# 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:** 23
**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 29, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/441 "2010-01-29T17:19:04Z")
> [@villa](#): > > You need to tell the air marshal that the baby’s screams sound like Islamic prayers, and then he will shoot the baby for you. “I’m telling you, man–‘Islam is the light’! I heard it, \*\*he \*\*heard it, \*\*she \*\*heard it, **we all heard it**! So which side are you on?! ARE YOU GONNA BE A HERO OR GET US ALL KILLED?!” ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/442 "2010-01-29T23:32:37Z")
> [@tacoloco](#): > > There’s nothing to get over. You’re an asshole who will one day wind up getting the beating you so richly deserve. Or you’ll realize that you narrowly avoided a beating and will think twice about it next time. Right, I’m an asshole because I yelled at one kid. Do you know how many kids I haven’t yelled at in similar situations? Dozens over the course of my lifetime. I finally worked up the courage to yell at one kid, it worked, and now people are saying I should be a pussy and let other people solve it or don’t solve it at all. You can fuck yourself with a spork buddy because what I did was right, and sometimes it takes someone with a bit more courage and less worrying about what society thinks to do what is necessary. You’re right about one thing, if I keep doing it, I may get beat up and regret it. I don’t think I’m going to do it again, it was a combination of things that made me brave enough to take a stand for all the little people, it may never come again. But I’ll never apologize for what I’ve done. Seriously, who have I hurt? Yelling at a kid for a few seconds is not going to harm him. Hell, he probably won’t remember it. His parents left, which is what most of us wants in this situation. Admit it, you’re just mad because I did it and have no remorse for it. You’re mad it worked. You’re mad I didn’t get beat up because I’m being a fucking prick in this topic gloating about it. But I deserve to gloat about it because what I did was fucking great > [@JXJohns](#): > > I forgot how fucked in the head you are. Thanks for the reminder. Happy to oblige! I’d be happier if you took that lesson, rolled it up into a ball, and shoved it up your ass so far so that you’d never forget it and never bother me again about it. I could go through life happily never hearing about your demented opinions about our new kid rulers. > [@Scumpup](#): > > See, I’ve worked in residential treatment with the sanity challenged. I also spent some time working as a deputy sheriff. Most of my career as a teacher has been working with troubled yoots. This has had a couple results: > > 1. I’m not intimidated by or afraid of people who act crazy. > 2. I recognize that when the mentally ill begin acting out, they are unpredictable. > You act like a crazy (especially towards my kid) and I’ll treat you like a crazy. You’re going to the floor and getting your happy ass restrained til LE arrives. How much injury that results in for you will be a direct result of how much you decide to resist. This ain’t the ward and I’m not here to provide you with a therapeutic environment. > But as I said above, this whole story was the fabrication of a socially retarded misfit. You know, we’re at the Name Calling stage of a pit thread. Keep your bullshit internet tough guy act to yourself, nobody’s impressed. Oooh! Look! You’re NOT intimidated! Oh wow, and I thought I was doing real swell too! But no, you’re actually NOT intimidated! Woe is me! I’ve run up against the one guy on the internet who isn’t afraid of me! Whatever shall I do??? Next post you’ll tell me how big your testicles are without regard for the fact that they’re probably tumorous, or how many women you’ve bedded neglecting to mention that your record of venereal diseases is equally impressive. > [@villa](#): > > Now, what would I do in that situation: > > 1. Speak to the parents (which of course you did. Just forgot to tell people you did until you had been called on your bragging about assaulting a child). > > 2. If that does not work, speak to the management. > > 3. If management does nothing about it, leave. You see, management has then made its choice. That you don’t understand this speaks volumes about your stupidity. #1 was done, #2 is probably better than what I did, but I didn’t think of it at the time, and #3 is not an option because I probably would have been forced to pay for the meal still. I’ll give you that with hindsight, I probably should have spoken to the manager. However, because what I did worked, I really have no regrets. If one day this happened again, and I am spurred to action, I may remember #2. If not, let’s hope #4 (screaming) works again! 