# I pit crying babies in public places **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 25, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368 "2010-01-25T15:52:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/321 "2010-01-28T14:51:30Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > No you wouldn’t because first of all, nobody would expect a grown man to be screaming at a baby. Second, if you make any move on me I will totally sue your ass off. I’m not going to touch your kid, but my face will be inches from his and I will be yelling at him. > > People want others to stand by while they try and fail to shut their idiot kids up? Here’s a 100% fool proof method. Set down your fork, pick up the kid, and go outside. Any parent who fails to do that after their kid rebuffs their efforts deserves to be yelled at. > > And don’t tempt me, I’ve done this before. It was at a Denny’s on a Friday night and I totally yelled at some moron kid. It ended well. The parents got annoyed/scared and decided to leave. I got my peace and quiet. :rolleyes: I have a subscription to internet tough guy magazine to gift to you. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/322 "2010-01-28T14:52:50Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > When I have a baby (which I will take with me wherever I go) and it cries in public, the fact that we am pissing off people like the OP who is as helpless as I am to make the kid shut up.. will be a great comfort. Which, I guess, brings us back full circle to the point of my pit: the parents were boarhogs who chose to keep the screaming baby in the restaurant and tell other people to fuck off instead of taking the kid outside. Hopefully, what you posted was a whoosh. I must admit that I am totally amazed by the direction this thread has taken. There have been some interesting points of view expressed, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/323 "2010-01-28T15:00:13Z")
> [@tacoloco](#): > > This thread is surreal. > > The number of times people are subjected to uncontrollable baby crying without parents trying to cure the problem is small. I think I’ve actually seen it happen. Once or twice. What I find surreal is the number of folks for whom it is, apparently, a serious enjoyment-destroying problem they commonly encounter. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/324 "2010-01-28T15:15:18Z")
> [@tacoloco](#): > > This thread is surreal. > > The number of times people are subjected to uncontrollable baby crying **without parents trying to cure the problem** is small. And yet so many people are stabbing each other with virtual forks over **it**. I think we need to sign you up for some weekly remedial Reading Comprehension classwork, young man. You’re just not getting it. The reason I and others are rightly pissed off is because of the repeated assertions of that world-class pantload, **kidneyfailure** , that after some attempts to quiet the child in question had failed (mind you, the attempts are explicitly _not_ being done out of any consideration for **kf** ’s fellow diners), at a certain point he just gets to throw up his hands and say “Oh well. Tough shit. Let the wait staff decide who to toss out. I’m not taking my child out of earshot just so you filthy proles can gorge on your swill in peace. Suck it!” Just “trying to cure the problem” does not give one _carte blanche_ to do as they please in the meantime. Sure, those parents get more slack than the complete shitbags who do nothing, but that slack does run out at a certain point. Meanwhile, thread newcomer **rhubarbarin** is merely throwing more solipsistic fuel on the fire of assholishness. You go, girl! (to hell, that is) ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/325 "2010-01-28T15:17:20Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > When I have a baby (which I will take with me wherever I go) and it cries in public, the fact that we am pissing off people like the OP who is as helpless as I am to make the kid shut up.. will be a great comfort. Cool. And likewise, a few years down the line, I’ll enjoy tricking out your little darling to pay for her meth habit which I got her started on. Win-win! ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/326 "2010-01-28T15:28:31Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I must admit that I am totally amazed by the direction this thread has taken. It arose out of the great vowel shift, the result of which has been confusion over child as diner and child as dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/327 "2010-01-28T15:37:47Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > I think I said I’d do that twice, didn’t I? I specifically mentioned taking her outside if she needed it. However, I state again, I wouldn’t do it to make you happy, I’d do it because she needs it. Call me an inconsiderate asshole if you want, but I don’t give two shits about how YOU feel, but how my kid feels. > > Hell, why stop at forcing me to remove my child from a restaurant so you can feel comfortable? Why not ask me to pay for your whole meal, too? And after that maybe you’ll want me to carry you back to your house on my back? And then wash your car? Re-sod your lawn? Shit, maybe you even want me to blow you, too! :rolleyes::rolleyes: So what would you do if you kid was causing a disturbance, but not unhappy? Just being loud or making loud happy noises (normal for somebabies I’ve knw). Would you then feel obligated to quiet them even if they weren’t in dstress, but possibly (probably) bothering others? I was once in a diner where a child was constantly singing “The Song that Never Ends” over and over. By the end of that meal, I was thinking “justifiable homicide.” ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/328 "2010-01-28T16:09:53Z")
