"Screaming Children Will NOT Be Tolerated!" But Discriminated

By Stacie

I had planned on writing a piece about my experience as a mom being “drafted” into jury duty, but I read an article the other day that made me put that post off for a couple of days. The article focused on a restaurant in North Carolina called Olde Salty that has posted a sign on their door that reads, “Screaming Children Will NOT Be Tolerated!” As astonished as I am it didn’t top what was stated later in the the article. The owner, Mrs. Armes, is being applauded for her actions and she has stated her business is doing better than ever as a result of the sign. Mrs. Armes was tried of families coming in and parents letting their children act like the restaurant was their own private playground. So, to end her frustration she posted the sign. She admits she’s not against children coming into her restaurant and will welcome everyone in, but if a child gets out of hand, an employee will politely ask a parent to take their kid outside to quiet them down. 

I understand her frustration and why she posted the sign. I remember a couple of instances before I had children when at a restaurant my husband and I were sat by families with obnoxious  kids. One example I can remember was being sat my a family of 3 kids and none of them were sitting in their chairs. 2 were running around and one was coloring their placemat on the floor. The table and the floor were a mess, and although the parents were not completely ignorant of the situation, they didn’t seem to care. It was appalling. I’m sure all of us have been sat by a family like this one time or another and have said to ourselves, “that will never be my family.” I totally did that!

But, now that I have kids I get how hard it is to wrangle in children in public settings. By the end of a very long week at home with my kids, I’m desperate to get out of the house. If I can convince my husband to go out to a restaurant I’m as giddy as a little girl, until we are actually seated and waiting for our food to be brought to us. Both kids are squirming, cranky, irritable, and no matter what I’ve brought to entertain them, it doesn’t last until the food comes. Food ends up on the floor, a mess ends up on the table, and one of us has to take an unruly child out so that we aren’t disturbing other customers. By the time we leave the restaurant (leaving a nice tip for the inconvenience) my husband and I agree it will be a while till we take them out again. 

This isn’t the situation EVERY time but more often than not this does happen. I consider myself to be a good parent who works hard at helping her children be good kids but that doesn’t mean that they’ll be perfect angels out in public. The original article that I read (unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find it but there is a link to another, similar, article below) started to explore the idea of further family regulations not only in the restaurant business but on flights as well. There has been thoughts of corralling families who fly into a completely separate section on planes so other passengers are not disturbed by kids. No-children flights have also been contemplated to ease passengers flight experiences. 

I’m offended. What if more restaurants post the same sign? What if airlines start to make flights less family friendly (personally, I think they are already headed that way)? It feels as though families are continuously being judged, put into the same rotten category, and being discriminated against. Am I the only one?

Restaurant that has banned screaming children says business is better than ever