Please don't bring sick kids to restaurants, Part 1

[Missy Vixen]

DH and I went to a local Mexican chain restaurant after taking in a showing of "Sideways" earlier this evening. (The movie is hilarious, and we recommend it.) We knew it wasn't a Fancy Place, and therefore, weren't expecting anything more than a bite to eat in pleasant and clean surroundings.

A guy entered the restaurant shortly after we received our food with (I'm guessing,) his four kids. One of the kids was coughing so hard that he promptly vomited all over the drink dispenser table. If that wasn't enough, the child then vomited on the floor in front of the cash register. By now, I'm whispering across the table to DH that we needed to leave the restaurant, and I wasn't even sure I wanted to wait for a "to go" bag for our food. We just got over 2+ weeks of flu/sinus infection, and I don't need it again. Instead of taking an obviously sick child home to bed, the father in question sat down at a nearby table and spread the food he'd just ordered out for the kids. I think we set some kind of land-speed record on our way out the door.

The manager of the restaurant told us on our way out the door that he stopped a patron two weeks ago that was changing a baby's diaper on top of one of the tables in the dining room.

I guess I'm confused.

Julie

[enigmatic]

1. Oy!

I used to own a restuarant; the stories I could tell.....

I would have left, too.

[ashmanonar]

10. heh...

"used to own a restaurant"

that tells it all, huh? unless you got out of the business for other reasons.

[enigmatic]

12. I actually left to be w/ my now Ex in Phoenix....

But if I hadn't, I probably would have sold my share sooner or later. It was so much fun in some ways, but an absolute nightmare in other ways. And I was in the front of the house, so I got to see the worst of people as customers....

[ashmanonar]

15. yep...

i wasn't sure if it was the reason or not. i worked in a restaurant all last summer, and basically am not going back. the pay was crap, and us busboys got pushed around all gdamn day by the stupid bitchy hostesses..."set up the room this way, no set it up this way"...

the owner was an old nazi too.

[don954]

2. why they do that!??????!! gota wonder...

[Bouncy Ball]

3. That poor kid.

Isn't that what everyone wants to do immediately after throwing up twice? Eat Mexican food?

Gawd. Take the poor thing home and spare everyone else the germs, please.

I can tell you right now I take my kid throwing up in public as a sign to take her home. Immediately after I clean up the mess.

I would have left, too. Ick.

[barb162]

84. yeah! probably just the smell of the food is enough to set off a

third round. Yes, the kid should be home.

[LeftyMom]

4. I can't imagine doing that

If I absolutely had to eat out and LeftyKid was sick, (if we were traveling when he became ill, or had to go soemwhere for a family emergency, for example) I'd either get drive through or leave him with LD and run in for take out. In addition to being inconsiderate to the other diners, I'm sure a kid with a sour stomach really doesn't want to smell mexican food.

The changing kids any old palce is nasty. I can't stand people who do that or who throw thier throwaway diapers on parking lots and sidewalks becaus they can't be bothered to find a trash can. Ewwwwwwww.

[REP]

5. Or to the Laundromat

Last month someone brought their sick child to the laundromat and let it wander - and vomit - where ever and didn't clean it up or remove the child. Disgusting.

[sandnsea]

6. Maybe the kid was car sick

They were traveling and bringing the kid into the restaurant was actually the best thing the parent could do. Not knowing in advance the kid was going to throw up. Who knows. Sure sounds like a peculiar situation.

[Missy Vixen]

13. Once is an accident

>Not knowing in advance the kid was going to throw up.<

Ignoring a kid that vomits twice in less than 10 minutes is deliberate.

I'd like to think that we, and every other customer in the restaurant while we were there, should have the opportunity to eat our food without hearing, seeing and smelling vomit.

Julie

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KG]

25. here's hoping a somebodys kid throws up in your shoes.

i'm sure you'll have grown-up hearty laugh over it.

[kick-ass-bob]

34. Would you stay if your kid was puking all over the place?

I know we would turn right around and walk out the door - immediately.
That's only common courtesy. Puking is the most contagious of all body functions - there is no way I would want to subject an entire restaurant to that.

[sandnsea]

53. I don't know

I don't know the circumstances of the incident so I can't make that call. Maybe this was a family living in their car and that's the only meal the other kids would have. Like I said, maybe the kid was a little car sick and actually needed to sit down and have a nice glass of water and settle down. Maybe the kid was acting out and the parent knew it. I don't know. I just don't see the need to batter people and jump to the worst possible conclusion. People around here do that far too much and it's disgusting. Much more disgusting than whatever problems that family was having that day.

[barb162]

57. I think ANY time a parent haas a vomiting kid in an eatery that

parent should get the kid out of there fast. Dining is supposed to be a pleasant experience right? Subjecting other patrons to that is beyond clueless and selfish and gross. (And parents who take their kids to a movie should get their crying kids out of the theatre too.)

[sandnsea]

59. And let the other kids starve?

Good plan. People sitting in their perfect little worlds who have no friggin' clue what it's like for real people dealing with impossible situations. Assuming the worst about real people and then patting themselves on the back when they write a check to a charity group when they wouldn't lift a finger for the real live person who needs the charity.

For the record, THIS is why we lose.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

78. We don't lose because parents shouldn't keep vomiting kids in restaurants

that's just silly.

Parents often demonstrate the good sense of a horse's ass.

[sandnsea]

93. Arrogance

Disconnected from the reality of the poor. Or even realities of raising kids. Not surprised it's totally being missed.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

97. WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GET THE PERSON WAS POOR?

There is nothing in the OP to even elude to that. Furthermore, I know PLENTY of poor people who have more CLASS than people with money and FINALLY, no one is knocking the genuine plight of parents. Someone who returns to their table to selfishly eat their meal when their kid is fucking sick is an ogre.

If the child vomits once then fine...no one can necessarily predict that will happen. If it happens a second time within minutes then SOMETHING'S WRONG HERE!

Taking a sick child out to eat IGNORES THE PLIGHT OF THE CHILD!

[datasuspect]

98. poor people i know

(and i am one of them) get food stamps, WIC, and pantry foodstuffs.

where the hell do they give out RESTAURANT VOUCHERS!?!?!?

i am soooooooooo there.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

99. I'm not commenting on that one either way..and even if this person

were poor and the like, I would never begrudge them a meal out. Judgements like that are the hallmarks of scoundrels. My issue is with a poster operating under the pretense that parents with the sense of a horse's ass are being persecuted.

[datasuspect]

101. oh the "persecution" gambit

more martyrs running around nowadays then there were in jesus times.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

102. as Joan of Arc would say

well done!

[Misunderestimator]

208. LOL

I swear there are operatives here trying to distract us from Gannongate... this is absurd.

