# Exasperated man buys everyone in Burger King an apple pie to teach boy throwing a tantrum a lesson. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 10, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267 "2014-08-10T21:21:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/122 "2014-08-13T05:23:30Z")
I"m probably going to regret making this post… I have a kid on the autism spectrum, he is mostly non-verbal but he doesn’t understand the social rules about lines and such. Sometimes I have been correcting him and controlling him for hours after work so I am just exhausted and his favorite restaurant has an endless line. Shit sometimes \ throw a tantrum over nonsense, kinda a tall order expecting him to behave nicely. But if the line is beyond his ability to deal(I have been proud of him when he does deal for up to 20 minutes) he will just throw himself on the floor. I’m sure to everyone around it looks like a tantrum but it just exceeded his limits. Sorry but he has limits and they can be exceeded, I’m sure every kid does even normal ones. That is just the reality of child raising, sure there are asshole parents and bratty kids but sometimes there are things beyond a parent’s control. \*About leaving a grocery, yea you try it when you’re buying essentials and you don’t have a car. Either you buy the essentials that day or wait til the next night, bet you’d act differenty. Especially if you kid neither understands or reacts to discipline like denying the purchase and leaving. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/123 "2014-08-13T06:16:11Z")
What do you think a tantrum is? You’re putting the kid in situations you know he can’t handle. Paying for your stuff at the store and getting the kid out as soon as possible is not the end of the world, but when you see a long line at the KFC, don’t go there. Leaving is not just for discipline, it’s about consideration for other people. What about other autistic people or migraine-prone people who will be in a lot of pain triggered by the noise of the screaming? Others have difficult problems and sensitivities too. Stressing everyone out, your kid and yourself included, so your kid can get his favorite meal is not worth it. He may not understand exactly what is happening and why, but how will he ever? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/124 "2014-08-13T06:23:11Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > What do you think a tantrum is? > You’re putting the kid in situations you know he can’t handle. Paying for your stuff at the store and getting the kid out as soon as possible is not the end of the world, but when you see a long line at the KFC, don’t go there. > Leaving is not just for discipline, it’s about consideration for other people. What about other autistic people or migraine-prone people who will be in a lot of pain triggered by the noise of the screaming? Others have difficult problems and sensitivities too. Stressing everyone out, your kid and yourself included, so your kid can get his favorite meal is not worth it. He may not understand exactly what is happening and why, but how will he ever? I have a mental note of the usual line length of KFCs in the area, I absolutely do abandon KFCs when the line is too long. But what do you do when the employees pull shenanigans like you get in a line get near the front and then the employee announces “line closed go join another” and walks away and you look to the only other line and it has 10 people in it? That is when \ have thrown a tantrum and I have seen other USA accented people do so as well(I try to throw them a solidarity signal). BTW he doesn’t scream or cry, he just throws himself on the ground. EDIT:I have little concern for the other customers because they try all sorts of laughable scams to cut in line in front of me, walking up to a random customer and then staying next to them and then taking their place in front of me ETC. Fuck em. I have started enjoying my time in more cosmopolitan areas where such shit like employee’s being assholes and customer’s being assholes does not happen, aww relaxing. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/125 "2014-08-13T06:35:50Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I have a mental note of the usual line length of KFCs in the area, I absolutely do abandon KFCs when the line is too long. But what do you do when the employees pull shenanigans like you get in a line get near the front and then the employee announces “line closed go join another” and walks away and you look to the only other line and it has 10 people in it? That is when \ have thrown a tantrum and I have seen other USA accented people do so as well(I try to throw them a solidarity signal). > > BTW he doesn’t scream or cry, he just throws himself on the ground. Yes, when they do that with the lines, it is very frustrating. If your son is quiet, it’s only his well-being that could be of concern as a reason to avoid it, as people can look away if it upsets them. Blocking out sound is much harder. What is most angering is parents who make no attempt to try to get their kids to stop being a pain in the ass, just stand there with that “I’ve tried nothing and it didn’t work” attitude. A kid flopping on the floor is not such a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/126 "2014-08-13T06:42:40Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > Yes, when they do that with the lines, it is very frustrating. > If your son is quiet, it’s only his well-being that could be of concern as a reason to avoid it, as people can look away if it upsets them. Blocking out sound is much harder. > What is most angering is parents who make no attempt to try to get their kids to stop being a pain in the ass, just stand there with that “I’ve tried nothing and it didn’t work” attitude. A kid flopping on the floor is not such a big deal. The other customers turn it into a spectacle with their comments and refusal to ignore him. But fair enough I have a waaaay out there circumstances, I’m just trying to say that not all parents with a child that appears bratty are selfish idiots. EDIT:Before I even had a kid I wold offer people behind me struggling with a difficult toddler my place, saying go ahead of me. I have never seen such relieved looks in my life as from the parents of them. I can still remember the helpless looking dude I told to take the only seat in a shared taxi, that father looked like I gave him a million dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/127 "2014-08-13T12:44:50Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > I disagree. One man’s revenge is another man’s justice. For the child to be denied pie is perfectly fair, and a win for everybody. Except for the parents, who may already have their hands full for any number of reasons, everybody else in the Burger King who has to deal with these people, and perhaps everyone who has to deal with them later. That could be a lot of imaginary inconvenienced people. Revenge is about satisfying a personal impulse and justice has to have a broader view that helps prevent a wrong from occurring again. This is a story about revenge, and an obviously fake one because every detail makes the protagonist as innocent as possible as the parent and child as awful as possible. Things don’t usually work like that on planet earth. