As a follow-up to my obnoxious children question....?

Question

Another obnoxious children/lazy parent question for you all...
Why is it that many times while I'm in a restaurant, and the obnoxious child party leaves (and sometimes not even having an obnoxious child in the party)..... they leave a disgusting mess all over the floor and table. I'm talking about food pieces, and slop smeared all over EVERYTHING. Why do they think that this is acceptable? Is it because they are paying for the food? Because some is being paid to bus the table? Can someone please explain to me why parents will up and leave a table that looks like pigs ate at. No, wait, pigs would be much neater. I think if your kid makes a mess, YOU should clean it! Why should the waiter/waitress have to deal with that crap? Oh this makes my blood boil! Any thoughts on this one?

Answer 1

I just thought you should know that as the mother of 2 I would never allow my children to act like this before and my 6 year old will tell you that if she acts up in a resturant that we will wait in the car. As for the mess my mother in law is like that and as a person whom worked as a server in high school and college I can not leave a mess because I know that 1. time is their money and 2. it's just rude no mater what. I don't understand how people can be so unkind to others. My brother mother and I had dinner with my 2 children (6 and 2 months) and my brothers son (10 months) the other night my baby slept through diner and my daughter sat at the table and colored. My nephew sat with my mom colored for about 3 mintues ate a few crackers and then also went to sleep. It was my brother whom sliped his drink and was so embarassed that he had it all cleaned up before the sever could get back with a towel. Across the room was a party of about 7 high school or college students that left a mess where loud all the whole time they where there and only left there server like $5 when there tag was well over $100. My brother left our server $20 himself for the whole spilling the drink plus the tip I put on my card just because we had the same server and I felt bad for him because they ran him ragged and then pretty much stiffed him. Parents that leave the table a mess make adults that do the same.

Answer 2

oh my gosh i sooo agree with you and the anger level of that! im a waitress and i just hate when children come into the restaurant. because they make the biggest mess in the world. i think parents really dont care they make a mess just because it's not like they have to clean it up. mind as well just take the whole plate of food and just throw it all over the floor. and what's even worse is when they give the crappiest tip after they leave a mess, ask for a billion napkins, rip apart and throw the sugar packets all over the table, spill water on the table cloths, and so on. i mean seriously, people should not eat out with children. i even hate it more when they let the kids run around the place and don't do anything about it. ahh~! get's me so mad!! maybe this is why i dont want kids.

Answer 3

All around me people do things I prefer not to do, I am not in favor of, I would never do, I think are tasteless. If I get upset at strangers for not doing as I, I may not have room to be sure I am doing what I am in charge of. I can only focus on myself, my child and my family. I have no duty onr should I police others. That, my dear is how I make it in this world.

A piece of advice, if you frequent establishments where you are always running into blood boiling situations, perhaps you should change establishments.

I eat out on occasion. The last time I sat next to a family, the kids ate with chopsticks, ordered their own meal ,and were quite grown up like. Then my grandma had an accident and cleared the room.

See, things could be worse.

Answer 4

I was a server and I had to deal with this time and time again. I really feel sorry for the children.
Parents are sending a message to their children when they don't expect them to have table manners at a restaurant. No one knows the meaning of common courtesy anymore. Those kids will grow up to be adults who have no idea how to behave in public.
And I agree, why should I have to clean up the ground up, chewed up, spit out food of someone else's child? A strangers child? And on a busy night, someone else will have to wait longer for their table because we're cleaning up the previous table's slop. Not to mention the other tables we're trying to serve. It's rude and selfish to think it's our job to clean up that much mess.
I'd love the opportunity to come be a guest at their house!

Answer 5

Sloppy children, will grow up to be sloppy adults, perhaps the waiter can drop a hint to the parents, like "my! usually families are much neater..." or beforehand make a joke to the parents about what a mess the last family left!

Answer 6

Working in restaurant's and fast food I got this ALL THE TIME, and their reasoning was "It's your job, you get paid to do it." My job also involves a bunch of other tasks as well, but instead of doing the rest of my job, I have to sit there for ages scraping smushed-in gunk out of the floor tiles. I understand younger children are not as neat with their eating as older children and adults, but doing nothing while your child smears ice-cream over a table annoys me!

Answer 7

Many people GO out to eat so they don't have a mess to clean at home. BUT- excessive messes left for a restaurant employee are unacceptable. I agree, parents should clean up after themselves and their children. This is common courtesy.
some people are pigs and unfortunately are not teaching good manners to their children. Sorry you have to deal with it.

Answer 8

Unfortunately some people feel that since they are paying for eating out that the cleanup should also be included.. which it is, altho it is still no excuse for eating like you've been fed by catapult. Others convince themselves that it keeps the bus boy employeed by having him clean up after them..

Answer 9

All i know is that I have three nieces and three nephews when I bring them out. I make them clean up to the best of there ablity and I helped them. I don't believe the waitress should clean up after us considering her purpose to to serve us dinner not to clean up after us.

It does make me made when I see how people do that. I think it is something that has to be taught as well as learned.

Answer 10

I have a preschooler and I totally agree with you. She has always been well-behaved and helped pick up after herself in restaurants. That's what she was taught from the time she was able to help and know right from wrong- which is a lot sooner than most parents give their kids credit for!