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I work in a restaurant that is a mixture between fast food and sit down. You place your order at a register and we bring the food to your table when you're ready. It is a kid-friendly enviornment, we even have a kids eat free night. Does this warrant parents to allow their children to misbehave, make a mess on purpose, run around screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs, etc? There are some kids who will sit in their seats throwing food on the floor and the parents, rather than disciplining, will laugh at their children and make comments such as "Oh Johnny, how adorable", etc. It's ridiculous.

My job is to take orders, make food, and keep the dining room clean. Yes, I know it's inevitable for people to make messes, but it's ridiculous for parents to condone it, and LAUGH while it's being done.

Are there any polite things I can say to these people or is it one of those grin and bear it, vent to co-workers when they're gone types of situations? It's just really bugs me to have more food on the floor than what they ate (no exaggeration either).

If you're a parent who has allowed this, why? Why do you feel it's okay? I understand that it's my job, but there are so many other "behind-the-scene" things I do, that being forced to clean up a mess that could have been easily prevented by a parent saying "susie, please don't throw that on the floor". If you're a parent who will discipline their child rather than play along - Thanks!

I also don't mind when a child accidentally spills something - kids will be kids. I'm not here to complain (although I apologize because it probably sounds as if I am). I just want to know if there's anything I can do and WHY parents allow this misbehavior?

I totally agree with you. Parents these days let their children behave like complete monsters. Not all parents... there are some who teach their kids manners and insist that they behave well... but there seems to be fewer and fewer parents like that anymore.

The problem is (and you hit the nail on the head), they think their kids are adorable... and they think everyone else thinks so, too. And it's no wonder that they think that! Because nobody has the guts to come out and say "Your kid is acting like a brat!" or "Why don't you teach your kid some manners?" People just smile or say, "Aww, how cute" when really they're thinking, "Uggh.. what terrible parents!"

Back in the old days, people DID say things like that. And the parents would think, "Whoa, how embarrassing... I better not let my kids act like that because it's humiliating to have people think badly of us." But these days, most people wouldn't dream of saying that to someone, because we're all so afraid of offending people, or criticizing their parenting skills, or coming across as judgemental. As a society, we've been so conditioned to "accept" and "tolerate" everyone, that we let even the worst behaviors slip by without saying a word. So most people don't even realize that what they (or their kids) are doing is bad.

Yes, it's a great thing to be tolerant of people's different beliefs or practices... but when we tolerate plain out bad manners and discoureous behavior, we're just making our society unpleasant for everyone.

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with politely saying, "Excuse me, your son threw some food on the floor, would you mind picking it up?" Or "I'm trying to watch the movie, could you please ask your children to keep it down?" If more people would have the guts to say stuff like that, it would make parents realize that their kids' bad behavior isn't so cute after all.

Unfortunately, your manager is right... as an employee, you shouldn't say anything negative to a customer. Sadly, you do have to grin and bear it when you're at work. But everywhere else... go ahead and say something!! If people start to realize that their kids' behavior is irritating to others, they might start to teach their kids some manners!!

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