# 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:** 18
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/341 "2010-01-28T17:54:39Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > In some areas whether because of criminal activity in the community or a lack of parental gun safety, very young children have access to handguns and many would argue they lack the mental capabilities to understand the consequences of pulling the trigger. In war zones (and some high crime zones), it can easily be your life or the kid’s whether it’s a kid caring a weapon or a kid unable to be quiet and not betray you to the enemy. Trying to liken the tragic child-soldiers from such places as war-torn African nations to being annoyed by a crying child in a restaurant marks you as a real, genuine asshole. The only question is whether you are a self-absorbed asshole who actually believes the crap you post or just a trolling asshole trying to stir up anger with his “outrageous” posts. WRT to the overarching questions in this thread, I can only note (as others have before me in previous threads) that I have had my outings disrupted by crying children so seldom that I can’t even remember a specific incident. On the other hand, I can remember plenty of times when adults behaved very badly indeed. ---
**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, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/342 "2010-01-28T17:54:53Z")
> [@JXJohns](#): > > Finish your Grand Slam and GTFO. How do you know he wasn’t enjoying a Moons Over My Hammy? ---
**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, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/343 "2010-01-28T17:58:29Z")
> [@Fuji](#): > > Tell you what, sport. You show me can actually read for comprehension, and I’ll knock off the condescension. Deal? I understand perfectly. People are getting their panties in a twist over something that most parents wouldn’t do. I get it that people are poking sharp sticks at Malthus and Kidneyfailure for a particular reason, you arrogant ass. Clearly you are so blinded by your own outrage to see the larger point I was making. I won’t repeat it. You won’t get it. So please keep raging, internet rage man. It amuses me. > [@](#): > > 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. Please point out where I was making a specific comment on someone starting this pit thread or where I even disagreed with the OP. And while you’re failing to come up with anything, try to think of a way to respond to what I wrote instead of what you THINK I wrote. > [@](#): > > 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. So you can’t stop posting because they won’t stop posting. You know you can get help with that particular defect in your personality. ---
**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, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/344 "2010-01-28T17:59:11Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > 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. I’m just someone who’s had a decent amount of experience caring for babies and small children–like most women my age, I spent a lot of years babysitting. So, I’m aware that a lot of times, when a baby is crying, there’s generally something you can do to get it to stop, because they’re crying for a reason. That doesn’t mean you can do something about it 100% of the time. But again, if you spend even two seconds reading what I’ve said, nowhere have I said that parents are required to make their children magically stop being a nuisance. Merely that they must make them stop being a nuisance _near other people_. So, if you expect that your kid is going to be crying constantly, or running around the tables, or singing “The Song That Never Ends” for an hour, **you don’t take them out**. If you don’t expect that they’re going to cause a fuss, but they do anyway and you can’t get them to stop, **you remove them**. Do you get it **now** , or do you need me to use smaller words? Maybe a diagram? > [@](#): > > So I ask again - one very simple question: are you, or are you not, saying this? So I ask again–are you mentally retarded? Let’s look at what I’m saying, what _you quoted_: > [@](#): > > 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. If you have a baby that is not ill and not tired, you have a baby that \*can reasonably be assumed \*will not cry incessantly. If the baby does start crying, it may be hungry or need a fresh diaper, both of which can easily be dealt with at a restaurant, which will quickly return it to the publicly acceptable not-crying state. If it doesn’t, the parent can then remove it. The problem comes in, as I’ve explained to your thick self repeatedly: when someone brings out a baby that is tired, sick, or in a bad mood (i.e., one that has a very good chance of making a stink); when someone brings out a baby that wants something, and the parent doesn’t attend to it (food or a fresh diaper); or when a baby starts crying for a reason that cannot be determined and the crying can’t be stopped, and the parent doesn’t remove it. ---
**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, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/345 "2010-01-28T17:59:20Z")
What I see in this thread is a bunch of extreme reactions. We all know what the proper thing to do is - parents and non-parents alike have a duty to be civil to each other, treat each other as life’s pilgrims if you will; parents, to soothe, pacify and if necessary to take the kid for a walk; non-parents to possess some measure of goodwill towards parents with kids. The stuff about parents telling non-parents to kiss ass if they don’t like their screaming kids, or non-parents either demanding parents not bring their kids out at all until old enough not to tantrum, or screaming at kids who are crying - that’s all bullshit. Not the way adults ought to behave. I only assume that people are getting riled up, back and forth, and lashing out with insults and hyperbole. ---