😃 But could you and Scumpup and JXJohns do me a favor? Tell me what the harm is in what I did. I’m not talking about what possible harm could have befallen me from the dad. I’m not talking about what harm a different person would have done on the kid. I’m talking specifically about what harm came to the child and the family as a result of me yelling at them for no more than 30 seconds. Seriously. You guys see me as such an evil person, but that’s mostly because you think people who act this way are potentially harmful. I didn’t hit the kid, didn’t get closer than many inches from him. I just yelled at him a bit. What’s the harm? What’s the big deal? To hear you guys, it’s like I stabbed him and ate his corpse or something. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/443 "2010-01-29T23:56:09Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Right, I’m an asshole because I yelled at one kid. Do you know how many kids I haven’t yelled at in similar situations? Anybody remember that old joke with the punchline, “… but you fuck _one_ goat!” ---
**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 30, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/444 "2010-01-30T00:35:18Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > … But could you and Scumpup and JXJohns do me a favor? Tell me what the harm is in what I did. I’m not talking about what possible harm could have befallen me from the dad. I’m not talking about what harm a different person would have done on the kid. I’m talking specifically about what harm came to the child and the family as a result of me yelling at them for no more than 30 seconds. Seriously. You guys see me as such an evil person, but that’s mostly because you think people who act this way are potentially harmful. I didn’t hit the kid, didn’t get closer than many inches from him. I just yelled at him a bit. What’s the harm? What’s the big deal? To hear you guys, it’s like I stabbed him and ate his corpse or something. I don’t see you as evil, just a douche with a wicked case of know-it-all complex and no pedigree to back it up. People who act the way you said you did at the restaurant, are potentially harmful. I try to see the good in all people. Should a fuckwad at a greasy spoon get in my kid’s face however, my initial reaction is that you are up to no good. Because you see, **normal people don’t fucking do that,** regardless of how disturbed they got eating their Moons Over My Hammy\*. When I suggested that you might get your ass stomped should you make this behavior routine, you came back like a whiny bitch talking shit about a lawsuit, one that you would surely lose. I will agree that no harm came to the kid. His parents probably yell at him more than you did. Regardless, it’s not your place to do so. That is the issue. \*Just for you Meanoldlady 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/445 "2010-01-30T00:50:45Z")
I see you as a jerk-off rather than evil. The world has enough dangerous evil and/or crazy people in it that a jerk-off like you runs a real risk of getting beaten or killed when you make the mistake of acting crazy or evil. See, if I am in a public place and this complete stranger rushes up and starts screaming at an infant, I’m not going to wait to see if his next act is to knock over the high chair or produce a weapon or the like. He’s going to the floor hard and staying there. I’m perfectly willing to explain my side of it to the police when they arrive and cuff both of us. A small woman like my wife would probably be justified in using a weapon against such an apparently dangerous lunatic due to disparity in size and strength. Further, the lethal force laws in my state permit its use to protect another from death or severe harm. I doubt many DA’s in these parts would prosecute, nor many juries convict, a small woman for shooting some crazy asshole who appeared to be attacking a baby. If you actually did it and came away intact, I’d say count yourself lucky that God was looking out for jerk-offs that day. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/446 "2010-01-30T01:02:48Z")
I’ve lost track of everything going on in this thread. I’m just gonna let the staff deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/447 "2010-01-30T01:10:56Z")
No amount of explaining will clue you in to what a huge douche you are Yog. Normal people with normal emotions would at least realize that it was the wrong thing to do and express some remorse for doing it. I can accept is a moment of lost control when someone might do what you did. What I can’t accept is someone who actually thinks it was a good thing to do and are willing to gloat over it. And yes, I really do wish that Dad had cleaned your clock. You would have deserved it. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/448 "2010-01-30T04:22:04Z")
> [@villa](#): > > You see, that just isn’t thinking straight. You need to tell the air marshal that the baby’s screams sound like Islamic prayers, and then he will shoot the baby for you. Then you don’t have to go through that whole trial thing. Thank you for a marvelous suggestion. ---