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/128 "2014-08-13T13:23:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Except for the parents, who may already have their hands full for any number of reasons, everybody else in the Burger King who has to deal with these people, and perhaps everyone who has to deal with them later. That could be a lot of imaginary inconvenienced people. Revenge is about satisfying a personal impulse and justice has to have a broader view that helps prevent a wrong from occurring again. This is a story about revenge, and an obviously fake one because every detail makes the protagonist as innocent as possible as the parent and child as awful as possible. Things don’t usually work like that on planet earth. The parent wins because their kid learned a lesson in spite of the bad parenting. I didn’t say they were happy. Everyone else at Burger King was pleased to see justice served. Justice is about evening things out. The child and parent had unfairly inflicted the horrible display upon the people near them, so for them to be denied what they want is fair and good. Everyone lived happily ever after. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/129 "2014-08-13T13:27:25Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > The parent wins because their kid learned a lesson in spite of the bad parenting. You don’t know that the kid learned a thing. You know what the message was supposed to be, but not whether it was received. > [@](#): > > Everyone else at Burger King was pleased to see justice served. You don’t know that either. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/130 "2014-08-13T13:34:49Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > You don’t know that the kid learned a thing. You know what the message was supposed to be, but not whether it was received. > > You don’t know that either. It’s a fictitious story and this is my interpretation. Let me guess, you think “The Three Little Kittens” is a heartbreaking tale of animal child abuse… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/131 "2014-08-13T13:38:39Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > It’s a fictitious story and this is my interpretation. Yes, that’s precisely what you hadn’t acknowledged. There’s a lot of difference between ‘my interpretation of the story is that this happened afterward’ and ‘this is what happened.’ ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/132 "2014-08-13T13:42:57Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > There’s no way that happened. It’s just some dude that posted to reddit what he wished he had done. Yeah, since when did journalism fall to creating articles from posts made by random people on the web? Oh New York Daily News…I get it now. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/133 "2014-08-13T13:44:19Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes, that’s precisely what you hadn’t acknowledged. There’s a lot of difference between ‘my interpretation of the story is that this happened afterward’ and ‘this is what happened.’ I’ve said it was made up all along. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/134 "2014-08-13T14:14:13Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > I’ve said it was made up all along. I’m not talking about whether or not it’s real. I’m talking about acknowledging that your interpretation is only an interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/135 "2014-08-13T14:29:34Z")
Yes, that’s how analyzing a story works. My interpretation is based on the reality that exists outside of the fictional world of the story. 1. The child behaved disruptively, with no regard for other people around him. Was he oblivious to their presence? Did he not see them as creatures much like himself with thoughts and feelings? We don’t know. But what about after Pie Man got the pies? The child now must internally acknowledge the existence of other beings and that his behavior affects others and that theirs can be a response to his and affect him in ways he would rather avoid. A child is not an irrational flailing random behavior generator, no matter how it may seem to some parents. It processes inputs in a complex manner that may not yield desirable results immediately, but that does not mean that progress was not made. 2. Most people hearing the story IRL are heartily in favor of Pie Man’s actions, and we didn’t even have to hear the screaming child to be pleased by them. Assuming a similar batch of Burger King people is therefore reasonable, so maybe there was a person or two that did not cheer Pie Man and thought he was a big meanie, but they get to go around telling the story and looking down their noses at the vicious vengeful crowd and feel good about that, so even they share in the win. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/136 "2014-08-13T14:30:56Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > My interpretation is based on the reality that exists outside of the fictional world of the story. I can see nothing is going to be accomplished here. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/137 "2014-08-13T15:02:03Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I can see nothing is going to be accomplished here. Maybe you can get that put at the bottom of every Literature diploma. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/138 "2014-08-13T15:51:14Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > Maybe you can get that put at the bottom of every Literature diploma. People who discuss literature well don’t say things like “my interpretation is based on reality.” ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/139 "2014-08-13T16:54:45Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > People who discuss literature well don’t say things like “my interpretation is based on reality.” One’s audience normally understands that; it goes without saying. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/140 "2014-08-13T17:13:13Z")
Fun story, even if it _was_ fictional. Kinda out of date, though. [Am I the only one who saw the thread title and thought of this blast from the past?](http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp03012006.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267/141 "2014-08-16T14:34:24Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > **TokyoBayer** perfect? Hardly. I mean neither one of them is the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. But both of them are college grads with no long term debt as a result, both are gainfully employed, and are productive members of society. > > You know some people in this thread are starting to piss me off. I relate one story about my experience raising my kids and I get accused of lying or raising “perfect” kids. > > The positive side is some people that actually, you know tried to raise good kids agree with me. That’s not all you posted, and you know it. You didn’t just give an example of how you parented. You were refuting a comment that every parent has had children who have acted up. You were defending the people who see any child acting up and think their parents are bad. And, even if that was not your intention, you made it quite clear in your subsequent posts. You clearly think that, if a child acts up, their parents are bad. This only works if their parenting is perfect. If your method isn’t perfect, then the fact that a kid is still acting up does not mean that parent is bad. It could just be one of those times when it didn’t work. You got the responses you got because you were insulting parents who have kids that act up. Figuring that out shouldn’t be rocket science. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperated-man-buys-everyone-in-burger-king-an-apple-pie-to-teach-boy-throwing-a-tantrum-a-lesson/695267.md?page=6)