[sandnsea]

104. Totally out of touch

No clue how things work in the real world. Then wonder why some liberals are called elitists.

[datasuspect]

105. so what is this "real world" you inhabit?

please, i'd like to know more about it.

[sandnsea]

110. Post #94

For one.

Call the Salvation Army or Red Cross in your town and ask them. If you want to know about it. And maybe write a check and thank your lucky stars you aren't in a position to be so broke you have to beg for a food voucher to feed your kids.

[datasuspect]

114. i'd write a check

if i had a checkbook. chances are it would be a hot one too.

don't be so quick to assume.

i live in abject poverty.

[sandnsea]

115. Well, no you don't

Or you'd be well aware of how charity organizations help families in emegency situations. Count your blessings. And if you end up at a soup kitchen and a family brings in their kids to eat, and one of them throws up for whatever reason, I bet you'll feel sorry for them. Empathy isn't supposed to require an interrogation.

[datasuspect]

116. i like that

i feel like you know me.

i've eaten at soup kitchens.

i used to be homeless.

[sandnsea]

118. Then you ought to know better

How quickly we forget.

[datasuspect]

119. you are framing your own debate

i read nothing in the op's post that alluded to the financial condition of the father.

it's been fun, but this getting absurd.

toodles!

[sandnsea]

121. The OP didn't KNOW

That is the whole point. How horrible is it to just jump to a conclusion about somebody and not even give one second of thought to what might be behind the situation. It just doesn't gel with the liberal empathy we supposedly represent.

[datasuspect]

124. it sounds like

you are jumping to worse conclusions. we DON'T know. that doesn't mean your ascription of a sob story to this dad is true or in any way reflects reality.

watch it with the "we" stuff too.

[sandnsea]

128. You're right

There is no "we". I'll have to find other people who aren't ready to slam a parent based on no evidence whatsoever.

[gollygee]

153. Soup kitchen?

I thought the post was about a restaurant. A Tex-Mex place, wasn't it? Where did a soup kitchen come into the story?

[sandnsea]

167. Soup kitchen, charity voucher

Same sad scenario. Except we'd have empathy if we had only known the family was a charity case. All I ever said was there could have been extenuating circumstances and I don't know why so many people are ready to denegrate this parent without knowing their circumstances.

[datasuspect]

170. the family COULD HAVE been from venus

and on a secret mission to study us to determine what useful nutrients they could obtain from our bodies, but it doesn't make it true . . .

[gollygee]

175. Then why wouldn't the father get the food to go and have them

eat in the car instead of puking all over the restaurant?

[Ripley]

182. Because you are insensitive to his needs.

He had a bad day. Parenting is hard. He is a saint. What? You don't know that kids puke in restaurants on drink machines all the time?
*sarcasm*

Me thinks someone is projecting their parental skills, or lack thereof. Not you!

[sandnsea]

186. Because the kid WASN'T SICK

Geesh. How hard is that to grasp? I don't know what the problem was with this kid and neither did the OP. I never knew having a little empathy would be such a big deal.

[Susang]

190. WTF??

You can't start out staying that we don't know what the situation was and then in the next breath decisively proclaim that the child wasn't sick, as if you were actually there and know anything about it. Doesn't work that way.

[sandnsea]

200. I was answering a poster

About why the parent may not have left and why the parent sat a child down to a table covered with the family's food. Maybe because, the kid WASN'T SICK.

But if people prefer to believe the worst and berate people they don't even know, I guess that's their privilege.

[Susang]

205. I know what you were doing

You were assuming that you knew and understood more about the situation than that poster, which according to your assertion that none of us know the true situation, is laughable at best.

But, like I said below, have at it. Obviously, it's your world and we all just happen to live in it. :eyes:

[Scout]

192. yeah

everybody who isn't sick pukes twice in 10 minutes....
:eyes:

[sandnsea]

103. The OP had no idea

That's the whole point. The OP couldn't know what was going on with that family. Just jumped to the conclusion that the father was an idiot. I can see alot of people on this board say they care about the plight of families in difficult situations, but have no empathy when they might have come face to face with one of them.

[datasuspect]

106. yes, but doesn't everyone

know about common sanitation and hygiene?

[sandnsea]

109. Which means what?

Seems to me the father was busy with the kids, getting the food ordered, whatever; and probably didn't notice. Or was told by the management that they would clean it up because the management has to make sure the area has been properly sanitized anyway. I am just amazed that nobody can muster up any empathy for what might have been a man and his 4 kids coming from his wife's funeral or wife in a hospital room. Who the hell knows? If this is the worst thing that ever happens to somebody, seeing a kid throw up, then I'd be counting my damned blessings.

[datasuspect]

113. dunno

when we were kids (and the three of us got sick at the same time many times) the last thing my parents would consider was taking us to restaurant.

insofar as your "postulating" causes, conditions, motives, context for the father of the rapscallions, there is no way to know. you seem to want to assume the most tear-jerking situation. i bet the reality is lot less tear-jerking and a lot more realistic than what you propose.

kids sick? stay home and look after them. make them chicken-noodle soup. throw barney videos in the tape player, whatever one does for a sick child.

just don't expose me to their projectile vomitting.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

108. You are the one equating poverty with poor judgement, not the OP

A jackass continuing to eat their meal while their child is sick, is not someone whose plight needs a national organization to defend them.

[sandnsea]

111. Bizarre

You obviously have never been in a position to have one meal to feed your kids for who knows how long.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

126. Where are you getting this crap from? This is a thread about an asshole

who KNOWINGLY keeps a sick child in a restaurant who vomits not once but TWICE. All of your arguments are spun out of whole cloth. Give it up. No one is buying it. You can break into a round of "Nobody knows the trouble I seen" and it still won't pad your specious arguments.

If anything, this parent has the sense of the south end of a horse headed north.

Not only was it selfish, pig headed and disgusting when considering the other patrons, it was FOOLISH on the child's behalf to continue eating when the child was obviously in distress.

Clue #1..the child was coughing
Clue#2..the child vomited
Clue#3 .. the child vomited again.

That is NOT the typical manifestation of car sickness.

[sandnsea]

132. You know what it is

Actually. It's a kid who didn't want to eat Mexican and put on a big gagging and coughing act and even forced a couple of little spit up incidents. At which point the management likely told the father they would clean up. After which, the father wisely let the kid know his act wasn't going to work by sitting down and proceeding with the meal. Which he wouldn't have done if there was the remotest chance the kid was actually sick and would have thrown up on the food. Yes, some kids do things like that.

The point still is that it could have been any number of scenarios that made it impossible for the father to just up and leave the restaurant. That's what empathy is. Not jumping to the conclusion that something horrible happened and considering that this actually might be a family dealing with things nobody would want to deal with. I really can't believe how hard it is for this board to muster up the teensiest bit of empathy when kids are involved.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

136. Bullshit.

I TRUST the threadstarter to recognize the difference between spit and vomit.