**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 30, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/449 "2010-01-30T05:52:50Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > I’ve lost track of everything going on in this thread. I’m just gonna let the staff deal with it. I fully plan on using that as a meme now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/450 "2010-01-30T06:13:03Z")
Okay, a Note From the Other Side: Wife an I were shopping at the grocer’s. Does this fit into acceptable parental conduct? Our daughter objected so loudly that I tossed her into her own cart and parked her outside the store. Still a local cop pulled up and questioned me regarding whether I had abused my child to provoke that response, as he had had a complaint. She was still screaming the whole time so the only indication that the cop believed my claims of innocence was because he didn’t arrest me. Kids will pull themselves into self-reinforcing tirades from which a parent is unlikely to pull them without a pacifier soaked in Jim Beam. Which still takes a while. Parenthood is the natural state for humans between 15 and 40. The rest of you reside outside our genetic norm and, to be honest, YOU are the weirdos. Deal with it. ---
**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 30, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/451 "2010-01-30T17:18:40Z")
I thought about this thread yesterday; Jim and I were having a nice, quiet dinner, having some good food and good conversation, in an empty restaurant. In comes a family of eight, with three kids under five, and they get seated within feet of us. Come on, people! Give us a fighting chance here! ETA: We were done within about 15 minutes, so we didn’t stick around for the floorshow, but I can tell you the volume of our nice, quiet dinner went up a geometric progression as soon as they came near. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/452 "2010-01-30T18:31:44Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I thought about this thread yesterday; Jim and I were having a nice, quiet dinner, having some good food and good conversation, in an empty restaurant. In comes a family of eight, with three kids under five, and they get seated within feet of us. Come on, people! Give us a fighting chance here! > > ETA: We were done within about 15 minutes, so we didn’t stick around for the floorshow, but I can tell you the volume of our nice, quiet dinner went up a geometric progression as soon as they came near. I can tell you, if that were eight adult members of my immediately family, the volume would go up rather startlingly, too. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/453 "2010-01-30T18:32:45Z")
I’m guessing this was at an establishment closer to Sambo’s than to The Stork Club. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/454 "2010-01-31T00:54:31Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Parenthood is the natural state for humans between 15 and 40. The rest of you reside outside our genetic norm and, to be honest, YOU are the weirdos. Deal with it. Parenthood may be a natural state (which is highly debatable but whatever) but self centered entitlement minded parents who tell the rest of the world to just deal with it need to be eliminated from the norm. ---
**Author:** ![starwarsfreek42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@starwarsfreek42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starwarsfreek42)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/455 "2010-01-31T07:10:47Z")
I can’t believe I missed this whole thread! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/456 "2010-01-31T11:08:16Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Parenthood may be a natural state (which is highly debatable but whatever) but self centered entitlement minded parents who tell the rest of the world to just deal with it need to be eliminated from the norm. Or at very least, relocated to Madagascar. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/457 "2010-01-31T20:56:53Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Or at very least, relocated to Madagascar. Why punish Madagascar? 😃 ---
**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 31, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/458 "2010-01-31T21:35:37Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Why punish Madagascar? 😃 Cause those bastards are way too trigger-happy on the border closings. Jerks. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/459 "2010-01-31T23:39:34Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Cause those bastards are way too trigger-happy on the border closings. Jerks. That’s why the plan would never work. At the first glint of a tear in a baby’s eye, the government would SHUT. DOWN. **EVERYTHING**. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368/460 "2010-02-01T00:36:44Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Why punish Madagascar? 😃 Know who \*else \*said that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-crying-babies-in-public-places/526368.md?page=24)