**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, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/346 "2010-01-28T18:03:39Z")
> [@JXJohns](#): > > Wow, such tolerance, 10 whole minutes, plus a few more. 10 minutes of crying is 9 minutes more than anyone should have to listen to a baby crying in a public place from which it can be removed. One minute is long enough to pick the baby up, try to feed it, and then get up to take it to the bathroom to see if its diaper needs changing. If it keeps crying at that point, you can keep it in the bathroom or take it to a lounge, a foyer, or outside while you try to calm it down. ---
**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, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/347 "2010-01-28T18:05:10Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > 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. Of course. And most parents would do that. Confronting the parents directly may not resolve the problem and only server to escalate the situation. Which was my point. ---
**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, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/348 "2010-01-28T18:05:42Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > The stuff about [snip] non-parents either demanding parents not bring their kids out at all until old enough not to tantrum [snip] that’s all bullshit. You mean the stuff **you made up**? Yes, I’ll agree that it’s bullshit. I’ll take this as your completely ball-less way of saying that you completely fucked up and misread, since you clearly either aren’t smart enough to realize it or are too immature to actually admit 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, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/349 "2010-01-28T18:09:23Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > 10 minutes of crying is 9 minutes more than anyone should have to listen to a baby crying in a public place from which it can be removed. One minute is long enough to pick the baby up, try to feed it, and then get up to take it to the bathroom to see if its diaper needs changing. If it keeps crying at that point, you can keep it in the bathroom or take it to a lounge, a foyer, or outside while you try to calm it down. Perfect example of the kind of extreme opinion I was talking about. How about you be more reasonable in your expectations and parents be more reasonable in their actions. > [@Malthus](#): > > What I see in this thread is a bunch of extreme reactions. We all know what the proper thing to do is - parents and non-parents alike have a duty to be civil to each other, treat each other as life’s pilgrims if you will; parents, to soothe, pacify and if necessary to take the kid for a walk; non-parents to possess some measure of goodwill towards parents with kids. > > The stuff about parents telling non-parents to kiss ass if they don’t like their screaming kids, or non-parents either demanding parents not bring their kids out at all until old enough not to tantrum, or screaming at kids who are crying - that’s all bullshit. Not the way adults ought to behave. I only assume that people are getting riled up, back and forth, and lashing out with insults and hyperbole. Perfect. Fucking. Post. ---
**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, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/350 "2010-01-28T18:11:52Z")
> [@villa](#): > > 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. Actually, I asked the parents after a few minutes of that hell if they would kindly do something, like take the child outside. I was smiling and everything. To their credit, they acted ashamed and tried harder, but after about 30 seconds they quit and went back to being completely feeblemindedly ignorant of the black pit of hell concentrated in their kid’s mouth. > [@villa](#): > > 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. Look, I’m not going to get into a pissing match with you about drinking, that’s another subject for another topic. Sorry I brought up the wife thing, I just thought your completely tangential and meaningless slam against Denny’s, someplace I make fun of too, was an ignorant hack’s attempt at diverting the topic. Get over it, I was in Denny’s. You might want to ask what some shithead parents with banshee for a kid was doing there on a Friday night. I had a reason: I was with friends and just came back from a trip and was hungry so we stopped at the first place we saw that didn’t serve burgers. > [@villa](#): > > 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. I don’t care what you believe, I know what happened. Feel free to disbelieve I was at a Denny’s too, or that I screamed. Maybe I sang him a song. Believe that. But as I said before and as other people have reiterated, I don’t think it’s the job of the waiters to be your damn babysitter and serve you food at the same time. You seem to just have a problem with my yelling at the kid. So what? He’s young, he won’t remember it. Meanwhile, the parents got a taste of their own medicine. All in all, it’s no harm no foul. I got to finish my food in peace, the rest of the patrons got to do that as well, the waitress didn’t have to do anything to cut into her tip, and the police weren’t called for some frivolous reason, and the asshole parents hopefully learned that not everyone was going to take their shit forever. Or, we can do what you want. Talk to the parents nicely and smile while being ignored. Ask management to unfold their withered balls from their pockets and drum up the courage to throw a bothersome, non-compliant, shit-for-brains parents out and their little kid too. So smart guy, what happens if they ignore management too? > [@villa](#): > > 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. Eh, like I said, believe what you want. That kid deserved to be screamed at. Not like I changed his mood any, he was still screaming his head off when his parents dragged him off > [@JXJohns](#): > > 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. You bet I was getting confrontational. But all I was doing was mimicking the kid. Keep this a secret: If anyone asks, I’ll say I was just copying him 😉 > [@JXJohns](#): > > 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. So what’s your limit? 20 mins? 30? Obviously if you’re going to make fun of my rather magnanaimous gesture of 10 mins, you have a limit too. And by the way, none of that resulted in stitches or a lawsuit, so neener neener! 😛 > [@JXJohns](#): > > 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 consider the confrontation already started when I asked the parents to do something and they did nothing. > [@JXJohns](#): > > 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: Ah ha! I knew you were still bitterly angry about losing that debate! 😃 ---
