have never taken my kids in a restaurant with a stroller. I think it is more work to take the stroller out of the car and set it up then to just carry the baby inside. I am a server that hates strollers in a restaurant. I have never understood it. I would say the hostesses messed up in this situation. I am glad the manager kicked them out. I think this needs to happen more often. Too may people feel they are entitled to everything.
Christie Hampton
As a mother of two, grandmother of 2 1/2, I am not offended by this in any way. The amount of “Stuff” new parents think are needed when outing with a baby is crazy. I was an offender with my first, but I never took a stroller into a restaurant, wait I don’t think we entered a restaurant for his first two years!! Some things just don’t happen any longer when you are a new parent: regular restaurant visits, haircuts, clean house, showers, staying out all night and a list that can go on and on. Probably a good thing I wasn’t the original people in the alcove, I’d been the one asked to leave.
Mike
Exactly! As a fellow parent I applaud your common sense.
Brittiny
EXACTLY! See my comment way below, but I still go to restaurants with my kids. In fact, my youngest of 2 kids is only 2 weeks old and I’ve taken him to a restaurant 3 times. A) it is a small town with family owned restaurants and I know these people. B) We never take a stroller in, only the carseat (which fits on top of a high chair) and a diaper bag (which fits under the table). If we can get the big table, then great, but if the place is just too busy to accommodate, then we tell the host/hostess that we’re sorry and that it isn’t a problem. Then we just choose to eat elsewhere that night, or order something to go. I understand that my being a parent (especially in my mid-late 20’s) does not have to cancel my social life completely and also that being a parent does not mean I have to be a major inconvenience to those around me. I understand that they are just trying to make their living and I wouldn’t want to jeopardize that. And to make matters better, I always tip extra if I do end up being an inconvenience. If my 3 year old throws a fit, if they give me the one of the big tables and then another party comes in and they no longer have any big tables to give them, etc…but I never ask for the big table specifically either…
JoyInCOS
When mine finally fell out and I would go to a restaurant, I would leave the stroller in the car and generally just go to places that had at least a booth or something that I could put her carrier and the minimalist bag with what she might absolutely need in it. If you’re too lazy to carry the kid and her stuff and have to have a m inivan to put it in, maybe you’re not quite up for the whole “parenting in a restaurant” thing.
Beth
I think the restaurant should have handled it better up front. If they told the stroller people they could have that table and then discovered they couldn’t than they should have told them that rather than trying to seat them elsewhere. A simple “I’m sorry, but the table we thought we could sit you at will not be available.” would have helped matters.
Megan
As someone who has always worked in Foodservice, I can tell you that the restaurant was very unprofessional in the way they handled things. However, I don’t agree with the parent’s decision to ask for their table. I would have, instead, raised hell for the way they did not properly handle the situation and then I would have went elsewhere.
Kathryn
Okay, maybe it’s just me, but why the hell do so many people have stroller in restaurants? Look, I’m a parent to 2 kids, and I’ve never taken a stroller into a restaurant. Oh wait, I take that back, one time we were in Tombstone and went for lunch and were far away from the car. However, the stroller was one of those umbrella ones that folds up, and I stuck it right between the chair and the wall, where no one was going to step on it except for me. Seriously, why do so many people drag strollers while going to eat?
chacha1
LOL I would love to hear this story Rashomon-style.
I really don’t understand those giant strollers at restaurants. WTF, you are moving a <20 lb infant from home to car and then from car to destination. You have to walk a block at most. Carry the damn thing.
Fanofbitchywaiter
My Mom and I were at this little country breakfast restaurant, just a very small yet busy place (great, large breakfasts!). Anyways, a double stroller was brought in by a party of about 6 adults and maybe two or three infants/small children. The thing literally took about about 1/3 to 1/2 of the available space in the middle of the resturant (yes, that small). Now to add insult to possible injury, this was in the pathway of the very busy waitresses’ access to the kitchen area. Other people sitting in the booths beside it didn’t have much room to manoeuver either.
I hate stupid people, this is a health and safety issue never mind something that pinches my last nerve.
But there was some revenge: my Mom and I were sitting at a small table just in front of their booth. We didn’t have creamers at our table so we were passed those that were at that table by another customer. When they came in halfway through out breakfast they were looking for this. Too bad, it was at my table and I wasn’t passing it back. 😉