Again, YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON in this thread manufacturing the facts to fit your argument.

[sandnsea]

143. Yes

And there's a reason for that and we all know it has nothing to do with a kid vomiting.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

148. A reason for you spinning shit out of shinola? Do tell

If I speculate as to the reason, I suspect my post will get removed.

[sandnsea]

147. So what?

Just because I'm the only one who will defend this parent, doesn't make me wrong. And for somebody being in healthcare, you'd think the reaction would be to get up and help. Says alot about healthcare these days I guess.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

152. I think this speaks volumes about you

The threadstarter simply requested people not bring sick kids to restaurants.

It's rather dissociative of you to tie it to everything under the sun.

Next thing you know, this thread will be tied to the trials and tribulations of Olympic trampoline competition drop outs.
If anyone could make the case, I'm venturing to guess...

[sandnsea]

171. To you too

"They were traveling and bringing the kid into the restaurant was actually the best thing the parent could do. Not knowing in advance the kid was going to throw up. Who knows. Sure sounds like a peculiar situation."

That was my post. OH MY GOD. How evil of me. :eyes:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

173. Not evil, just assuming facts not in evidence as you do thoughout

Have a nice day..and if it isn't nice..what the heck! Make it up!

[sandnsea]

183. So are you

Assuming a kid was sick when there's absolutely not an iota of evidence to support it.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

184. Coughing attack? Vomiting twice? People are brought to emergency rooms

for less!

For Christ's sakes! I haven't had this much of an exercize in futility since my bris when I showed up for my circumcision and the moehl informed my parents I was a girl.

[sandnsea]

191. hahaha

Other people's problems are all a big funny joke.

"People are brought to emergency rooms for less."

My gosh, people take action when there's a SICK kid. This parent didn't. This parent sat a supposedly violently ill child down at the dinner table. Hmmmm. A jury might just think something besides illness was going on.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

199. Ok..this is now beyond absurd

[sandnsea]

202. hahaha

Some more. How cute.

Because you know darned well that nobody would sit a sick kid down at a table with their food all over it if they thought the kid might puke on it. That's just common sense.

[Susang]

207. You've obviously not worked in a restaurant

Here's a newsflash for you: Some people just don't care.

Really. I swear to god, it happens. I've seen it (and cleaned it up). There really are some parents who are that selfish. Seriously. No kidding.

Sorry you don't want to believe it, but I worked in food and beverage for 20 years and you really don't want me to start relating the stories I have that are similar (if not worse) to the OP.

[sandnsea]

209. some people

Aren't most people. And people who really don't care would likely be so selfish that they wouldn't want their food to get puked on by a sick kid. They wouldn't sit a violently ill kid down to puke all over their dinner. It makes no sense.

[HeyManThatsCool]

146. Are you 1/2 simple?

Your posts are freakin ridiculous.
Your arguing over everything you can think of... the father was poor... he was starving... the kid was a barfing brat..


Whatever climbed up your ass- crap it out.

If you didnt agree with her that was one thing. But putting on this whole huge performance makes no sense.

[sandnsea]

149. I'm ONE person

I'm putting on this whole performance all by myself??? Geesh. Seems everybody else has got something up their ass and just don't like having their hypocritical bullshit pointed out, that's all.

[HeyManThatsCool]

151. Your ONE person starting a riot over a simple post

it didnt need to be this drawn out & insane.

[sandnsea]

158. Here's the dastardly evil post

"They were traveling and bringing the kid into the restaurant was actually the best thing the parent could do. Not knowing in advance the kid was going to throw up. Who knows. Sure sounds like a peculiar situation."

Please, explain to me what's so evil about this post that so many people are in an uproar over.

[barb162]

82. umm, "starve" are you kidding? Like if they haven't eaten for a

few hours, that's starving? How about the parent can haul the family to a place where they can eat in the car probably 5 minutes from the other restaurant. Then the kid who was vomiting can vomit all over the inside of the parent's car (versus doing it in a restaurant).
I don't know what you're talking about "assuming the worst about real people." I think real people who have kids shouldn't expect the rest of the world to want to be subjected to watching their kids' vomiting

[sandnsea]

92. CHARITY VOUCHERS

Obviously most people didn't even read what I posted. And are as disconnected from the reality of the poor in this country as they bash Republicans for being.

[HeyManThatsCool]

150. Watch what you say about being disconected from this countries poor

There are those of us here who have been desperately poor- surviving on food stamps, WIC, Welfare & the free lunch program at school to survive.
Unless you know something about being poor, I'd suggest piping down

[datasuspect]

155. hey

i just found out i'm not poor and i lack compassion

[HeyManThatsCool]

172. No!! Not you!!!!!!!! SandandSea

This was his last post I was responding to:



"Obviously most people didn't even read what I posted. And are as disconnected from the reality of the poor in this country as they bash Republicans for being."

[barb162]

56. just watching it happen is enough to make me do it!

[Withywindle]

89. Oh God, me too!

That's the first thing I thought of. I'm squeamish about puke! The sound, the sight, the smell. I start feeling it too. NO WAY IN HELL could I eat right after I'd just seen somebody puke. Not for hours. Can you say, chain reaction?

A lot of people are like this, BTW. I can see how one puker could screw up a restaurant's business for hours.

[progmom]

36. Hey now.

What?

:shrug:

[Missy Vixen]

39. Restaurants are required to uphold public health cleanliness standards

>You had an unpleasant encounter with real life. Grow the fuck up.<

Charming.

Julie

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Fenris]

45. Perhaps I should vomit on your food and shit on your table, hmmm?

[sandnsea]

51. Nobody did that

So it isn't particularly relevant, now is it?

[Fenris]

178. I'd like to shit on your table, though.

I think you deserve it.

[fudge stripe cookays]

46. What a completely unnecessary and nasty

post.

Here's wishing you an unpleasant close encounter with a vomiting kid standing next to you.

While you're wearing something nice.

And brand new.

And dry cleanable.

FSC

[sandnsea]

50. 4 kids later

Head Start and day care worker at varying points. Girl Scout leader. Sports team mom. Been there, done that. Numerous times. No friggin' big deal when you put kids first.

[Coventina]

76. Sometimes it's not right to "put kids first"

They should be kept safe, loved and their needs attended to by all means.

But one of the most important lessons young humans need to learn is that the world does not revolve around them and exist for their comfort. Otherwise, you are rearing little dictators.

Children who are puking should not be in public, except in the most dire of circumstances. Sitting in a booth in a restaurant does not qualify.

[sandnsea]

94. "the most dire of circumstances"

Which I am attempting to point out this case may have been. There are a variety of reasons this family could have been in that restaurant, the kid may not have even been sick.

