I am not so old that I don't remember carrying one or the other of the kids out of a restaurant under one arm because of a braech in etiquette. We taught the two rambunctious, cross-checking boys about "restaurant voice." They learned that they were not having conversations with people at the next table, so there was no need to talk in tones that could be heard by those at the next table. And most of the stuff we talked about wasn't their business anyway.
And they were taught that they didn't need to run in a restaurant. I suppose there could be a time when running in a restaurant is appropriate. When the Boston Marathon is routed through Cheers, then it will be appropriate to run in there.
The three kids were loud when they were sitting. And then they must have finished eating whatever they had ordered because they started to roam around, a boy about 8, a girl about 11, and another girl, maybe 9. I must say that they were not running around; they were skating around. They had tennis shoes with wheels built into the heels, and they were rolling around corners and down straightaways. I complained to the waitress. The boy stopped when I gave him the evil eye ... or maybe it was the fist.
I figured if skating was okay in the restaurant, so was checking. I would have planted him into the next booth. They stopped.
Posted by Bill at May 8, 2007 10:25 PMWow. Must have been visiting from San Diego.
Posted by: Joel at May 9, 2007 02:41 AMI've often wondered when it was that parents stopped teaching their children manners...
Posted by: daisy at May 9, 2007 08:46 AMThose wheely shoes drive me batshit.
Posted by: KathyHowe at May 9, 2007 09:51 AMIt always amazes me that their own parents notice nothing at all. Mine were angels (of course). Christian once apologised to a waiter because he didn't finish everything on his plate.
Posted by: Anji at May 9, 2007 12:15 PMI have perfected the art of the evil eye during my years of teaching and parenting. I use it liberally when in restaurants.
It works just about every time. My daughter thinks it's hysterical. I think she's just glad someone else is on the receiving end of it.
Posted by: moonandsun03 at May 10, 2007 01:56 PMMy 19-year-old has determined (well, decided a few years ago actually) that she despises children. Mostly boys as they seem to be the ones she hears and sees on those damn wheely shoes and doing such horrendously loud and obnoxious things most often, decidedly American. When she spent time in Japan she didn't mind them at all. They still have some manners over there apparently.
I have decided not to correct her on all of this and point out the parental part in all of this. It keeps her wary about birth control. ;) (yes, tongue planted in cheek, etc.)
Posted by: Keri at May 17, 2007 02:00 AM