**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, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/351 "2010-01-28T18:16:30Z")
> [@tacoloco](#): > > Perfect example of the kind of extreme opinion I was talking about. Do me a favor. Get our your watch, or something else where you can time a minute. Do you have it? Good. Wait for the second hand to hit the 12, or for the last numbers to tick over to :00 on a digital display. Now open your mouth, and start screaming. Keep screaming for the entire 60 seconds. It’s okay if you run out of breath–just gasp some more air in and scream again. Absolutely do not stop until the second hand is back at the 12 or the second counter is again at double zeroes. Huh, a minute’s a lot longer than you thought it was, isn’t it. ---
**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, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/352 "2010-01-28T18:17:31Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I’m just someone who’s had a decent amount of experience caring for babies and small children–like most women my age, I spent a lot of years babysitting. So, I’m aware that a lot of times, when a baby is crying, there’s generally something you can do to get it to stop, because they’re crying for a reason. That doesn’t mean you can do something about it 100% of the time. > > But again, if you spend even two seconds reading what I’ve said, nowhere have I said that parents are required to make their children magically stop being a nuisance. Merely that they must make them stop being a nuisance _near other people_. Hey, stop right there. This makes no sense what-so-ever. The part you are failing to understand it that the _parents_ cannot time the _baby_ and magically determine when they are likely to be a nuisance “near other people”. > [@](#): > > So, if you expect that your kid is going to be crying constantly, or running around the tables, or singing “The Song That Never Ends” for an hour, **you don’t take them out**. If you don’t expect that they’re going to cause a fuss, but they do anyway and you can’t get them to stop, **you remove them**. again, the first part makes zero sense in reality. Parents cannot _know_ just when their infant will be troublesome. > [@](#): > > Do you get it **now** , or do you need me to use smaller words? Maybe a diagram? What I “get” is that you have some unrealistic notions of how children behave, and the level of control a parent has over that. > [@](#): > > So I ask again–are you mentally retarded? Let’s look at what I’m saying, what _you quoted_: It is pretty clear you meant that they should be of an age when you could expect that - see full quote in context: > [@](#): > > 2.) 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. What constitutes “reasonable cause” will obviously be left to the parent to decide. The main point is, if your kid can’t behave when they’re eating dinner at home, they shouldn’t be brought to a restaurant.\*\* If your child is large enough to get up and run around on their own, but not yet mature enough to understand that a restaurant is not a place to play tag (or to listen when you tell them to get back in their seat), then you shouldn’t be bringing them out yet, because the night will indubitably end badly.\*\* How does the bolded part not exclude taking toddlers out - at all? But that aside, you are still being unreasonable, as below … > [@](#): > > If you have a baby that is not ill and not tired, you have a baby that \*can reasonably be assumed \*will not cry incessantly. If the baby does start crying, it may be hungry or need a fresh diaper, both of which can easily be dealt with at a restaurant, which will quickly return it to the publicly acceptable not-crying state. If it doesn’t, the parent can then remove it. > > The problem comes in, as I’ve explained to your thick self repeatedly: when someone brings out a baby that is tired, sick, or in a bad mood (i.e., one that has a very good chance of making a stink); when someone brings out a baby that wants something, and the parent doesn’t attend to it (food or a fresh diaper); or when a baby starts crying for a reason that cannot be determined and the crying can’t be stopped, and the parent doesn’t remove it. Heh, just when exactly will an _infant_ be completely free of all possible causes of irritation, bad mood and cussedness? Fact is, where we disagree (and IMO where you are being unreasonable) is not that parents should not deal with soothing, pacifing or removing a kid - it is in your assumptions that a parent can somehow be expected to know in advance that a kid will be difficult - and not bring him or her out. This translates practically into ‘never’. ---
**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, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/353 "2010-01-28T18:22:20Z")
I can tell you for certain, Yog, that if you did that to my kid, I’d be in your face before you knew what happened. And if I didn’t knock you on your ass, I’d be calling the cops to report a crazy person making theatening gestures toward my family. In any case, you’d be having a bad night at that point. A much worse night that that baby “inflicted” on you. You got away with it because the parents didn’t have the balls to stand up. The asshole and coward here is you, Yog. ---
