The Kids Ban Revisited

Recently the dh and I went out for dinner, alone.  Just the two of us.  It was the first time in about 6 months, the dh and I try to go out once a month on a dinner date but because we had a new born we had to wait till he could take a bottle.  On this night, a mid week night, it was very crowded.  People were waiting outside and every table in the place was full.  It was noisy in there.  There was no music playing, thank goodness.  This is a rather upscale restaurant, well compared to Johnny Rockets where we usually go with the kids, so you would expect it to be a bit quieter.

At first I was a little over whelmed.  I am not used to going out somewhere with that many people.  I told dh, If I had wanted to be around a ton of people where we can't even hear each other across the table, I would have stayed home and had dinner with the kids.  Which brings me back to the Kid ban.  Out of all the people in the restaurant there was 3 kids at 3 different tables near me but they weren't loud or disruptive. And even if they were, I wouldn't be able to hear them over all the other patrons. Which made me think back, every time we have gone out before, without children, I have never once noticed disruptive kids.  Even in our usual place which is very quiet.  So either I am damn lucky to never had a dinner ruined by some unruly child or there are some people who are really unlucky to the point of frequently having their dinner disrupted by kids.  I could be so immune to children that even if there was a terror running rampant I wouldn't notice. Or, and I think this is the correct answer, people don't like kids.  Their mere presence is a disturbance.  Their typical behavior is viewed as disobedience.  I don't doubt there are kids out there that are bad at restaurants.  But are there so many that there is a need for a ban?  How many kids really go out with their parents?  I saw 3 kids in our area, out of probably 30 people.  Most people only have 1 or 2 kids anyway, so  the place isn't going to be over run by kids.

Now, raise your hand if you had dinner ruined by an adult.  Me me, I'm raising my hand.  And you know why I remember those times?  Adults know better, yet their behavior is worse than a kids.  Some of them were drunk.  Which is even worse cause at least kids with no manners can't get drunk and make even more of a scene.

I should clarify ruined.  Ruined my dinner as in: I came in a good mood and left in a bad mood cause I couldn't spend my time unwinding with the dh because someone was so loud or creating such a scene you couldn't ignore it.  I have seen kids do kid stuff, but nothing that was not quickly resolved and taken care of.  I can't say the same for adults.

How are kids ever going to learn how to act in public if they are never allowed out in public.  Oh, never mind, thats how all those adults that annoyed me came to be.