I've had my home burned to the ground and was offered Red Cross motel and restaurant vouchers. I stayed with friends so I didn't need them. But it's disgusting to me that nobody can even imagine that there could have been extentuating circumstances here. No, bash the evil parents and don't look back.

[HeyManThatsCool]

154. As a child advocate I argue that putting the CHILDS needs first

most definately involved LEAVING THE RESTAURANT.

If for some mysterious reason they were getting a free meal from the restaurant & it was their first meal in a month, THEY STILL SHOULD HAVE ASKED FOR IT TO GO. The child COMES FIRST.


Anyone, and I do mean ANYONE, who has worked with or had children knows that.

The kid is PUKING. How comfortable do you think it was to vomit in front of a restaurant full of people? I bet it was just PEACHY

[Name removed]

49. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[fudge stripe cookays]

55. Calling us

assholes might have had something to do with you being deleted. It's called a personal attack.

Some of us don't like kids. Period. Deal with it.

When parents treat us all like we HAVE to put up with this type of behavior, some of us tend to get a mite testy.

I HAVE grown the fuck up. I don't feel that I should have to be subjected to others' kids NOT growing the fuck up.

FSC

[sandnsea]

60. There you have it

"Some of us don't like kids."

If it was your drunk buddy throwing up all over the place, it'd be a friggin' laugh riot.

[Lilith Velkor]

64. That's crap and you know it.

I've hauled drunk buddies out of places before, and been rough about it (hey, it's not like they'll remember).

You need to work on your insecurity issues before it negatively affects your kids.

[sandnsea]

90. My kids are grown

And just fine, thank you very much. And they'd likely get up and help some poor little kid who was vomiting, not sit back and denigrate the family behind their backs.

[Lilith Velkor]

130. So you raised them to be vomit absorbers

Good for you. :eyes:

[kick-ass-bob]

66. that is bullshit and you know it.

read post #65.

[fudge stripe cookays]

67. I don't

hang around drunks. And I don't find vomiting funny in the least. I don't care who's doing it.

Geez you're tedious.

[HeyManThatsCool]

157. Your just inflammatory. His "drunk buddy"????

Did you WANT to start an argument?

[kick-ass-bob]

65. hey - some of us love kids

love our kids, would do anything for them and we would still exit the restaurant without hesitation.

(to sandandsea) Car sick or not - only meal of the day or not - there are lots of alternatives to eating out. My kid pukes in a restaurant - we go home - go by the store, order pizza - whatever - we're not going to stay out in public when that happens.

That is just common decency. Period.

As to what "sort of throw-up" this is, all throw-up has nasty pathogens, whether the kid is truly sick or not.

Respect other people please. This is just ridiculous.

[sandnsea]

91. "we go home"

Did you miss the post above where I mentioned they might not have had a home to go to? Maybe you didn't know restaurant vouchers is one method that charities sometimes use to help families in crisis. There's alot of explanations for this incident. It's sad everybody jumped to the conclusion this was just a horrible parent. Where's that liberal understanding now?

[Beaverhausen]

96. Why do you jump to the conclusion you do?

There is really no excuse for what this father did.

None.

Even in the scenario you are postulating. The other patrons of the restaurant shouldn't have to sit there with a vomiting child. A sick child shouldn't be in a restaurant. Period.

[sandnsea]

107. Unbelievable

Even with a family in dire straights, bfd. If this was the only meal of the day for the other 3 kids, don't disrupt the fat asses with $100,000 bank accounts. I suppose it's only okay to call freepers fat asses around here too.

[Beaverhausen]

112. When did this become class warfare?

you are really going off the deep end.

[sandnsea]

117. When people lost their empathy

And automatically assumed this was a jackass father. And put their precious meal ahead of a family that was obviously in a difficult situation. That's when.

[Beaverhausen]

120. How is it obvious?

Tell me- how do you know they are poor, homeless and just getting home from their mother's funeral?

If that is true of course it is sad but it's probably a hundred to one odds.

You just won't admit that there are bad parents out there.

Maybe you are just lucky to have never been in the company of misbehaving and/or sick children and their parents are ignoring them. But most of us have and it isn't right. It's bad parenting.

[sandnsea]

122. Oh yes

There's been a national outbreak of sick kids vomiting all over restaurants. You can't go anywhere without slipping on a puddle of vomit. :eyes:

That's why I consider other possibilities. Because it IS NOT common.

[Beaverhausen]

179. It is NOT common because most parents don't take sick kids

out to restaurants.

You are cracking me up. keep going. I love it!

[HeyManThatsCool]

162. I think you need to get back on your meds.

"obviously" a family in crisis???

I gotta tell you- this negative thinking of yours is not so great.

[hinachan]

33. Don't forget...

As nasty as the scene was for you, it must have been a lot worse for the poor kid who was vomiting. Let's spare a little pity for the kid...this whole scenario was serious neglect on the parents' part.

[barb162]

58. you got that straight; that parent was so out of line!

[Zomby Woof]

7. Azteca?

It just sounds like Azteca. :-)

Either way, sound advice I agree with.

[Missy Vixen]

14. Nawww

It was Qdoba, or whatever the place is called in Woodinville, next to the Cineplex Odeon.

I'll always associate Azteca with Bad Karaoke ;-).

Julie

[SoCalDem]

8. There could be several reasons..

Babysitters are hard to find and expensive, and lots of parents are afraid to let their kid stay with a stranger..

Lots of "today's" parents live "in a bubble".. they take a cranky toddler to a 2 1/2 hour MOVIE:grr:... or to a restaurant and then proceed to load the kid up with crackers (projectiles) as they sit and ignore the kid...

Some parents love their kids so much, that they forget that not everyone loves their kid like they do :P

People (in general) do not think much anymore.. They might have known their kid was sick, and it just never crossed their mind that it would be a bad idea to take him out to dinner..:shrug:

Disclaimer.. we took our kids out sometimes, but only after they had napped and were in good moods.. we also would bring our own snacks for them to munch on, and took them to the car if someone needed changing :)

and we only went to drive ins when they were little :)

[SmokingJacket]

87. My kid threw up in a coffee shop once.

Of course we didn't know he was sick. Things come on a kid really quickly -- he didn't know he was sick until he threw up.

We cleaned up (as best we could) and beat a hasty exit... and never returned!

I can't imagine sticking around after that. I felt terrible for the other patrons.

NO ONE -- not even the dumbest, evilest parent in the world -- would bring a vomiting child to a restaurant ON PURPOSE.

[sandnsea]

95. What if you had no home?

What if you were travelling across the country and you had to give your kid a chance to get out of the car and feed the other kids and were just trying to do the best you could in a cruddy situation. What if you had been given a charity voucher to eat at that restaurant.

