All I know if my kid was a little ninja in restaurants, I’d keep an eye on him/her as opposed to where the server is placing food. Act according to priority.
Worse case scenario it’s just a minor burn, no big deal. They’ll learn something from it.
I highly doubt that the waitstaff at the local Cheesecake Factory give two shits about any “obligation to be vigilant”.
That would be a good retort if the argument “are they required to be vigilant” had anything to do with “do cheesecake factory servers dream of deep-fried torts.”
Alas, it doesn’t, rendering your objection utterly pointless.
Unbelievable - re-read the OP and tell me where he said anything about managers or lawyers. He made the same observation that I’ve made a dozen times to my wife - some folks seem incapable of realizing that right next to the little bundle of Id is perhaps not the best place to put the nachos or the water pitcher.
And what the hell do the OP’s political beliefs have to do with anything? FTR, I’m about the polar opposite from the OP politically, but totally with him on the toddler/hot plate issue. I guess some of us can keep their politics out of everyday conversations, and some of us can’t.
Some of you folks see an innocuous post in MPSIMS (“hey, don’t put a hot plate near my kid”) as an invitation to attack!!! Especially when the OP holds to a different viewpoint. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again - there are a lot of miserable people on the Dope, and it’s exchanges like this that make the Dope less than the shining example of civil discourse that it could be.
My point being, some waitstaff seem attentive to those little details like “toddlers grab anything they can reach” and some don’t. As far as I can tell, that’s all the OP was saying. Get over yourself.
(Bolding mine)
Really? Really?!? Like, seeing a kid who is obviously under the age of 2 isn’t going to clue a waiter in to the fact that they will grab anything within reach? Sure, I am equipped with this golden nugget of wisdon, but so also should anyone be so equipped with two brain cells to rub together.
Like the waiter who’s putting the sizzling fajita platter next to my kid, forcing me to tell them “maybe you want to put that at the other end of the table?” This was an actual exchange a few years ago, which occurred while I was turned to talk with one of my daughters when the waiter came up to my table to put my wife’s food down (wife was in the powder room at the time). Since my wife and I were sitting next to our son (around a year old at the time), where any responsible parent would sit, the waiter, oblivious to the baby, decided “Should I get the dad’s attention before I put this down? Nah, I’ll just put it where his wife was sitting, in front of the baby who clearly looks old enough to know that hot cast iron skillets give third-degree burns.” When I turned and saw him with start to place a burning hot dish right next to my kid, I seriously had to resist the urge to ask him “Are you retarded?” - so I just asked him to “put it over there, thankyouverymuch”, and breathed a sigh of relief that I’d turned just in time.
And if my son would have burned himself, you can be damn sure I would have sued the restaurant for medical expenses.
I say again - get over yourself.
Omar, how are they supposed to know to do otherwise? Not everyone has children! Some people have never seen a child, and only know about them as myths and legends! It’s likely that they think those short people in costumes are just hard-core partying Little People with boundary issues.
*All *toddlers are little ninjas.
I do agree that it might behoove any manager whose restaurant offers both crayons and red-hot iron skillets to mention this issue in training. But still, one would also think that living in human society would tend to clue everyone in that putting something scalding in front of a toddler is not a good idea.
And I get annoyed when people don’t use common sense and consideration instead of relying on verbal instructions. Common sense says “I’m bringing a glass of water to a toddler, I have these quaint kids cups with lids and straws, I should use one of those!”
And it isn’t just servers in restaurants - check your goddamn blind spot before you switch lanes, you aren’t the only asshole on the road. Don’t block the aisle in the grocery store with your cart on one side and your body on the other while you peruse the canned corn and talk on your cell phone. If someone is coming behind you through the door you just opened, make sure it doesn’t slam in their face - with extra consideration if their hands are full. When I’m walking my dog and you are walking yours and we cross paths - do a little eye contact to make sure I want your dog sniffing my dogs butt, and assume that no contact between the dogs is the default if they are on leashes. Don’t swear in front of my grandma. Really, we shouldn’t need to tell people some things - basic socialization and common sense should fill them in (although, granted, one of my grandmas could swear like a sailor herself and wouldn’t have minded at all).
