Damnit, she's only 18 months old, she's gonna touch that hot plate no matter what you say!

The BBQ Pit
181

Based on past experience, I’m not really surprised you’re chiming in here, nor that you’re taking the stance that you are, but I’ll bite - why do folks even bother refuting the OP on such an issue, and in such a forum? What does a poster expect to gain, aside from the aforementioned hollow self-validation that comes from telling someone “you’re wrong”? They certainly aren’t winning anyone over to their way of thinking, and even if that was their goal, that shit belongs in GD, now doesn’t it. Since when did a pointless little bitchfest about a minor annoyance in life become worthy of anything more than “yeah, I get that”?

Whatever happened to being able to share personal experiences with like-minded folk without the harpies swooping in to drown out any decent conversation with their mindless contrarian screeching?

If you overheard someone at work, or the gym, or church, or wherever you congregate in a less-than-formal atmosphere, complaining about the same issue, would you seriously butt in to their conversation to proclaim that they are over-reacting, or wrong, or make broad generalizations about their parenting skills? If someone did that to you, wouldn’t you think it quite rude?

So I guess I did lose my shit, because I don’t tolerate odious folks who can’t leave a mundane, pointless conversation topic to simply be mundane and pointless. You folks have to turn everything into a battle, and frankly, it’s really fucking tiresome.

182

Obviation then, if you must have it exact, TriPolar. I think you are the one “out there” for assuming facts not in evidence about what I’ve said and just using any excuse to pontificate. I happen to agree a parent is the main protector of their child but that still doesn’t absolve the rest of humanity from responsibility for their behavior. Ideally all of us would be our brothers keeper. It’s called common decency. Sure parents are the last line of defense against idiots but that still does not give idiots the right to place hot plates in front of children who will get hurt before the parent can get to plate or child. Surely you can see that? alice_in_wonderland had a very astute post on it.

183

Taking the stance that I am? What on EARTH are you on about? This comment I’m typing is my 3rd in this post. The first one was questioning the OP in his idea that not agreeing with him = not giving a fuck about kids and my second comment was wondering why you were losing your mind and being so over the top all the while bleating about how others are being so awful. So forgive me if I don’t worry about whatever you mean by “past experience” when you’re not even accurate about the thread we are posting in NOW where the words are in front of your face let alone something in the past.

On such an issue in such a forum? Are you still confused about the way this forum works even after it’s been explained to you and the mod verified that disagreements are fine in this forum? Let’s repeat: As much as you want it to be true, it is NOT true that this forum is only for agreeing with the OP.

You want to know what happened to sharing personal experiences with like minded folks without harpies blah blah blah. People are trying to share experiences. There have been parents who have come in and given their experience. Some agree with the OP and some do not. In your fantasy MPSIMS are the only ones allowed to chime in the one’s who are "like minded’ 100% with the OP?

Also, do you realize how completely ridiculous your question in your 3rd paragraph is? Maybe you butt into other people’s conversations at work, the gym, etc but most polite people don’t. Yes, I would think someone who does that would be rude. What you don’t seem to get is that this thread isn’t a private conversation. Stay with me here, the VERY REASON people start threads is to have people come in and discuss them. I’m not sure if you don’t read many threads here but this happens ALL THE TIME where people come in and share different points of view. It just happens that THIS time it’s a thread that has seriously mashed your CANNOT-DISCUSS-RATIONALLY button and you can stop yourself from coming back and being rude all the while railing about harpies and fucking idiots and miserable lots and thriving on conflict and odious folks when the person who is doing the most freaking out and rude behavior in this thread is y-o-u.

184

You still don’t understand that I’m not replying to your point of view, or anything you consider facts (please look up the definition of ‘facts’). I’m explaining to you the nature of parental responsibility. You can have all the ideals you want, and wish them upon others, but it doesn’t change anything. Rational people do not expect others to assume their own responsibilities for them, or for others to display common decency in any reliable manner. And idiots have the right to put hot plates down anywhere they want except directly on a person. If a parent cannot move the plate in time, it is the parent’s fault, not the servers. Your only point seems to be that waitresses are indeed idiots, and you wish they weren’t. I wish they weren’t either.

185

Dudes. You cannot just call a crazy-off without announcing it so that the rest of us can show up to judge.

Look, I don’t make the rules.

186

Thank you Sleeps, for pointing this out so clearly. I’m a little tired seeing posters accused of threadshitting simply for disagreeing with someone’s comment.