There's alot of reasons a parent might not be able to get up and leave and there's explanations that would include the kid not even being sick.

I just can't believe how many people are so judgemental when it's clear something unusual had to be going on.

[gollygee]

156. ROFL

Travelling across the country and someone gave you a voucher that can only be used at one particular coffee shop somewhere on your long trip?

ROFL this is a riot!

[HeyManThatsCool]

164. What if the aliens told you to stay in the restaurant no matter what?

[HeyManThatsCool]

165. What if your other kids threatened to puke if you left?

[HeyManThatsCool]

176. What if there was crazy glue on your chair & you couldn't move?

[HeyManThatsCool]

166. What if you knew that by sitting their you'd win a million dollars?

[Erika]

9. With Bush's FU plan this year in flu vaccinations

I take the same stand. We enter into a restaurant and I see sickness every where, we order and ask for a to go box.

[Blue in a Red State]

11. I can't go to über populated places of business

that children frequent in winter anymore. I always catch some kind of bug. These kind of "parents" that lug sick kids around must be so self-absorbed that they lack the basic empathy/intelligence skills to actually raise kids. The kinda folk that take infants to the 11:30 p.m. showing of "Eyes Wide Shut", ya know? Like the flakey woman on a plane one morning who asked me if the empty seat beside me in the last row was vacant, and after I affirmed it was because I assumed she wanted to sit and wait for the restroom to be freed up, proceeded to slap her infant into it and use it for a changing table. Seems like most rude and appalling events concerning children stem from certain lazy and selfish "parents'" sense of "convenience".


Alyssa, my Balinese princess from the shelter

[sandnsea]

17. Excuse me

Do you have a diapering area on the plane? No. Didn't think so. I've never seen a plane that had one.

I cannot believe people's attitudes about children. If she hadn't changed the child, you'd be griping about stinky diapers on an 8 hour flight and calling her names because of that.

[3lefts]

19. Do you have a diapering area on the plane?

Yes - it's called "the bathroom".

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[3lefts]

21. To get back on topic...

a kid puked TWICE in a restaurant while the parent had no consideration for the kid or the restaurant patrons. Although this may be a "natural human function", don't you think it is a bit abnormal to not take the kid home? The child is obviously sick and it certainly dehydrating at this point and, at least, needs some meds.

As much as some parents wish to believe it - the world does not revolve around you and your precious offspring.

Having a smelly ass, body odor, nakedness, drooling, crying, whining, snot running from your nose, hacking, coughing and sneezing are all natural human functions. However, if it were a fifty year old 400 pound guy sitting next to you doing it, I think you would be somewhat less tolerant. Maybe not, I don't know.

[JVS]

62. BRILLIANT!

:toast:

Welcome to DU

[Pert_UK]

23. Oh COME OFF IT!!!

There is a world of difference between asking if a seat is free and asking if somebody minds if you change your child's nappy (diaper) next to them.

Common politeness would suggest that you ought to explain what you want to do before doing it, rather than just assuming that it's OK - at least that gives the person sitting there the opportunity to get up and stretch their legs while the nappy is changed, instead of getting stuck right next to it.

And for your info, many planes these days have baby changing tables.....Even if they don't, although aircraft toilets are very small there MUST be as much room in an aircraft toilet as there is in an empty seat.

Yes, it's very difficult to travel with babies and of course natural bodily functions will sometimes need attending to. However, that doesn't give parents a license to ignore the fact that it isn't nice to sit next to somebody changing a baby, especially on board a plane when everybody feels vulnerable and uncomfortable anyway.

Moreover, here's an extract from a website dedicated to parents who travel with young babies and which gives advice:

"4) I’ve watched agog as parents have changed dirty babies on uncovered empty airplane seats, seat back tray tables, even atop tables at the airport food court. This is not only lazy, not only gross, but also a serious health hazard. Baby poo—even an adorable baby’s poo—shouldn’t come anywhere near hand contact (or worse, hand-to-mouth contact) of others.

5) If the airplane has no changing table and you have no mat, ask an attendant for a blanket. Fold it nice and thick and place it on the floor of the bathroom.

6) If the change is simply a wet diaper and if your baby can stand well, consider doing a vertical change. Put baby’s shoes on, bring him to the lavatory and hold him snug between your knees (while you sit on the toilet). Do not attempt this if the going is bumpy or if your little one is unsteady."

http://www.jetsetbabies.com/newsletter/August_2004.htm#name

But hey, you know best eh?

[phylny]

26. Actually...

baby poo is safe poo. It stinks, but in the world of poo, it's the least offensive poo there is. It's adult poo that has E. coli in it. Does every adult wash his or her hands after doing number two? Nope, they do number two, wipe, pull up their pants, touch everything in sight, including tray tables, seats, and door handles on airplanes, shopping cart handles at the store, door handles, and plastic forks at McDonalds. Yuck. I KNOW that many men don't wash their hands after handling their penises, peeing, giving it a good shake, and tucking it back in. Germs are everywhere.

Having said that, I've travelled with diapered babies, and would ask the flight attendant, "Where should I change the baby?" At times, I'd do it on the floor outside of the bathrooms using the changing pad that was in my diaper bag, at other times, I've had to do it on my OWN seat or even with the baby on my own lap (when we were prohibited from getting out of our seats. Every time I've done it, I've apologized to my seatmate. Most people are very understanding.

[Pert_UK]

28. Most people ARE very understanding...

if you ask them and are polite, rather than just assuming that it's OK to change a diaper next to them.

And regarding the safety of infant poo?.....That's a moot point for me - I just don't want horribly smelly crap anywhere near me whether it's sterile or not. You can't get away from the fact that this stuff is nasty. Maybe people are a little "precious" about it, but I'm sorry, given the choice I'd much MUCH rather not have a pooey baby bottom next to me.

And regarding washing hands....again an irrelevance. I have to put up with people changing babies next to me because lots of people don't wash their hands??? Doesn't make sense to me....

Incidentally, you do have my sympathy and I know it's difficult to travel with kids. I'll help if I can when I see someone who needs it and I'd let somebody change their kid next to me if there were no other option.......But having kids doesn't give you the automatic right to do whatever the hell you want around me. Sorry. It just doesn't.

[phylny]

29. No, you don't have to put up with people changing babies

because other people don't wash their hands. That's not what I meant, and I would imagine you understood that. My point was that there are a lot of offensive things in this world, and adults aren't immune from being disgusting. At least adults can help themselves - infants can't. Yes, parents should be considerate - didn't I already say this, and say I was considerate on airplanes, and other places?

For further clarification, I won't be changing my kids around you anytime soon - they're all teenagers, so my having the right to "to do whatever the hell you want around me" is another moot point when it comes to changing diapers.

