When my daughter was about three years old, we went to a very nice restaurant in Dallas, the kind of place that requires a reservation and even with a reservation has a one-hour wait for a table. My sister had gotten us a gift-card to eat there and we were so excited. The only problem was that we didn’t take into account the one-hour wait. My hyperactive (and starving) little girl started to meltdown about 15 minutes into the wait. Oh, boy. We knew we were going to have a problem. However, we wanted so badly to enjoy an evening out, so we were determined to make it work. I pulled a granola bar and tried to coax my daughter with it. She was having none of it, preferring instead to run around the lobby. By the time we were seated, she was screaming and laughing. At one point, she escaped our table and was ducking underneath the tablecloths of nearby tables.
We finally just threw in our cards and with a laugh, told the server to pack our order to go before it ever got to the table. We enjoyed our meal at home. No way could we subject every other diner to our daughter’s meltdown. On the contrary, there are parents like the guy in the story below. We don’t know if it actually happened, but it’s been going around on social media so we wanted to pass it on. We applaud the other customers!
(A father is letting five kids make a complete mess of the restaurant. They’re ripping napkins and using it as confetti, breaking chopsticks and screaming their little heads off)
Me: “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to tell them to stop doing that. They are disturbing the other customers.”
Father: *beaming* “No.”
Me: “No, as in, no you won’t tell them to stop it?”
Father: *still beaming *”Yes.”
(I have to get back to work at this point and sure enough, the kids keep misbehaving. Several customers complain to me but I have no authority to throw them out. The last to complain is a table with about eight young guys.)
Customer 1: “So there’s nothing you can do about them?”
Me: “I’m so very sorry sir, but no. I can get you a drink from the house to make up for it.”
Customer 2: “No, that won’t do.”
Me: “Well, I can see if I can get you a free dessert…”
Customer 2: “Not what I meant. Can’t you get your boss?”
Me: “I’m afraid he’s not in, sir.”
Customer 1: “Well we won’t accept any free stuff. I bet that would come out of your pay.”
Customer 3: “Hold on…”
(The customer gets up and the others immediately follow him to the noisy, messy table. They’re now surrounded by eight tall young men who look mighty pissed.)
Customer 3, to the father: “Tell them to stop it.”
Father: *still beaming* “No.”
Customer 1: “You’re upsetting the waitress.”
Father: “Do you guys even work here?”
Customer 1: “No, we’re from that prison up the street. We’re out on parole. Funny coincidence, we all served seven years for kidnapping and murdering a bunch of noisy brats and a jerk who made minimum-wage waitresses cry.”
(At this point the kids become very, very quiet and the other patrons start giggling and staring)
Father: “You’re lying.”
Customer 4: “Wanna take that chance, buddy?”
(One more lecherous grin was enough to send the whole bunch of misfits scurrying to the exit. My knights in shining armor actually got applause from the other diners and a free meal from me)
