A confused woman who was out with her husband for the first time after their baby was born turned to the subreddit ‘Am I the [Jerk?]’ to get an outside perspective on the way she and her partner responded to a particularly noisy infant nearby.
Using the nickname Ok_Candy7966, she said that the couple got a babysitter and went to a very nice restaurant, so they really put a lot of effort (including money) into making the night worth remembering. So they were really frustrated with the “extras” that weren’t on the menu — the screams and cries.
Continue scrolling to read how everything unfolded.
This woman and her husband wanted to get away from their family life and do something as a couple, so they went to a fancy restaurant
Image credits: Sarah Chai (not the actual photo)
But their night took an unpleasant turn when the baby next to them started bawling their eyes out
Image credits: Alan Light (not the actual photo)
Credits: Ok_Candy7966
This topic has been resurfacing on the internet in one form or the other for quite some time now. Grant Achatz, the Chicago chef of Michelin-starred restaurant Alinea, caused an uproar a couple of years ago when he tweeted that someone brought an 8-month-old baby into his (very expensive) restaurant and the other diners weren’t happy about it. He asked his followers for advice, and, just like this post, it also generated a variety of opinions.
Many people appear to agree that the answer to how should all parties handle the situation lies in the setting. Vincenzo Mangiafridda, the owner of 83 ½, a restaurant in New York City, supports this line of thinking.
“As a father of toddlers, I encourage parents to select kid-friendly restaurants when they dine with younger children,” he said. “My wife rarely eats at 83 ½ because our son is not old enough to behave appropriately in such a setting.”
While Mangiafridda hasn’t enacted a ban or definitive policy, he’s aware of how a crying child can affect his company’s reputation among diners. “My business is my livelihood, and its success is dependent upon providing an enjoyable experience for all our customers.”
And it’s not just restaurants that are trying to figure it out. Some airlines have also joined in on the no-kids trend. Malaysia Airlines, for example, made headlines in the past for banning infants from first-class cabins and creating kid-free zones in economy, while Singapore’s Scoot Airlines introduced the ‘ScootinSilence’ upgrade, barring children under the age of 12 from particular rows. Then there’s AirAsia, which has the ‘Quiet Zone’ for passengers 10 years and above.
But you can’t discreetly exit a plane to give other people’s eardrums and nerves a break. You can in a restaurant, though. And that’s what one should do if one’s child is bothering everyone around them. At least for a little while. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments.
Most people think the couple did nothing wrong
But some believe everyone sucks here (ESH)
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