[tjwmason]

81. If you leave your high-horse

Then you might see that this thread is about being decent and respectful of those around you. This does extend to personal hygiene and I have no time for those who ignore it; but it also extends to children. Being a child is a process of learning, if every foible is tolerated and indulged then the child will believe that any of its behaviour is acceptable - and will in turn become an inconsiderate adult.

I KNOW that many men don't wash their hands after handling their penises, peeing, giving it a good shake, and tucking it back in.

Did you know that urine is sterile? That said, I certainly do wash my hands, and think that not doing so it pretty rank.

[sandnsea]

48. So much for crack-pot web sites

Sounds like you've never had a child. I've folded a blanket and placed it on the floor in a bathroom, before there were changing tables in most bathrooms, and had two crabby old women gripe at me about that. Changing a baby in an empty seat doesn't seem to me to be such a terrible thing, although I agree the mom should have asked. I'd much rather see someone change a baby on a seat than on a nasty airplane bathroom floor. Of course, I tend to put the well-being of helpless infants over that of crab-ass adults. Including the crab-ass who wrote that web site.

[JVS]

63. Why couldn't she use her own damned seat?

[Blue in a Red State]

85. It's not ABOUT the children

It's about the entitled attitude of certain parents who are sanctimonious about their children. The woman obviously wandered to the rear of the plane with the intention of using the restroom. The restroom wasn't vacant, so in typical the-world-revolves-around-me fashion, spied the empty seat, decided "how convenient---FOR ME!" and gave me no warning of what was in store. What about MY convenience? SHE was rude, not ME for considering her behavior boorish. A little common courtesy is all I ask and a lot of parents these days expect as much for themselves and their poor put-upon lot without any regard for others. Just show a bare modicum of consideration for others and I won't have to use such vicious terms like "flakey".


Alyssa, my Balinese princess from the shelter

[xmas74]

41. I'll take my sick kid to the

grocery store, but only for a few minutes (I use the pharmacy at the store, the only locally-owned pharmacy in the area). I will not take her to a restaurant or any place else while ill.
We only go to family restaurants and family fare at the movies.
I have watched parents take 2 year olds to slasher flicks before. Smart move there. I blame them when the kid wakes up with nightmares.

[Seabiscuit]

18. I would have told the manager as soon as that kid puked the first time

that we're leaving and if the manager doesn't throw that asshole out with the sick kid immediately I won't be paying the tab either. While the manager's stammering, I'd just take my family and leave. And never come back.

[Sgent]

22. Every jet I've been on recently

has a changing table in the lavatory.

[Missy Vixen]

38. We did

>that we're leaving and if the manager doesn't throw that asshole out with the sick kid immediately I won't be paying the tab either.<

I felt really sorry for the manager. He has four kids of his own. He told us that all he could do was clean up; he's been burned several times now by parents whose kids were either sick or destructive in his restaurant. Any complaint to them, no matter how diplomatically worded, ensures a problem with his boss. A guy supporting four kids doesn't need to get fired because someone else is thoughtless and inconsiderate.

One prepays at Qdoba, so the best we could hope for was a to-go bag and to get out of there before something else happened.

Julie

[Pert_UK]

24. "And a bucket pour monsieur!..........."

[jdots]

27. A wafer thin morsel ?

Some kid barfing in a Mexican chain resteraunt could have set off
a real chain reaction puke fest.You were lucky to get out of there alive.

[Freebird12004]

30. head for the hills !

Thanks {to everyone on this thread} for reminding me why I'm a recluse - these days.

[LynneSin]

31. I use to work in one of those "Not Fancy Place" restaurant chains

Actually I worked there for 3 years. I would have preferred something more upscale for a restaurant; however, many of those 'not fancy place' chains do offer health insurance for those of us who were waiting tables full time, which helped me get through 3 years of getting my life back together after my first career fell to pieces.


I swear many parents have absolutely no control whatsoever over there children and it was appalling to see the behavior allowed in restaurants. Our restaurant offered sizzling fajitas on the menu and I almost scalded a kid with a fajita because as I was taking this fajita out to the table, some parent was allowing their kids to run up and down the hallway while they were waiting for the food. So many times I wanted to yell at the parents for allowing their kids do uncontrolled things at restaurants but this was the only time I ever did it (and I got away with nothing more than a "Don't do that again" lecture from my boss).

[SarahB]

32. In my 13 years of parenting...

There was one occasion where a kid was perfectly healthy and then shortly after we got to the restaurant hurled. Thankfully, it was in the bathroom. I gathered our things, quickly told her to put it it "to go" boxes, left an rather obscene amount of money, and left. Sometimes stuff happens. Who'd want to stay though?

I agree that poop changing belongs elsewhere in a restaurant (bathroom), but on planes there's little choice.

I've worked with children for years. Now I work with many who are quite infectious from a medical standpoint. Handwashing. Handwashing. Handwashing. Zee germs are everywhere. Actually people are the most contagious just before symptoms present themselves. I agree though that sick, contagious kids (and adults) should avoid public places if at all possible.

[MissMillie]

35. Sick kids? Order take out

and don't send your kids to school, either.

Flu shots were not widely available this year, which means you are potentially putting someone's life at risk (yes, people do die from the flu) if you insist on being in public while sick.

STAY HOME. KEEP YOUR KIDS HOME.

[xmas74]

43. My daughter's school

has a rule on no vomiting or temperature for 24 hours. They told me it was a state law here.
They will also send her home if her nose runs too much or she has a nasty cough.

[cmf]

37. I can't believe that the father didn't take them home

Kids sometimes vomit unexpectedly, you don't know they're sick until it's too late. But the fact that he didn't pack them up to bring them home is ridiculous. That's disgusting.

[fortyfeetunder]

40. There is such a thing as home delivery

The guy had no clue he could have called carry out, and delivered it.

[4MoreYearsOfHell]

42. The guy could have been on a trip

and didn't have a chance to take the kids home...Hungry kids in a vehicle have to be fed...

I wonder if the one who threw up was carsick...

Just sayin'...

[sandnsea]

54. Alot of reasons it could have happened

People around here always jump to the worst possible explanation. It's damned annoying.

[flamingyouth]

44. Was this Bellevue Square?

Just curious because that place is a breeding ground for sick kids and their clueless parents. :eyes:

[gollygee]

47. I'm a mom and this is something that bothers me

kids get sick easily, but they wouldn't get sick all the time if they weren't around other sick kids all the time! Keep your kids home when they're sick, folks!

[KitchenWitch]

61. Part of the reason kids get sick so easily

is that their immune systems have not had time to build up yet (the immune system needs challenge, read exposure to pathogens, to be able to build properly). Once kids start to get older (after being sick with just about everything that goes around) their immunity is stronger. I am not advocating constantly exposing children to pathogens, but it is harder to build proper immunity if a child is older - diseases such as asthma and atopic dermatitis are the consequences of an unchallenged immune system.