> [@villa](#): > > You are right on one thing. Nobody would expect a grown man to do that because it isn’t something a grown man would do. It’s something a immature idiot would do. And you think you will sue someone for making “any move” on you? For what? I hate to break it to you, but you are committing the intentional tort of assault by yelling in the child’s face. Do you honestly think a jury is going to award you dime one if someone stops you from doing that? > … Hey, sometimes I can be immature and sometimes I can be idiotic, I get that. But if a kid’s been screaming his head off behind me for 10 mins and the parents have done SHIT to stop it, someone has to. And when I say “any move”, I meant physical move, like if internet tough guy over there decides that someone else screaming is distracting from his own kid screaming and decides to take a swing. Yeah, I’ll put money that at least 1 person on that jury’s been in a similar situation and award me some damages. > [@villa](#): > > You have some serious issues. Spending your Friday night in Denny’s is probably the least of them. I’d suggest you had a beer and relax, but I know where that one would go… And we all know how relevent it is why I was in that Denny’s on that night :rolleyes: Don’t you have some poor wife to beat while in a drunken stupor? 😛 The bottom line is that I’m pretty tolerant about this sort of thing, but even I have my limits. When a kid’s been going on and on for 10 mins and the parents don’t do shit, what the hell are the rest of us supposed to do? Asking them nicely didn’t work, and I gave them a few more minutes after that, but there are limits to what kind of shit one can pull in a public place. And hey, it worked, so I guess I was doing something right 😃 ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/329 "2010-01-28T16:18:37Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Hey, sometimes I can be immature and sometimes I can be idiotic, I get that. But if a kid’s been screaming his head off behind me for 10 mins and the parents have done SHIT to stop it, someone has to. And when I say “any move”, I meant physical move, like if internet tough guy over there decides that someone else screaming is distracting from his own kid screaming and decides to take a swing. Yeah, I’ll put money that at least 1 person on that jury’s been in a similar situation and award me some damages. If you had any degree of maturity or intelligence you would talk to the parents. Or, in language you can understand, you would talk to the parents if you had any balls. But no, instead you act like a fucking cretin and yell at the child. > [@YogSosoth](#): > > And we all know how relevent it is why I was in that Denny’s on that night :rolleyes: Don’t you have some poor wife to beat while in a drunken stupor? 😛 It’s not so much the night, it’s the fact you were in Denny’s. And no, not married. She left me because I was a drunk. > [@YogSosoth](#): > > The bottom line is that I’m pretty tolerant about this sort of thing, but even I have my limits. When a kid’s been going on and on for 10 mins and the parents don’t do shit, what the hell are the rest of us supposed to do? Asking them nicely didn’t work, and I gave them a few more minutes after that, but there are limits to what kind of shit one can pull in a public place. And hey, it worked, so I guess I was doing something right 😃 No, you aren’t pretty tolerant for this sort of thing. If you were, you wouldn’t scream in the face of a kid. You’d talk to the parents, and if that didn’t work, you should talk to the management. But you don’t have the maturity or intelligence to do that. I’m sure you will now claim you spoke to the parents first, that you talk all reasonable steps, but I don’t believe it. Instead, your action is to commit what is certainly a tort against the child, and may quite possibly be a criminal offense. And you are stupid enough to believe a jury will award you damages if a parent stops you doing it. Any law suit brought by you in that situation (presuming of course they don’t use excessive force, and believe me pushing/dragging you back is not going to be considered excessive force there) isn’t going to get anywhere near a jury. You’d be representing yourself, because no lawyer is going to take such a sure loser unless you will pay up front. And it is going to get tossed out before you realized what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/330 "2010-01-28T16:21:43Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > It arose out of the great vowel shift, the result of which has been confusion over child as diner and child as dinner. Whoops, that should have read “great yowl shift”. