For the record, society considers grocery stores, malls, and most restaurants to be kid-friendly places. I agree with you…most kids are well-behaved. Most who stick a toe outside the boundaries are quickly reeled in by their parents.
And after giving some more thought to the comment that it’s unfair that the child-free “have to live with it” or that somehow the expectation is to NOT bring children to the grocery store, why don’t you suggest that to the manager of the grocery store you frequent and see what kind of reaction you get. Better yet, bring it up at your next city council meeting. I know, I know…they’re all out to get you and are willing to let society crumble at the hands of those careless, non-tax-paying, crying little burdens on society. We’re doomed.
Sorry, I was unclear. By “kid-unfriendly” I meant “likely to result in a meltdown,” not “inappropriate for children to be there in the first place.” I realize a grocery store is a place that would be appropriate to bring a child to, but it’s also one you’d expect to see kid flip-outs, since
A) It’s unpleasant for kids in many ways - irritating lighting, nothing you’re allowed to play with, a boring task, etc., and
B) There’s lots of them there so if there’s a statistically significant chance of any one kid misbehaving then, logically, almost any visit to a grocery store should provide examples of kids wigging out. The big grocery store near my place usually has at least a few dozens kids in it at any one time.
Similar idea for malls and big box stores (hideously boring for a small child, unless it’s Toys R Us) and restaurants (challenges a kid’s patience.)
By “kid-friendly” I mean places specifically FOR kids, like my kid’s school.
I think what RickJay meant by “kid-unfriendly” was “places where kids tend to get bored and you might expect them to start acting up,” not “places where kids are generally frowned upon.” I agree, too…I actually don’t remember the last time I saw a kid having a meltdown or otherwise disturbing other people in a public place.
Even after following along with pretty much this whole thread, I don’t really understand the complaints (and yes, I do have children, although I didn’t always…I was childless for a pretty long time). The grocery store is full of potential annoyances, and children are the least of it. In fact, the things the stores do to help parents tend to be even bigger annoyances than the kids themselves ever were (like those fucking car carts, which now that I am a parent I wish had never been invented). I’m not about to complain about the old people who move slowly and block the aisle, or the developmentally disabled bagger who bags 51 grocery items in 47 bags, so why should I complain about kids? They’re all people, just like anyone.
I can, but only at my local store. Lately I’ve been doing my shopping at TJ’s in Arlington, where all of the kids are well-behaved, all of the women are gorgeous, and all of the men play guitar.
Word. Even the employees are more annoying than the children. In fact, I am astounded at how often my shopping excursion is impaired by a lack of personnel who are supposedly there to slice lunchmeat or replenish the produce. Or who have a gigantic cart full of product blocking the aisle. I don’t know where all the kid haters live, but it’s not a problem in Chicagoland.
And yes, the fucking car carts need to die in a big bonfire in the parking lot. Seriously.
I want to find whoever invented those goddamn carts that have a TV inside them and kick him in the nards, repeatedly.
Oh, and the elderly are way more annoying in my local grocery store than the small children ever could be, but I do not support banning elderly people from the grocery store at this time.
They have those at Home Depot. If there was ever evidence of a product that obviously did not go through any sort of testing, or for that matter a moment’s worth of thought, before being sold, that’s it. They’re a pain in the ass in a hundred different ways for everyone.
In fact, at the Home Depot store near my place it’s obvious that all parents have decided not to use it, because it’s never in use. And it’s STILL irritating because it always seems to be in front of all the other carts.
Just started reading this thread and this as post #12. Good call. There is really no reason to read the rest of this thread beyond this post.
Perspective side note: We all have been those snotty & bratty kids at least once in our lives. Pretty sure we all could have been pitted back in the day if they had the internet.
I disagree totally that “childless” has any “in your face” aspects, outside of a very tiny circle. “Nigger” it ain’t. And just because some new term exists does not mean it will catch on and come into general usage - some languish because the impetus simply isn’t there, the “outrage” doesn’t really exist, and so using them just elicits ridicule and not gradual acceptance.
To my mind, this is just another example of the creation of a faux-victim identity. Everyone is a “victim” these days, and people who have objectively little to complain about have to dig just a little deeper for that victim-cred – now we are at the point where people who do not have kids feel the necessity to join the line, express outrage at how badly society treats them, invent new terms that respect their alleged “victimhood”, etc.
One unfortunate byproduct of this is that some of these types, and those who want to feel hip and with it with them, feel totally justified in expressing their hatred of children and parents and exaggerate the annoyance they cause, as if bigotry was a necessary component, along with new language, of self-identity as putative victims.
Every time I see a parent going for one of those, I want to tell them “you really don’t want to do that.” I’m sure each parent tries it exactly once. A couple weeks ago (at Home Depot, coincidentally), a couple put one twin in each of two car carts. It was double suck.
They are carts that look a lot like the car carts, except instead of having a little seat with a steering wheel for your kid to pretend he’s in a racecar, they have a little enclosure with a working TV screen inside. It’s set to play cartoons, Bob the Builder or something, I don’t know. You have to pay $1 to use one at our local grocery stores. We have never (and will never) use one, but my kids are entranced by the idea.
I think there was mention of raising a couple of younger siblings. There wasn’t any explanation of circumstances, so i don’t have any idea of what ages the kids were.
Would you like to add live theater to your sample? We saw the Mary Poppins musical last month. Even I was a bit apprehensive about the number of children there, but, except for one brief comment that was so appropos I’m not sure it wasn’t staged, they were perfectly well behaved. Oh, wait, there was one very short burst of crying when the old nanny disappeared. I think somebody got scared a bit. But it was over in seconds.
Why should I? That person was a tool - use whatever terms you like to express disapproval.
OTOH, why would anyone use the same term you appear to want to use to insult an obvious asshole, on someone who hasn’t yet demonstrated that they are an ass like that?
No. Whatever impression I may have left here, I generally don’t make an issue of it unless someone else does first. The fact that I had to go back seven years for a good example is a comfort to me. It hasn’t come up since, in any serious way.
Although I should say that the people I’ve been hanging with lately tend to be shocked that I don’t have kids. It really seems to be outside of their reality.