[gollygee]

79. Oh well mine should be ok then LOL

she really doesn't get sick that often but she's been going to playgroups (well moms groups anyway) since she was 4 or 5 weeks old. The kids have always played with the same toys together, and we've never felt the need to wash toys between children. Yes, she's gotten a little sick from time to time as a result, but I'd hope parents would keep barfing kids out of the playgroups.

I don't mind my daughter getting a snotty nose, but dealing with her barfing all over me, the floor, the furniture, etc., is a pain in the butt.

[KitchenWitch]

100. Yeah

barfing is a bad thing. I am just saying that keeping children under glass can actually be more harmful than exposing them to occasional common cold.

[datasuspect]

68. "What I have to say is IMPORTANT, I HAVE CHILDREN!!!!!!!"

hear hear.

getting pretty sick of this child cult lately.

[fudge stripe cookays]

69. Thank you!

"My uterus works just as well as yours. I just chose not to use it."

:D
FSC

[kick-ass-bob]

70. I hope you don't think the majority of parents would keep eating.

The ones with any decency at all would leave the establishment immediately.

[fudge stripe cookays]

71. I think it's a poke at a certain poster,

bob.

Not to worry.
FSC

[datasuspect]

72. "BUT . . ."

[datasuspect]

73. "BUT . . ."

[datasuspect]

74. "WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

WAAAHHHHH!

[kick-ass-bob]

75. I know -

I'm jousting in there too.

[fudge stripe cookays]

77. he he

And we've become so famous we're being copycatted now!

[datasuspect]

80. you said poke

heh heh heh heh heh heh

[name not needed]

86. LOOK AT MY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN. LOOK AT THEM!

I am superior, to you! As my sperm can swim, and the condom broke! Therefore, I must be respected. And revered. Now, excuse me, as my perfect children hurl turds at people. They're great kids, aren't they? :7

[datasuspect]

88. "little precious"

often is NOT very precious to anyone else.

[HeyManThatsCool]

169. But, it's fine if your children throw turds at people. Because

your a major poster on D.U.


GOD! Do people have no RESPECT anymore? What, they would throw you out of a place because your kid hurled a turd? They dont know all the facts!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

83. In defense of parents whose children puke twice in restaurants, I must say

nothing at all. I really can't believe the people defending this ass. If nothing else, take the kid (and other kids if necessary) outside where the child can FINISH getting sick if it IS a case of car sickness...JEEZ...

now you're insensitive to the needs of parents if you don't wish to watch Jr. do a Linda Blair on the restaurant floor?


One vomit session, ok..fine...one can't know their kid is going to puke...2 vomit sessions within 10 minutes of each other? This looks like a job for Joyce Brothers AND Miss Manners!

[sandnsea]

123. And NO MORE?

Hmmm. You really think anybody is going to sit at a table and risk having vomit kid puke all over their food?

Sorry, the OP really doesn't add up and I've tried to avoid saying so.

[enigmatic]

125. Then why don't you just call her a liar?

Why don't you?

[sandnsea]

129. Excuse me

Saying that the story doesn't quite add up means that perhaps some details were left out or others were exagerrated. It does not mean anybody lied.

[enigmatic]

131. What details do you think were left out?

Would it be everything that supported your view, by chance?

[sandnsea]

133. It makes no sense

Nobody would sit down to a table with the possiblity of a kid throwing up all over their food.

[enigmatic]

135. I owned a restuarant for 2 years...

worked in them for 25 years. Yes they do. And much, much more.

[Susang]

138. You ain't kidding

Oh, the stories I could tell.... ;-)

[enigmatic]

139. oooooooooooohh yeah.........

I think I've buried some of the more disgusting ones in the back of my mind, only to come out again when I see threads like this..

[Susang]

141. Sometimes I drink to try and stop the dreams

But they always come back. ALWAYS! :scared:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

134. actually the only thing that doesn't add up are your defenses

The paragraph where she describes the incident DOES indeed tell us enough to let us know it isn't car sickness.

The kid COUGHED so hard, he vomited. The kid THEN vomited again. That is not the clinical presentation of car sickness. If anything, it COULD be the clinical presentation of a serious asthma attack.

There is enough info to tell us all that the kid obviously did not belong in a restaurant at that moment. The kid POSSIBLY belonged in the restroom but not in the restaurant.

The only thing exaggerated is your response. You have now come up with numerous scenarios, claimed that this is why democrats lose, claimed without evidence that this is people ignoring the plight of the poor and ignoring the plight of parents.

So let me ask you...how many times should YOUR kids vomit in a restaurant before you would have the heart to take the poor coughing vomiting child home?

[sandnsea]

140. I've answered that

It's impossible to know without knowing the real circumstances. And we don't. That's all there is to it. I just don't choose to rip a parent dealing with 4 kids when I don't know what was going on in their lives. I thought that considering extenuating circumstances and not rushing to judgment was what being a Democrat was all about.

[enigmatic]

144. Yet you're rushing to judgement on the OP's story..

Without having been there. Why is that?

[sandnsea]

145. I'm not at all

All I started out saying was nobody had considered extenuating circumstances that would explain the situation. I don't understand what's so controversial about extenuating circumstances, especially as it relates to a parent and 4 kids.

[enigmatic]

160. Because every one of those "circumstances" you've put out..

fit your frame of the OP being an insensitive prig. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

I don't hate kids, The OP doesn't hate kids. I don't blame kids in that situation. There are parents who let their kids run wild in restuarants. I know; I've seen it my own restuarant and in restaurants more times then I can possibly count. Every single one of those situations didn't involve any of the scenerios that you've claimed were the case in the OP's situation. Sometimes bad parents are just that; bad parents. Sometimes they are thoughtless, sometime clueless.

Because there are those kinds of parents out there doesn't mean they all are; that's the problem you're having w/ this. You're taking it way too personally.

Want to know why I got out of the business? Because I dared to stop 2 children from pattering food on another couple while their parents were oblivious to what was going on. When I directed their attention to it, that threatened to have me fired. But I was lucked; I was the owner. So they tried to get my liquor licence pulled; they claimed I was allowing underaged drinkers in. I won, but it cost me alot of money, and what was left of my desire to stay in the business.

Do you want to call me a liar now, or that my story, "doesn't add up"?

[sandnsea]

180. Let me see

I'm taking this way too personally. But you, with your own restaurant biases, aren't. Right. For every horror story you could tell, I bet there's thousands with the exact opposite outcome that you've forgotten. And I bet there's plenty of families that ate in your restaurant with personal tragedies that you had absolutely no clue about. But because I see the other side of the coin as well, I'm the only one who is wrong.

