'I asked a mum with a screaming child to leave a restaurant because they were ruining my meal'

5 October 2021, 11:50

By Alice Dear

One woman has been branded 'selfish' after revealing how she dealt with a 'shrieking child' while dining in a restaurant.

We've all been there, right? You're sitting down for a nice meal and the next thing you know a child is screaming at the top of their lungs.

In this situation, everyone reacts differently – some might ask to move seats, others might sympathise with the child's parents, while many just let the moment pass.

But would you ever approach the child's parents and ask them to leave?

One woman has admitted to doing just that, arguing that the child's tantrum was ruining her meal.

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The unnamed person shared the post on Reddit, where she asked whether she was in the wrong for asking the mother of the child to take him outside the restaurant to calm down.

In the post, the 23-year-old explained: "The restaurant isn't a Michelin star-esque place, however the place does serve well prepared food, so you can likely guess that the majority of its patrons want to be able to enjoy their food.”

However, she was unable to enjoy her meal after the youngest child in a family started "shrieking" from two tables away.

She went on: “While me and my boyfriend were enjoying our meal, the youngest child began SHRIEKING, for a reason that I can't fathom.

"When I say shrieking I'm talking about the ear piercing type that is physically painful.

“This goes on for about 10 minutes, and by this point I'm getting annoyed, since I've paid to enjoy my meal, and the child isn't shutting up.”

With that, she decided she would approach the family where she asked them whether one of them would be able to take their child outside of the restaurant until they "calmed down", explaining to the family that "some people are trying to enjoy their food."

The plan backfired, as you can imagine, with the mum of the child getting very irritated.

“The mother got really p***y at me, saying that her son is only a child, and that I need to show some compassion", she explained.

“I responded by telling her that I've paid to enjoy my meal, and that if she isn't going to get her child to be quiet, then she needs to do everyone in the restaurant a favour and take the child outside."

The incident was not over yet, however, as when the woman sat down, she saw the mum of the child calling over one of the waiters, where she apparently told them that she had been approached by a rude woman who made her feel "uncomfortable".

The unnamed woman on Reddit continued in the post: “One of the other patrons told the waiter that wasn't the case, and that she'd been allowing the child to cry while others were trying to eat.

"The parents left eventually, but not before shooting me an evil look.”

Telling the story to one of her friends, the woman was shocked when she was told she could have been "kinder" the the family.

“I told my friend that they chose to have kids, and, as such, they need to parent them better,”

While she didn't get a great reception from her friend, people on Reddit were a lot more understanding.

There were a few users who commented that she should have spoken to the restaurant staff before approaching them, but the rest agreed that she was not in the wrong for approaching the family.

One person commented: "While being a parent IS difficult, there are still courtesies that need to be followed. Those courtesies include removing a child from a public place if they are not behaving, crying or screaming. Funny enough, this also teaches the child that their actions are not acceptable and that they will lose out on fun if they don't behave properly."

Another wrote: "My husband and I have always taken our kids outside to calm down if they started to cry in a restaurant. It's just common courtesy."

A third shared: "If she wants compassion, how about being compassionate to the rest of the people inside the restaurant by not ruining their meal just because she can't control her child?"

But what do you think, was she unreasonable to ask the mum to take the child out of the restaurant?