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/331 "2010-01-28T16:27:54Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Where the fuck are you getting the factoid that the kid screams constantly from? … Wow. You really are mentally retarded, aren’t you? Do you have your little brother type up your posts so they don’t come off as trisomy or something? > [@](#): > > Moreover, your assumption - that babies only cry when their “needs are not being met” and so it is always the parent’s fault - is amusing in its lack of reality. You’re such a good acrobat, you must do very well at the Special Olympics. (Do they have a contortion category?) My explanation of why most babies are okay to bring into public–that they’re not nonstop crying machines, and that when they are crying, it’s usually because there’s something they need, which means the parent will be able to stop the crying pretty quickly–suddenly turns into a reason why no babies can ever be brought into public. That’s… almost impressive. > [@kidneyfailure](#): > > So, the Hitler comment is especially ironic! Only if you don’t know what irony means. There’s nothing in a purposely hyperbolic statement designed to hit a couple of points most under contention on these boards that makes any assumptions about your religion or ethnicity. > [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > It seems like you are so invested in winning this argument that you’re purposely trying to find fault with her scenario. Yes. This whole post. Go back and read it again, **Malthus**. This is what it looks like when someone actually reads what I write. > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I read it as “Don’t bring your small children places where they’re going to piss everyone off until you’ve determined that they’re capable of behaving in a way that does \*not \*piss everyone off.” Probably because that’s exactly what it meant. Well done. > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Seriously, I think next time this happens at a restaurant, I’m going to walk up to the family’s table and start shrieking. When are you coming to Milwaukee so we can go out to dinner and do this in synch? Stereo screaming! > [@JXJohns](#): > > I have skipped out of the first 7 pages of this trainwreck of a thread because it is full of exaggeration on both sides coming from people who would never utter a peep at what they thought was a disruptive child, but can sure talk a good game here. The statements about literally standing at the table and screaming are hyperbole intended to make a point: you wouldn’t think it was appropriate for an adult to do it, so it also shouldn’t be appropriate for an adult responsible for a child to allow a child to do it. That being said, I have no problem being confrontational to disruptive people in public. Generally in a civil fashion, mind you, but confrontational nonetheless. Yes, I \*am \*that person in the theater who will turn around and ask you to please stop talking. > [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Please point out where I said that. You said that while you’d try to get your kid to shut the fuck up and stop being a nuisance, if it didn’t work, tough shit to everyone else. So, [that’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12038673&postcount=125) where you said that. > [@Malthus](#): > > For some bizzare reason, you wish to interpret **Shot With Gun** ’s argument to mean - well, what the consensus means. If that was really the case, there would be no argument then, would there? There is no argument–except from a mental defective like you, who can’t read what’s right in front of him, probably because his eyes are squinted shut in pleasure as he furiously strokes his little lap pinkie at the prospect of getting to tell someone else how wrong they are. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/332 "2010-01-28T16:31:15Z")
Why should you talk to the parents? Is there any chance that they don’t know that their baby who has been screaming for 10 minutes is bothering the whole restaurant? Is there any chance that people who will keep on sitting there, having their dinner while their baby screams, will get anything out of you going over there? There’s a fair chance that they’ll get mad at _you_ and tell you they don’t give two shits if you don’t like their baby screaming. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/333 "2010-01-28T16:38:08Z")