Most people really aren’t expecting “special” consideration for their kids - they are expecting “situational consideration.”
I think that someone upthread mentioned this, but it bears repeating. When the family sits down and Mom and Dad immediately clear a No Man’s Land of everything within the toddler’s reach, they don’t do it to give the server a convenient place to put the sizzling nachos or the hot teapot when the food arrives. The only things that the server should even consider setting in that area are the child’s food or the extra napkins (that Mom and Dad really shouldn’t have to even ask for - haven’t these people even heard of self-preservation?). If the restaurant provides crayons, it wouldn’t be totally out of line to set those down within reach, either.
How are people with no exposure to children supposed to know these things? I didn’t know toddlers will grab anything - I had never been around any! I nave that knowledge now - I realize I have to watch out for the neighbor’s kids playing in the street, because the parents certainly aren’t watching them - but when I was a 17-year old waitress I did not know what toddlers would do.
I don’t think everyone is born knowing how to take care of children. It sounds like a lot of people in this thread were, but I wasn’t.
Only if the kids ask nicely. 
I am not really sure how you get to be age 17 in this society without knowing that parents like to keep certain things out of children’s reach. You’d never heard of the concept of “childproofing”? Completely unfamiliar with the concept of keeping sharp knives out of a baby’s reach? Never seen such a thing on a sitcom or in a movie or at a friend’s house or heard someone talk about it or read about it in a book? And after, oh, a few days of working at a restaurant you weren’t aware that people generally like to keep the hot stuff, spillable items, and cutlery away from their rugrats?
Well, OK then.
It doesn’t seem like and special knowledge is required to understand it’s a bad idea to put a burn hazard in front of a small child. If you have to warn the people who can walk and talk not to touch it, doesn’t it just logically follow that you should keep it out of reach from the person at the table who clearly can’t understand your verbal warning? I don’t expect childless people to know about their Go-Go-Gadget arms that give them a reach of 16 feet, but not leaving sharp or hot or otherwise dangerous objects within what you’d reasonably expect their field of reach to be just seems like common sense.
Most people in this thread have been really very reasonable and you’re taking it here? Seriously? Yes, people who think that the parent is the person who should take the heads up from the waitperson and adjust their table/food/attention accordingly ALL HATE KIDS and don’t give a fuck about their safety. You’re a genius. I wish the future teachers of your child the VERY best of luck.
My 18-month-old goes with me to restaurants sometimes. When the waiter puts a hot plate near her, I move the fucking plate.
Amazing how that works out.
A simple suggestion - how about when you see servers approaching your table with your order - you corral your kids. Keep their little arms (tentacles) within bounds (maybe restrain their hands or sit on their heads - whatever) and let the server place all hot dishes on the table. You then rearrange the dishes to your heart’s content. All of the danger away from toddler. Place toddler back in whatever seat.
Really… how hard is that to do???
It’s not hard - I do those things and don’t think twice about it.
However, a server who can’t pay 1 molecule of attention to where they’re putting stuff down in regards to where all their customers are sitting, is a really shitty server.
I’m saying this as a former server. A clueless, childless, 17 year old with no babysitting experience server and I was smart enough to figure out that sharp things and hot things aren’t given to the person at the table who thinks finger painting with their own turd is the height of artistic expression.
Clearly, I’m gifted.
We knew that, Alice. Apparently, though, a lot of people are really comfortable with trained chimpanzees serving them.
I suspect if this rant was more along the lines of “my server didn’t ask for a refill for the soda, let our food get cold, and we are two childless adults” that there would be more sympathy. But the moment a CHILD is in a RESTAURANT those who believe themselves entitled to a child free life come out of the woodwork.
Clue, if you don’t want to serve children, don’t serve in a place that has highchairs, covered cups, and crayons. And if you don’t want children in a restaurant you dine in, don’t eat in a place that has highchairs, covered cups, and crayons. We eat fairly regularly in places where I don’t EVER see toddlers at dinner. In our city, there are plenty of these venues.
Hell yeah. In fact, that was my favorite thing to get when I was a kid.
I preferred Bag o’ Glass. More shiny.