187

Fuck it, gloves off - maybe this belongs in the Pit, but I honestly don’t give a shit, since I’ve asked the admins to shut down my account anyway. Banned or deactivated, I couldn’t give a fuck - after 12 years, I’m just tired of this shit.
If you feel there is nothing wrong with coming into an innocuous discussion and disagreeing just for the sake of fucking disagreeing, fuck you sideways with a rusty spanner. Yes, you Sleeps - sure you were late to this party, but you’ve done exactly the thing I’m talking about, in plenty of other threads (including a couple of mine, so maybe I’m holding a bit of a grudge against you for shitting all over my threads - yep, now that I think about it, I’m holding a fucking grudge, you miserable shit), which is why I’m not at all surprised you jumped in here.

And fuck you TriPolar and Kimmy_Gibbler, and anyone else who simply couldn’t let the point of the OP stand on its own without sticking your fucking noses in, especially since simple mild complaint of the OP is pretty goddamn hard to argue against.

Did any of us parents complaining about the same issue ask if anyone thought we were wrong? Then why even bother suggesting it? If it were a Pit thread, yeah I get it, and I’d even expect it. But good god, you miserable fucks, what the hell is wrong with you people that you’ve got to thrive on this shit? I say again, fuck you all if you don’t see the point here. If this were an in-person conversation, you’d never interject like this, but thanks to the anonymity of the internet, you’re able to self-validate from the privacy and comfort of your own home without worrying about anyone calling you an asshole to your face. Well, fuck you, assholes.

And to the rest of you, who don’t see a problem with this - jesus, does no one simply want a nice place to converse without the troglodytes flinging shit all over? Why don’t you folks simply stop letting the assholes step all over decent conversation topics, and call them on this shit when you see it? I can’t be the only person that gets annoyed by this fucking bullshit.

Good riddance, all several thousand of you. It was fun while it lasted, but now it just kind of sucks donkey balls.

And fuck Der Trihs and Rand Rover, just because.

188

:eek:

Well I agree with you - People being contrary just for he sake of being contrary gets old, really fast it is sort of this place’s reason d’etra lately. It didnt used to be - people used to be able to post in MPSIMS and mostly be left alone. Now there are just too many sherks in the water.

189

Re: Crown Prince of Irony (I don’t want to repost that mess)

Your breakdown here is bewildering over such a small amount of a disagreement. Also, why do the mods/admins have to disable your account? If you want to leave, why would you need to make such a big overdramatic production of it?

The fact that you can’t wrap your mind around the fact that people are disagreeing because they actually believe differently boggles my mind. You honestly believe that these people who are disagreeing (many of them are PARENTS too, btw) are doing so JUST to disagree and for no other reason? I guess no amount of simple and straightforward words can reach you if you honestly believe that. The way you’re describing it is that all of the PARENTS here agree with the OP and everyone else is here ONLY to disagree for the sake of disagreeing for spite despite all evidence to the contrary. To say that I wouldn’t let the OP’s point stand demonstrates that you haven’t read this thread clearly at all. I think you’re responding to what you imagine people are saying rather than what they are saying just like you’re expecting the forum rules to be what you imagine and not what they are.

You really have no idea how the forum works even after it’s been pointed out to you multiple times. Nobody needs to ASK what anyone thinks to get opinions. Why would you think that’s true? Starting a thread on this board INVITES people to discuss the topic. What about this is so hard to understand? What you WANT this board/forum to be simply isn’t what it is. Who are you to decide the rules? If the OP only wanted people who agreed with him he could possibly request that in the beginning and I believe that most people would honor that. But this insistence of yours that it’s somehow threadshitting for anyone to disagree is just wrong. The fact that you can’t accept that is more than a little odd.

So hold whatever grudge you want that I have (gasp!) disagreed with OPs in the past because that’s what people do here. I don’t remember a thing about you prior to this thread so I have no idea what little grudge you’re grasping to, but enjoy it. You’re behaving as if I’ve posted about 10 times in this thread about how I think it’s fantastic that children are in danger. I’ve only pointed out that you’re out of control and each time you illustrate it more.

It’s too bad that after 12 years of being here you’re willing to behave in such a childish manner to change your sig and tell people off who aren’t even in this thread. If you were able to read this thread with a clear head I think you’d see that it’s not nearly as contemptuous as you’re pretending it is. You’re basically throwing away your time here on this messageboard because you’ve dug in your heels and refuse to step back and see that other people are allowed to have another point of view.

190

My judgement is the crying baby needs to be carried out of this restaurant.

191

I understand that this topic seems to be very upsetting for you and that you feel you have nothing to lose since you’re asking for your account to be deactivated anyway…

…but all that notwithstanding, rules are rules and you can’t make these kinds of posts in this forum, so don’t do it again.
No warning issued.