> [@Fuji](#): > > I think we need to sign you up for some weekly remedial Reading Comprehension classwork, young man. You’re just not getting it. You can take the condescending attitude and suck on it. I get it just fine. The point stands. This thread is a perfect example of both sides taking something to the absolute extremes for no actual good reason. I doubt that **Kidneyfailure** or anyone else is going to just sit there and ignore a screaming baby in a restaurant. I also doubt that people are subjected to unconsolable babies with any frequency, much less parents who just won’t try to fix the problem. In short, this isn’t anywhere near as big a problem as people are making it. But that sure doesn’t stop the pitchforks and torches from being whipped out, does it? ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/334 "2010-01-28T16:40:18Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Why should you talk to the parents? Is there any chance that they don’t know that their baby who has been screaming for 10 minutes is bothering the whole restaurant? Is there any chance that people who will keep on sitting there, having their dinner while their baby screams, will get anything out of you going over there? There’s a fair chance that they’ll get mad at _you_ and tell you they don’t give two shits if you don’t like their baby screaming. Agreed. It would just escalate a bad situtation. The parents already know there’s an issue and it’s likely that they are a) already embarrassed and b) stressed over it. I know I would be. Some jerkoff diner coming over and saying something does nothing to resolve the issue. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/335 "2010-01-28T16:45:41Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > When are you coming to Milwaukee so we can go out to dinner and do this in synch? Stereo screaming! Road trip! ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/336 "2010-01-28T16:47:43Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Why should you talk to the parents? Is there any chance that they don’t know that their baby who has been screaming for 10 minutes is bothering the whole restaurant? Is there any chance that people who will keep on sitting there, having their dinner while their baby screams, will get anything out of you going over there? There’s a fair chance that they’ll get mad at _you_ and tell you they don’t give two shits if you don’t like their baby screaming. Why? Because that is how society works. Parents are responsible for their children. They may be clueless enough to not realize their child is disturbing others, or may simply be thinking they can get away with it, but will be shamed enough by someone saying something to them they will take the kid outside. Getting in the kid’s face is just ridiculous, and if you want a parent to get mad at you, I would suggest that is a much more likely way of doing it. I must live in a different world, or, more likely, just be lucky. I just don’t come across this situation. I haven’t seen parents who think it is tolerable to let the child scream non stop and just ignore it. And I also don’t, thank God, come across ass clowns who think the response to their enjoyment of Denny’s Deep Fried Pig Parts being sullied is to scream in the face of a child. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/337 "2010-01-28T16:56:32Z")
> [@tacoloco](#): > > You can take the condescending attitude and suck on it. Tell you what, sport. You show me can actually read for comprehension, and I’ll knock off the condescension. Deal? > [@](#): > > I get it just fine. The point stands. This thread is a perfect example of both sides taking something to the absolute extremes for **no actual good reason**. No good reason? The OP’s obnoxious parents’ refused to take their noisy kid out of the restaurant, and told someone who complained to “get fucked”. That’s not good enough reason to get pissed off? Give me a goddamn break. > [@](#): > > I doubt that **Kidneyfailure** or anyone else is going to just sit there and ignore a screaming baby in a restaurant. I also doubt that people are subjected to unconsolable babies with any frequency, much less parents who just won’t try to fix the problem. Well, now we’re back to that old reading comprehension hang-up of yours. **kidneyfailure** has indeed, in more than one post, said exactly that: he’ll try to keep the kid quiet, but if that doesn’t work, then yes - HE IS GOING TO JUST SIT THERE AND IGNORE A SCREAMING BABY IN A RESTAURANT. This has been noted not just by me, but by several other posters who apparently don’t share your learning disability. The frequency with this kind of thing happens is totally fucking irrelevant. The parents’ behavior is _unacceptable_ - doesn’t matter if it happens once or a hundred times. > [@](#): > > In short, this isn’t anywhere near as big a problem as people are making it. > > But that sure doesn’t stop the pitchforks and torches from being whipped out, does it? Well, if **kidneyfailure** would just shut his stupid pie-hole for awhile, this thread would rapidly sink to the bottom of the Pit. Take it up with him. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/338 "2010-01-28T17:17:06Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Why should you talk to the parents? Actually, in a restaurant, I’d probably go to the waitstaff. If they are unwilling or unable to persuade the patron with the bothersome child to leave, then I will cancel whatever of the rest of my meal is forthcoming, express my extreme displeasure to the management, settle my bill, and leave. > [@tacoloco](#): > > The parents already know there’s an issue and it’s likely that they are a) already embarrassed and b) stressed over it. You know what’s a really easy way to relieve all that embarassment and stress? Taking the fucking kid out the door to calm them down in a more private area, or take them home if they can’t be calmed down. I know, it really is some kind of rocket surgery. > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Road trip! I’ll even show you the basement where I keep all the dead hookers! > [@Fuji](#): > > The frequency with this kind of thing happens is totally fucking irrelevant. Yeah! Hitler killed a lot of Jews–next thing you know, these guys are gonna try to say that that makes killing Jews okay! Hey guys, let’s all go kill some Jews–no, no, it’s okay, everybody’s doing it. Yes, I \*am \*enjoying being as Godwinesque as possible, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/339 "2010-01-28T17:42:07Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > … Wow. You really are mentally retarded, aren’t you? Do you have your little brother type up your posts so they don’t come off as trisomy or something? > > You’re such a good acrobat, you must do very well at the Special Olympics. (Do they have a contortion category?) My explanation of why most babies are okay to bring into public–that they’re not nonstop crying machines, and that when they are crying, it’s usually because there’s something they need, which means the parent will be able to stop the crying pretty quickly–suddenly turns into a reason why no babies can ever be brought into public. That’s… almost impressive. Heh, I never knew that parents had this wonderful ability. I assume you know all about stoping a baby crying. Parents can turn tantrums off just like that! Wow, you must be a genius, you know so much about parenting. Have you considered teaching? > [@](#): > > There is no argument–except from a mental defective like you, who can’t read what’s right in front of him, probably because his eyes are squinted shut in pleasure as he furiously strokes his little lap pinkie at the prospect of getting to tell someone else how wrong they are. _Claps_ Well done. Perfectly content free snark. So I ask again - one very simple question: are you, or are you not, saying this? > [@](#): > > Parents should not bring their children into public areas where they might cause a disturbance until they have reasonable cause to believe that their child is capable of behaving. Please excuse my - what was it again? Mental defects? - that cause me to assume people mean what they write. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/340 "2010-01-28T17:50:03Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Hey, sometimes I can be immature and sometimes I can be idiotic, I get that. But if a kid’s been screaming his head off behind me for 10 mins and the parents have done SHIT to stop it, someone has to. And when I say “any move”, I meant physical move, like if internet tough guy over there decides that someone else screaming is distracting from his own kid screaming and decides to take a swing. Yeah, I’ll put money that at least 1 person on that jury’s been in a similar situation and award me some damages. The part that you are missing genius, is that YOU are starting the confrontation by getting within inches of a kid’s face and screaming at them. To any normal person out there, they would assume you are some sort of a nut and would have bad intentions, because nobody does that. “Someone” does not need do anything about a kid screaming, certainly not you. The minute you make a move on a kid regardless of your intentions, for most parents, except for those in your fantasy land version of Denny’s, it would be on like Donkey Kong. > [@](#): > > The bottom line is that I’m pretty tolerant about this sort of thing, but even I have my limits. When a kid’s been going on and on for 10 mins and the parents don’t do shit, what the hell are the rest of us supposed to do? Asking them nicely didn’t work, and I gave them a few more minutes after that, but there are limits to what kind of shit one can pull in a public place. And hey, it worked, so I guess I was doing something right 😃 Wow, such tolerance, 10 whole minutes, plus a few more. What are you supposed to do? Here are a couple of ideas: Move. Ask the management, not the wait staff for assistance. Finish your Grand Slam and GTFO. Those are three better alternatives than screaming at a kid. None of which will result in stitches or a lawsuit. I’ve said it earlier, I have three kids of my own, and perhaps that allows me to tune out other kids. When we go out, I guess my tolerance of other people’s kids is just higher than that of the majority of participants in this thread. When mine are bad, and it does happen from time to time, we get up and leave. **It is better to avoid confrontation than to provoke it regardless of the reason.** Bolding mine. I find it deliciously ironic that a few months ago you were attaching violent tendencies to some of us involved in a thread about gun control simply because we own firearms. Look who is the first one to provoke violence in this situation because a kid is upsetting the enjoyment of their Grand Slam. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368.md?page=18)