It's no surprise that all I keep seeing on FB over the last few days is the woman in Maine who yelled at some 21 month old to stop her from crying. She is the owner of a diner that the child and her parents were eating at, and apparently she has no issues with yelling at a kid to shut up - not in so many words - but as she describes herself in her countless interviews, she says that she SCREAMED and SLAMMED her hands on the counter saying 'This has GOT TO STOP!' ... and she is all pleased w. herself that the child stopped crying. Of course the kid stopped - she probably scared the sh*t out of the child.
Honestly, I have commented on a few posts and then tried to ignore the story - but her face has been everywhere and I don't say this often but I kind of want to go right up and scream at her (that's being nice) because who the heck yells at another person's child? Short of screaming to save them from danger or in some level of fear? Don't do that.
If you have an issue with a child. A BABY. Because come on, 21-months? That's a baby, people. You talk to the parents. Her interviews say that they weren't feeding the kid and/or they were ignoring the tantrum. Well, okay, then. Talk to the parents. They're the adults. They're who you have issue with - not-so-child-friendly-diner-owner. And if they don't address it or they don't leave? Kindly ask them to. It is your place of business. You have every right to do so. Sure, you might end up on social media and look like an ass, but you're there anyway, so what's the difference?
And honestly, as a parent, I can't imagine that the parents just let their kid scream for 45 minutes straight. Because as a parent I know that that would drive ME to drink. I mean, seriously. Unless your baby has colic, in which case you know that the witching HOUR is really multiple hours, and you know that the only thing that works is driving around in the car while stuffing fast food into your hungry face - OR swaddling your child up tight and turning on the hair dryer (for some the vacuum, or the washer/dryer, for us, hair dryer was magical) until she shushes herself to sleep.
But seriously. This woman makes me so angry.
I almost didn't post this. I really didn't. But then.
Just now. This morning. Thank goodness. A friend shared this.
Thank goodness.
And here's a tweet that shows the mom's FB post directly TO the business AND the diner owner's response (which she has since removed - but should know that the Internet is forever):
Another shot of her follow-up rant - which is also showing up everywhere - can be seen completely on this Maine.Eater article. And her latest explosion is live on her business FB page:
I'm sorry - but I'm going to stick with my take on this woman. She's not simply foul-mouthed. I have no care in the world if a person shouts FU*K at the top of their lungs pretty much anywhere. But when you're a business owner and you come out swinging like that? Dude. You're in the wrong.
I'm not saying the customer is always right. I'm just not. Because I've seen my fair share of customers who are a$$hats, and I will say that everyone gets their due. But seriously - to scream at a baby? It's just wrong. And to respond this way all across social media? If you've watched the interview with this woman you probably want to yell loud things at her like I do. Or maybe you don't, you're entitled to disagree with me and I respect that - I won't go flinging curses at you at the top of my online lungs, promise!
And if you know me, well, you know that I don't usually dip my toe into the controversial topics but when one of them shows up in your Facebook feed about 50 or so times in a matter of two days I just felt the need.
Same as that owner said, my space, my rules. Thing is - my space - my rules - but my smart self is going to be respectful just the same.
And I can tell you this much ... next time we're in Maine? There's no way in hell we're stepping foot near Marcy's Diner.
Here is the original post from the customer and the response from @MarcysDiner. pic.twitter.com/mr3ta9dx9P
— TVTEDDY (@TVTEDDY) July 21, 2015
Another shot of her follow-up rant - which is also showing up everywhere - can be seen completely on this Maine.Eater article. And her latest explosion is live on her business FB page:
I'm sorry - but I'm going to stick with my take on this woman. She's not simply foul-mouthed. I have no care in the world if a person shouts FU*K at the top of their lungs pretty much anywhere. But when you're a business owner and you come out swinging like that? Dude. You're in the wrong.
I'm not saying the customer is always right. I'm just not. Because I've seen my fair share of customers who are a$$hats, and I will say that everyone gets their due. But seriously - to scream at a baby? It's just wrong. And to respond this way all across social media? If you've watched the interview with this woman you probably want to yell loud things at her like I do. Or maybe you don't, you're entitled to disagree with me and I respect that - I won't go flinging curses at you at the top of my online lungs, promise!
And if you know me, well, you know that I don't usually dip my toe into the controversial topics but when one of them shows up in your Facebook feed about 50 or so times in a matter of two days I just felt the need.
Same as that owner said, my space, my rules. Thing is - my space - my rules - but my smart self is going to be respectful just the same.
And I can tell you this much ... next time we're in Maine? There's no way in hell we're stepping foot near Marcy's Diner.
This story is so bizarre. I find it almost impossible to believe that the child really screamed for that long- the parents wouldn't have been able to take it, either.
ReplyDeleteWhile of course I think parents need to remove their kids from situations when they are disturbing others' meals, I think the baby's behavior was exaggerated by the diner owner.
AND the owner should have talked to the parents, not screamed at the baby.
There have been a lot of "right on, girl!" comments to the diner owner, but I'm not on that side(and this from someone who gets massively annoyed at parents who bring their babies into R rated movies).
What's the weirdest part of this story is the way that the owner claims ordering three pancakes was some sort of monumental inconvenience when, in fact, three pancakes is ON THE EFFIN MENU (see here: http://www.nicemuffin.com/menu.html) as an order. And not just in one place, either - well, under the pancake corner, but it's a possibility multiple times. So. Doing the math that three pancakes is such an effin inconvenience, maybe she should oh, I don't know, remove it from the menu? Also, it's not her place to judge what a mother feeds her child at a restaurant. The owner absolutely handled this inappropriately as there are better ways to handle a situation causing issues inside your restaurant. The post from the mom makes it clear there wasn't anything over the top going on, just a grumpy hangry 21 month old. That? Is gonna happen in a family style diner.
ReplyDeleteSo the owner was inappropriate for sure. Not how I would have chosen to handle it and definitely lacking some social graces. But her diner, her rules. I'm okay with that. However I don't do screaming kids - whether the screaming is because they are upset or happy. I just don't. And if I am on a plane, eating a meal out, or anywhere else - I expect the parents to handle it. If you are okay with your kid screaming, that is great. However that doesn't give you the right to let them do it in a public place. Just like I wouldn't blare music in a public place. Not cool. And I don't care if it is raining outside. Do whatever you have to do to quiet the child. I did when mine was little and I expect the same of others. So I'm voting on the side of the diner owner. The patrons had been asked to leave and they refused. She didn't handle it well but she at least handled it. If I was there at the same time, I might have applauded her.
ReplyDelete