I haven’t heard this happening in the Philippines but there are plenty of stories in the US about young children’s behavior in public places.
An owner of Macy’s Diner in Maine got furious at a two-year old crying for 40 minutes at her diner. At first, the owner offered take out bags to the parents and asked them to leave saying, “Either you guys need to go, or she does.”
The mother, Tara Carson, said that they wished to leave but it was raining outside. So they stayed on the diner.
However, the baby keeps on crying. Thinking that the parents are not doing anything to make their child stop crying, the owner took the matters in her own hand. She slammed her two hands on the table, pointed to the 2-year-old and the crying stopped.
The owner and the mother continued the battle in social media with the netizen taking sides.
The owner won’t apologize and seems proud when defending her actions. “Sorry isn’t the right word. I might have used poor judgement. I wouldn’t say I was sorry, because it stopped. When things stop, it’s usually a good thing.”
What surprises me are the mixed reactions in the Facebook comments. Some were defending the parent saying it was not right for the owner to shout at a 2-year old. While, others are defending the owner saying the parents should have disciplined their child better.
As a parent, I won’t let anyone scream at my child. It means two things to me.
First, it means that I find the owner’s action inappropriate. I find it rude for anybody to shout at another person’s child. I have seen parents with their children throwing tantrums in public places. I do find that annoying but I won’t make any judgement about them. Moreso, I won’t shout at the kid to shut up.
Second, it means that I would avoid situations that may upset others of my child’s behavior which may lead to situations such as this. We had instances that Gab is starting to make a scene or is not in the mood and would just cry like a car alarm. We would stay away from the crowd until he would feel better. There was even one time we decided to go home instead. And many times, we had to turn down dinner invitations because we can’t leave Gab alone at home.
It’s hard to tell who is right and who’s wrong. Etiquette consultant Rachel Isgar tells Yahoo Parenting that it was a no-win situation. “Since it escalated this high, everybody just has to move on at this point and learn from the mistake.”
How about you parents, what do you think?