[enigmatic]

185. God, I knew I shouldn't have wasted my time..

I'm out.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

159. Your posts on this thread venture beyond advocacy

The only thing that can stop you now is someone telling you you are right because that's all that matters to you. This isn't about advocacy. This isn't about the facts as presented. This isn't about sick vomiting kids.

You've demonstrated about 50 posts ago that the only thing that will satiate your participation on this thread is being told you are right and you will keep inventing likely stories, regardless of the fact pattern set out in the thread until some fool comes along and has the mercy to tell you you are right.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

127. Did anybody offer to help the guy out?

I know, it's not anybody's responsibility; but if I was there without my own kids, I'd probably at least have offered to sit with the others while Dad cleaned up the sick one. I'd most likely have something like, "Of course, you'll want to get him home right away...Say, you're not looking so well yourself."

Please understand, I'm not excusing the guy's thoughtlessness; but sometimes even the "best" parents (whatever that means) get fuzzy-headed and make poor decisions.

[Susang]

137. This has been one of the strangest flame-wars I have ever seen

Personally, I believe that we should all be understanding of the father because his child's vomiting clearly shows that they were obviously aliens FROM ANOTHER PLANET, and did not actually know how to behave properly in an Earth restaurant. If you think otherwise, you are horribly insensitive and obviously not a liberal! :P

Hey, it makes about as much sense as some of the other excuses I've read for his behavior. :crazy:

[sandnsea]

142. yes

He must be a candidate for liberal re-education camp because he obviously is en evil being not fit for parenting because we have NO FREAKIN' IDEA what really happened.

[Ripley]

161. Yes, WEEEEEEEEE do have a freakin' idea what happened.

The OP told us what she witnessed.

Why the fuck can't you admit some people are horrible parents. I lived in an apartment complex once with insanely bad parents. I called the cops on them once for fear for their child's safety.

Shit happens. Good parents react within normal parameters. Ask for help; apologize to the manager; cry. Not shovel food in their face and ignore a sick child.

KEERYST!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

188. No we have no clue what happened

First of all it could have been an Italian restaurant. The flags of Mexico and Italy are similar. He may not have been a child at all. For all we know, he was a dwarf and the father figure was his battered child. It may not have been coughing but a regional mating call followed by ceremonial vomitous to attract the object of his affection. It might not have been vomit, it could have been pea soup and the dwarf had just finished undergoing an exorcism wherein the priest recommended that the only thing that would finish driving the demons out of him was a chalupa supreme.

Please don't assume you know.

:D

[Ripley]

193. Waaah. I was only assuming the OP's assumptions were assumable.

Maybe this is oh, what do they call it? A joke. You know where someone is tenaciously disruptive and aggravating? Or maybe she is on drugs. Or maybe she is projecting. Or maybe some people really believe all parents are good and have to have a severe trauma going on to be shitheads. :eyes:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

196. Nope..just craving to be told she's right

please put her and the rest of us out of our misery and tell her she's right...pleeeeeeeeeease :evilgrin:

[Ripley]

197. SHE'S RIGHT!!!!!!!

Something was going on at that restaurant and it wasn't a sick child. :nopity:

[Coventina]

198. NSMA...Have I told you lately that I love you?

:loveya:

:D

[Shakespeare]

195. "why can't you admit some people are horrible parents?"

You've just nailed it. She either can't, or won't. One cannot criticize a child's behavior OR a parent's lousy parenting skills without being called a freeper and all-around bad person.

There is no middle ground with this poster whatsoever.

[Ripley]

201. SHE'S RIGHT!!!!!!!!!

Did that shut her up yet?

I see you used the cleaned up version of my question. Heh. Can't help it. Frick frack fruckety fuck. Some people just bring it out of me. :)

[Susang]

206. Because in some people's worlds

When you criticize children, you are criticizing the parents by default. The children are extensions of them and not beings in their own right. So an attack on the child is actually an attack on the parent.

If they admit their children are human and have faults, they have to admit the same about themselves. Sometimes it is impossible for them to do.

And that's my Psychology 101 explanation of the night! :D

[sandnsea]

203. Because most parents aren't insanely bad parents

And because even people on DU have biases and tell things with a slant towards those biases. Or maybe didn't think about other possibilities at the time, which is all I posted to begin with. I just don't understand how so many people can have a shit fit about the outrageous idea of showing a little empathy to people we don't even fucking know. It's honestly unreal.

[Ripley]

204. Where did I say that?

I said my neighbors were insane. I saw the father literally throw the 4 year old girl through the back window into his car. No child seat, even though it is the law here. I called the cops when I came home one night at about 11:00 pm and that 4 year old was sitting on the curb alone. Loud music was coming from the apartment and I'd heard enough fights to know not to knock on the door or I could get my ass beaten by a very larger drunk man.

I don't understand why I should show empathy for people like that. Or people who allow their child to puke in public and then ignore them. Not normal under any circumstance, except maybe a refugee camp.

[Susang]

168. I think the original poster might have a clue

Since she was there and witnessed the event and everything. ;-)

But if some would rather believe that their fellow DUers are insensitive clods who are clueless about the underprivileged and downtrodden, rather than believing an eyewitness account by a respected DUer, then by all mean, have at it. :eyes:

No freakin' idea, indeed.

[Rabrrrrrr]

177. And since we have no idea, the best thing is to assume that he's

dirt poor, this is the only meal his kids are getting that day, that he has no home to take them back to, and that his wife just died and they are on the way to their non-home from the funeral.

Oh, they might be refugees from Rwanda, too. And, quite possibly, are originally from a culture on Mars in which vomiting in restaurants is considered polite and a better compliment than a mere financial tip. The father was actually HONORING the cook by allowing his son to vomit not just ONCE, but TWICE!!

And here we all are, sitting here in judgment, thinking it's really bad to force an obviously sick child to continue to sit in a restaurant because the father couldn't be bothered to eat his meal a few minutes later in the car or at home. Assuming his hadn't just burned down while they were at the funeral, that is.

oh, and p.s. - this is PRECISELY the reason that Kerry lost.

[Susang]

181. See, I told you!!!!

I knew they were from ANOTHER PLANET!!!!! :scared:

[enigmatic]

187. Best post in the thread!

Thank you:)

[Rabrrrrrr]

189. Thanks!

I'm glad you liked it.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

163. Geese vomit in their children's throats to feed their young

Maybe the guy really was raised in a barn :shrug: (or a henhouse)

[Susang]

174. I wish I had been raised in a barn!

Sounds like it would have been fun! :D

[Guaranteed]

194. That'sa spicey meatball!

Or jalapeno, as the case may be. :P

[Misunderestimator]

210. OMG... And to quote my favorite person in the world...

"Nooooooobody knows.... the trouble I've seeeeeeeen."

:bounce: This thread is a CLASSIC!