As I was leaving, a delightful family group of parents and two small sticky infants arrived. The cafe has a slightly utopian arrangement that allows customers to pick their own roll from a shelf before handing it over to the counter staff to be turned into a bacon roll. Mostly people do not forage extensively but pick the first roll that comes to hand. Not so with this family. The father 3 times picked up a roll, handed it to his son to fondle and reject and then replaced it on the shelf before trying another. The child then threw a roll on the floor which the father picked up and returned to the shelf, to be eaten hours later by some poor unsuspecting sod.
All of which only serves to reinforce my view that a necessary condition of having a child is house arrest for a minimum of 8 years. I mean, I completely understand that your kiddie's taste in breakfast rolls is the most important thing in the universe to you but does that have to be completely incompatible with a tiny amount of consideration for other people?
Anyhow, that's the last bacon roll I'll be buying from them.
When I see things like that, Teacher Me takes over. If the parents are letting the kids behave like arseholes, I address the children directly 'Nobody else is going to want to eat that when you've dropped it on the floor. Give it to the lady to throw it away, and stop pawing the food.'
ReplyDeleteSo far the parents have just looked surprised but probably at some point I will get a slap.
(I also find myself wondering sometimes why people take their babies and toddlers to the shops to cry. It sometimes feels like they're following me around, tantruming.)
Someone needs to teach the kids some manners. Thing is, you can't blame the child. It's entirely the parents' fault. Also, whatever happened to 'if you touch it, you eat it'? I had a childhood full of eating things I didn't want, purely because of poor motor control while trying to reach the thing I did want.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's the parents' fault. I applaud you, Annie, for having the courage to take it on. I usually just grumble under my breath. Everyone should speak up when they see people (anyone) doing something so selfish.
ReplyDelete