**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, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/354 "2010-01-28T18:23:00Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > You mean the stuff **you made up**? Yes, I’ll agree that it’s bullshit. Actually, I was thinking more of the **stuff you wrote**. Detailed above. > [@](#): > > I’ll take this as your completely ball-less way of saying that you completely fucked up and misread, since you clearly either aren’t smart enough to realize it or are too immature to actually admit it. Heh. > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Shot From Guns > Sorry, Malthus, you’re right. Most of your previous posts were such poorly thought-out drivel that I started skimming, assuming more of the same. My apologies for failing to noticie that you finally conceded that you actually agree with everyone else here and were apparently just being contrary for the sake of being contrary. The sweet, sweet taste of irony. ---
**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, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/355 "2010-01-28T18:23:37Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Do me a favor. Get our your watch, or something else where you can time a minute. Do you have it? Good. Wait for the second hand to hit the 12, or for the last numbers to tick over to :00 on a digital display. Now open your mouth, and start screaming. Keep screaming for the entire 60 seconds. It’s okay if you run out of breath–just gasp some more air in and scream again. Absolutely do not stop until the second hand is back at the 12 or the second counter is again at double zeroes. > > Huh, a minute’s a lot longer than you thought it was, isn’t it. I’m sure you can survive a few minutes of a baby screaming. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/356 "2010-01-28T18:24:02Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > What I see in this thread is a bunch of extreme reactions. We all know what the proper thing to do is - parents and non-parents alike have a duty to be civil to each other, treat each other as life’s pilgrims if you will; parents, to soothe, pacify and if necessary to take the kid for a walk; non-parents to possess some measure of goodwill towards parents with kids. I promise to apply overweening politeness and dulcet tones when I gently suggest to Ma or Pa Kettlebrain that they either cork the piehole of their little failed abortion or risk sudden familicide. Now where the hell is my Heartland Scramble? ---
**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, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/357 "2010-01-28T18:25:53Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > The part you are failing to understand it that the _parents_ cannot time the _baby_ and magically determine when they are likely to be a nuisance “near other people”. I’m going to put this in capital letters, because it’s important, and you’ve somehow managed to miss it every single other fucking time I’ve said it. \*\*THE QUESTION IS NOT WHETHER OR NOT THE KID ABSOLUTELY WILL BE A NUISANCE, THE QUESTION IS WHETHER OR NOT THE KID IS LIKELY TO BE A NUISANCE.\*\* And while yes, a baby \*could \*conceivably start crying at any time for any reason, and be absolutely impossible to quiet down again in a timely fashion, that **very seldom happens**. > [@](#): > > How does the bolded part not exclude taking toddlers out - at all? See above. Because most toddlers _don’t_ throw constant tantrums–and if yours _does_, then _don’t fucking take them out_. > [@](#): > > Heh, just when exactly will an _infant_ be completely free of all possible causes of irritation, bad mood and cussedness? Never. So it’s a good fucking thing that **you’re just making all this up** , and I never demanded a 100% chance that the baby would never start crying–just the courtesy to not bring it out if you know it’s likely to cry (tired, sick, cranky) or to remove it if it starts and you can’t get it to stop. > [@](#): > > your assumptions that a parent can somehow be expected to know in advance that a kid will be difficult Again, all this comes down to you putting your own words in my mouth–words that were never there, which can be easily verified by looking back at what I actually wrote, since this is a message board. The very posts you quote contradict what you’re accusing me of, for fuck’s sake. So, from now on, every time you continue this ridiculous thread of discussion, I’m going to ask you why you think it’s okay to rape babies. Because if you’re going to make up shit that I’ve said, I’m going to take the same liberty with you. So, how come you’re such a baby-raper? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/358 "2010-01-28T18:26:51Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I don’t actually want to know the answer to that. 😉 My suspicion is that **ZPG Zealot** has also lead a sheltered existence having never been confronted with such a choice. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/359 "2010-01-28T18:27:59Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > The coolest thing about the “Cult of the Child” is that there’s never a shortage of Kool-Aid. Ahh yes, the, “Cult of the Child”, aka, “Families”. ---
**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, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/360 "2010-01-28T18:28:41Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I promise to apply overweening politeness and dulcet tones when I gently suggest to Ma or Pa Kettlebrain that they either cork the piehole of their little failed abortion or risk sudden familicide. > > Now where the hell is my Heartland Scramble? I told you get get off my couch. You can sit on the EZ chair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368.md?page=19)