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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 25th Jul 2015 at 12:46 AM
Default Marcy's Diner
Article with the mother telling her side of the story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/post...-what-happened/

Video: http://m.wcvb.com/news/marcys-diner...earold/34255894

tl;dr There's 2 sides of the story. A family goes to a diner, her 21-month-old baby starts crying. The owner yells at the child to shut up. Mom leaves a bad review on the diner's Facebook
page that becomes viral and controversial.

The mother's story is that her baby started crying because they had to wait 40 minutes for their food, it was raining outside so she couldn't take her baby outside, the child's crying wasn't that bad, so they decided to wait the crying out. Then the owner comes out and screams at the baby to shut the hell up, throws things at them, curses, etc.

The owner believes that she had every right to yell at the child, and claims that the child was throwing a huge tantrum rather than moderate crying.

The owner also replied to the mother's review on Facebook very rudely (you can see it in the article link). She is getting many health complaints on her restaurant because in an interview she said that herself and her employees spit in food of annoying and crying children.

What are your thoughts on this whole thing? Is this mess the result of bad parenting or an extremely unprofessional business owner?

As for my own opinion, I feel as if the mother could have done something, such as go into a bathroom, but she doesn't seem like a bad parent from what I've read, especially if there wasn't a bathroom or whatever to go into. I don't think the business owner is very professional for screaming and cursing at a small (less than 2 years old) child to shut up, even if the kid was throwing a tantrum as she claims. My cousin is around the same age and she is too little to know better, especially if she is hungry or anxious, her first reaction is to cry, which I'm sure this child was after supposedly waiting 40 mins for her food. After everything calms down I believe that Marcy's Diner will be shut down due to the owner making the remark about spitting in food.

Your thoughts?
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Top Secret Researcher
#2 Old 25th Jul 2015 at 4:24 AM
I don't think there's ever really any excuse to scream at a small child, unless you're trying to save it from some sort of terrible fate.

I mean, if you look at it from the point of effectiveness, screaming at a child will just make them start crying or make it worse. That being said, I do have an extreme aversion to most sounds to the point of violence (type 8-9 misophonia), but if I were being triggered by toddler screams I would most likely get out of the room and tell someone who's calmer to deal with the situation. And I certainly wouldn't send a message like that to the parent.

For that matter, screaming at any customer is never acceptable, unless they're actively threatening the other customers. That is just stupid and will smear your own name.

Maybe the toddler was actually throwing a tantrum, but in any event, the owner is not justified in her behavior.

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Inventor
#3 Old 25th Jul 2015 at 4:45 AM Last edited by leo06girl : 25th Jul 2015 at 4:56 AM.
The Diner owner was EXTREMELY unprofessional. She should NOT have shouted at the child, or thrown the go boxes at the parents. If the child was causing that much of a problem, she should have calmly and quietly spoken to the parents and asked them to do something. She should NOT have yelled at the child, because she's a child and doesn't understand what she's doing could be bothering others. Plus, children that young cry when they're uncomfortable for any reason. I just read the owner's facebook post, the only thing I can say is it is AWFUL. There is no excuse for how she talked it in.

As far as the parents go, when you have a child that young, you should take something to occupy them. Whether it's toys, snacks, or books, bring them something. I can't believe they didn't have snacks or anything for the girl. I don't know the actual caliber of the the tantrum, whether it was quiet crying or a huge and screaming fit. If she was throwing such a huge tantrum, they should have either taken her to the car, or to the bathroom and gotten her to calm down.
Theorist
#4 Old 25th Jul 2015 at 4:59 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Scklsy
What are your thoughts on this whole thing? Is this mess the result of bad parenting or an extremely unprofessional business owner?


Yes.

Bad parent should manage their child better, or at least demonstrate enough effort in managing said child to engender sympathy and not irritation. Bad parent should be better prepared for weather events - rain is no excuse unless you're at the point where you might potentially have to wade to get to your destination. Bad parent should not try to bad review a business for something predicated by their own poor performance as a parent. Crying children are only made worse by bad parents.

Bad business owner should know not to respond to critics on review sites, should have politely told the parent and child to leave the restaurant, should never make statements for hyperbolic effect that might be used against them by regulatory officials that have been given an axe to grind because they're operating more on feels than their professionalism.
 
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