and the bouncers at the door tell him, “You can’t come in here, you’re too young!”
So the infant says, “What’s the problem? I wouldn’t drink anything alcoholic. Everything I drink is right there in the lady carrying me.”
“Sorry,” they told him, “rules are rules - you’re under 21, you can’t come in.”
And thus, the birthday outing my wife had planned for me came to abrupt end. I don’t blame the club, I’m sure they have to make sure they don’t get in trouble with the law. It just struck me as one of those “absurdity of life” moments that I just had to laugh about. And share.
Well, if it’s a restaurant with bar, yeah I agree that it’s stupid. However, the fact that there was a bouncer at the door makes this unlikely. If you were in fact going into an actual bar, I don’t think it’s at all absurd that they refused you. How is it at all appropriate to bring an infant into a bar? Not in an “OMG think of the children!” way, but an “OMG think of all the adults trying to enjoy themselves in an establishment that is nearly universally (Wisconsin excepted, I gather) considered adults only” way.
My parents took me to bars when I was a kid all the time. I was a tween before I realized how insane that was.
I’m pretty horrified about it now. I couldn’t imagine taking my baby to a bar. If it’s a restaurant too, then that’s silly (and you probably live in Indiana), but a straight-up bar? Totally inappropriate.
Meh, as long as you aren’t letting the kid drink, I do not see what the big deal is. I got taken into bars when I was young - there was a piano bar that was a blast near where my parents lived. I would get a ginger ale, Mom would get a glass of wine, Dad would get whatever he was drinking and we would sing along.
I am sure that I am one of the few people of my generation that knows Hold That Tiger, Sheik of Araby, Lili Marlene and St James Infirmary =) [or at least could sing along competently at the age of 10 … ]
In Wisconsin, you see infants, kids, toddlers, and young children in bars. They come in with parents, and why shouldn’t they? They aren’t served alcohol, so what’s the problem? The whole family goes to Friday night dinner at the local pub and has a good time.
But things are changing. Wisconsin has a high drunk driving rate, and “outsiders” are part of the pressure to change this policy, regardless if it is a contributor to the problem or not. Reminds me of the prohibition mindset (not that I was around then, I just heard about it). I suspect current practices will not last long.
The summer before I turned 21, I had some older friends with a baby and we’d always go to bars baby in tow and sit either outside or in an area with enough space to fit the stroller. They thought it was hilarious that they were a) bringing a baby to a bar (she even had her own BYOB- bring your own bottle- romper) and b) bringing someone else under 21 as well. Good times.
This was in NYC where at some places bouncers will let you in using either a college ID or your social security card- not joking, my friend actually did that once.
It really depends on the place. I knew a few pub-type places when I went to college in Indiana that would let children stay until 8pm-ish on any given day. After that it was adults-only, because it would get extremely loud and crowded with people shouting and dancing and hooking up and spilling beers and potentially vomiting, and that is just not a good environment for a child.
It wasn’t so much a pure bar as a “lounge”, my wife thought it would be a fun place to go because they had bowling and ping-pong and other fun games to play (albeit with drinks). Here’s the place’s website.
But even if it was a flat-out bar, we just…didn’t think about the baby possibly being not allowed in. He’s three months old. He doesn’t even roll over. We strap him into his car seat/carrier, and he’s practically a piece of luggage. Or we unstrap him and hold him (if he cries), but he’s not getting in anyone’s way, and obviously, he can’t drink.
We’re not too cheap for a babysitter, but we wouldn’t leave behind a kid that little. If we even thought about the matter, and thought to ask, we probably just wouldn’t have attempted to go until he was old enough to leave behind. But…we just didn’t think carrying him along would mean anything, that’s all.
And sure, I can see (now) that it’s possible some of the adults might not enjoy a baby being around, but it was clearly the technicality of being “under 21” that the bouncer was enforcing, not some aspect of the other patrons’ fun.
I’m not even complaining about it. My wife and I came away laughing about it. So I thought of sharing my sense of amusement with the gang here, is all.
Do you have a family member who can watch the kid? Or a babysitter who specializes in babies?
My friends left their baby who was approximately that age with me when there was a gap between both of them going back to work and the grandma’s flight arriving so she could take care of the kid. I was 20 at the time and terrified (it turned out fine though)- so I wouldn’t advise doing that while you’re at a bar, but there must be babysitters who have baby CPR training, etc.
Yep same thing happened to me when my kid was a baby. Just didn’t even think about it. There was an alumni get together for a football bowl game at a bar in downtown Seattle and my wife and I were meeting some friends there to watch the game and have a good time.
Walk in and the bartender says exactly what yours did. I was a bit dumbstruck as up until that moment I had never even considered it to be an issue. However it all worked out in our case as right next door there was a Tony Roma’s that had the game on, so our friends joined us there and we still had our drinks and good time.
Thought it was a stupid idea then and still do. Even now we go to our local little pub, on one side is the bar separated by a low wall. Kids can be on the restaurant side but not the bar side. We always joke with our daughter to not look over there as it is evil. This is literally one large room with a low wall separating the bar from the restaurant. Same menu, same drinks. Silly.
But it certainly was a learning experience. Good luck with the kid. Welcome to the wonderful world of being a parent!
Jaysus Christ, I was *raised *in bars. My old man knew every two bit joint on the planet between Cleveland and Omaha and we visited most of them. It was an easy and cheap way to feed the kids what we wanted to eat anyway, mostly hamburgers. And this is back when there was a blue haze of smoke hovering two feet off of everything and there were still cigarette machines to topple on yourself. I could see not letting a kid into a nightclub or a strip joint, but anything else should be well and fine at least up until 9:00 or 10:00 at night.