192

With that out of the way now, I’m going to move this thread to the Pit, because I believe the tone and direction of it now fits that forum better than this one.

193

QFT.

194

Crown Prince of Irony, after a 20 year wait, I’m about to have my first and only precious snowflake after an uncomfortable high risk pregnancy. I expect my world to revolve around her for many years. So my first read of the OP was “Oh, that’s a good tip. If I clear the table in front of the baby, the waitstaff might assume I want the hot plate/spillables/complementary bread with large knife there. I need to be prepared to pay attention and move the potential hazard if that happens.” Because it’s my child, who I am solely responsible for protecting. Once my baby arrives, I’m sure I’ll be thrilled to enjoy a meal I don’t have to shop for, prepare, or clean up after. Paying attention and sliding a hot plate out of reach will be no biggie.

Sure, there’s a good chance an attentive waiter or waitress will foresee a problem and place the items out of reach, and that person should be rewarded for making life easier for the (tipping and paying) parents. But in a busy restaurant with a armloads of plates, platters, and glasses and multiple orders to keep straight and several families to take care of, why should you expect your baby to be top priority, and why would you disrespect and penalize a hard working waiter for failing to place items out of reach? He or she likely has full hands and a long list of things to do and do quickly. Waiting tables may not require an advanced degree, but it is demanding, fast paced physical work to meet the expectations of multiple tables, constant requests, keep drinks topped off, dishes cleared, run for condiments, napkins and other extras, as well as keeping up with who ordered what all while delivering cold salads, hot appetizers, and timing meals to be delivered all at once. Not to mention the aftermath and inevitable mess that little people make: crumbs all over the floor, spills, apologizing to other diners for your child’s screams, crying spells, and bad smells…

It isn’t that dissenters are feeling especially antagonistic and chose to disagree just to irk you, it is that your expectations are unrealistic and your attitude is entitled. Keep an eye out for potential dining hazards: that’s a great tip for this parent-to-be and all waitstaff. But expecting strangers to anticipate your needs as well as punishing them for failing to be on guard for every potential threat to your child’s comfort is obnoxious. Enjoy the meal you didn’t have to prepare or clean up after, and if your only complaint is having to slide a plate six inches to the right… get over yourself.

195

First, I’m kind of irked this thread got moved to the pit. It never was my intention. And if you would have read the OP closely, you would also see that I am sympathetic to the busy nature of waitstaff. I also agree, and as expressed in my OP, that I am the primary one responsible for my kid. All the jackholes, including you, that repeat that mantra, insinuate that I’m some sort of priviledged parent that wants to pass along that responsibility to the server once I hit the door. Please show me where I ever said that.

You so eloquently listed all of these responsibilities that the server has. What makes all of them more important than being cautious about where they put a hot plate on the table. Is keeping a water glass full more important than potentially burning customer? Are you too fucking lazy that you can’t get up go get yourself a napkin? Why is it the server’s responsibility? Hell they’re busy, as you have clearly stated. What piece a privileged shit you are for not being able to get your own napkin. See how ludicrous that sounds. That’s how you are coming off.

196

Umm hmm. Which is why I addressed CPofI, instead of you.

197

Then please show me where the Prince ever said that he didn’t have the primary responsibility for watching over his kid. Otherwise your post is idiotic.

198

Pointless, since I didn’t make that claim about either of you. I complained that Crown Prince’s expectations are unreasonable, and that penalizing the staff for failing to anticipate problems is unfair and entitled.

199

:confused: Erm, anticipating needs is sort of what a server does. Well, at least a good server. At a family restaurant expecting the server to anticipate the needs of all of the table guests - including the need not to get burnt, wear hot soup, cut oneself on sharp knives, etc - doesn’t seem out of line. If a server works at a family restaurant, some of their customers will be little kids and if they can’t accommodate the unique (but totally easy to accommodate) needs of that group they shouldn’t work there.

Congrats, BTW - I suspect that once your little bundle of joy has reached the toddler stage and you’re eating a mediocre meal in a loud, obnoxious restarant, and you’re keeping him amused as best you can and he’s trying to get out of his highchair by pushing it backwards with his feet, and trying to throw things at other diners and splashing his milk around he table you’ll appreciate a server that doesn’t throw one more thing in front of him/you and you’ll appreciate CPoI’s point of view a bit more.

anyway - congrats again. The parenting gig is loads of fun, if not utterly exhausting.

200

Come on, it’s not a “stranger” it’s a waiter, a person who’s job it is to anticipate and meet your dining needs. It’s their job, and the restaurant specifically caters to children, it’s not obnoxious to expect the waiter to know how to satisfy the needs of a child.