Expiration Date: An interview with Undateable’s Anne Coyle
242
Restaurant Salt Ban Is Purely a New York Thing
Chicagoist's Arts Picks: Don't Fall For March's Fake Smile
Oh baby. Are there some uptight people roaming the streets in Andersonville or what?
Chicagoist heard the rumblings back in February of what the New York Times today calls "a nasty spat roiling the stroller set in Chicago's changing Andersonville neighborhood." At 
issue is the sign that Dan McCauley, owner of A Taste Of Heaven cafe, put up in his shop months ago in an effort to din the noise in his cafe. "Children of all ages have to behave and use their indoor voices when coming to A Taste of Heaven," the sign reads.
What's the big deal? Well, for some parents up in Andersonville, it's being considered an affront to their parenting skills as they say the sign implies that they can't handle their kids. According to the Times article: "I love people who don't have children who tell you how to parent," said Alison Miller, 35, a psychologist, corporate coach and mother of two. "I'd love for him to be responsible for three children for the next year and see if he can control the volume of their voices every minute of the day."
Chicagoist sort of understands the indignation.
First off, we should admit that we're big fans of A Taste of Heaven. They did Chicagoist's wedding cake and we've been going there since the old location on Foster Avenue. Just the same, on a recent Sunday morning brunch with Chicagoist's best friend's Most-Well-Behaved-Child-On-Planet-Earth-
Who-Didn't-So-Much-As-Whimper-The-Entire-Meal garnered the most contemptible, snotty, totally undeserved looks of scorn from patrons and servers alike. What the fuck, people? Was she disturbing your groove that much? Why so sensitive over the mere presence of a kid? They've gotta eat, too, and really? How in the hell are they ever going to act like well-mannered adults if parents aren't given the opportunity to take them out to restaurants and teach them how to early on?
But on the flip side ...
Is it just Chicagoist or is there an influx of parents who are afraid to throw down the hammer on their childnre? Days were when Chicagoist's father had no compunction about giving her a good thwack on the ass if she was acting up in a public place and yes, we know that the PC Police will call Family Services on you so fast it'll make your head spin, but damn! Why are some of you all trying to reason with two-year-olds instead of telling them "no?" We're not sure we can blame McCauley if he's constantly barraged with a bunch of kids causing a raucous, no matter how normal the behavior. It's a disturbance to his business, any way how you slice it. And you know what they say: one rotten apple can spoil the whole bunch.
While Chicagoist sides with McCauley -- if for no other reason than it's not as if there aren't other cake-and-cookie options that are family friendly in Andersonville -- we have serious sympathy for the parental units out there. It's tough, we know. The extemes of the spectrum, however, garner the most attention and Chicagoist believes that this is what you're dealing with here: on both sides, you have a bunch of uptight, overly stimulated, overly pampered yokels with an inflated sense of entitlement.
Chicagoist thinks you all need to switch to decaf.
Picture Sally Ryan for The New York Times
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Good for Taste of Haven, actually acting like a family-friendly place and expecting people to behave themselves, instead of rewarding improper behavior.
Kids will be kids... but it does seem that there are a growing number of parents who don't take an active/proactive enough stance at controlling them in public. If the kid's banging something loudly on the table, take it away and give them something soft to play with.
Otherwise, maybe store will just have to resort to putting out kiddy bowls with juice and cheerios on the sidewalk alongside the doggy bowls.
If one this little kids running willy-nilly all over the store bumps his/her head, these same parents won't hestitate to sue, will they??
/Maybe that's why they did this
That's "one of these", not "one this". Geez.
Maybe it wouldn't be such an issue if Taste of Heaven didn't have a corrugated steel ceiling which causes all the noise to echo throughout the cafe. I'm sure it looks trendy or something, but frankly I don't like being in there when there's more than 4 people there, let alone wailing children and errant soccermoms.
When I was a kid, even Howard Johnson's made you behave yourself.
/Even HOWARD JOHNSON'S!
The kid getting crazy in the restaurant is not a new problem, kids will get crazy in church, restaurants, cars, busses, trains, airplanes.
I should know... I used to be one of them.
Do not blame the parent for not using enough public punishment, blame the free and open mind that does not care if he/she is in a place deemed by society to be a place of quiet and solidarity.
Hey teacher leave them kids alone.
I'm glad to hear of this, and intend to congratulate Mr. McCauley on his proper and intelligent stand. A great many, though not by any means all, parants appear to have adopted the view that their kids are someone else's problem, or such a great treasure than everyone should be glad to listen to endless high pitched squalling, watch diapers being changed on a lunch table, or get hit in the shins by strollers the size of H2s. I'm sick of this notion of reproduction as major accomplishment. In any case, this is what the suburbs are for.
Hey, I may be biased, but I seriously have no sympathy for the woes of parents who find themselves unwelcome in establishments due to their children. They CHOSE to have children and, as a result, they CHOOSE to get the dirty looks and be reminded that people have the right to not be bothered by their precious darlings. It's part and parcel with the gig.
If I ever decide to adopt a child, it's in full knowledge that I've resigned myself to years, perhaps over a decades worth, of trips to Chuck E. Cheese's.
I hate kids, to be frank, their shrill cries annoy the living Christ out of me...and I can tell the type of parents that raise a big stink about Taste of Heaven's policy from a mile away--because they too, like their children, take up too much space, cry a lot, and will bite at the drop of a hat. Maybe those of us who hate kids so much wouldn't object as much if the parents of these kids were such assholes.
This is all much ado about nothing. First of all, the sign says "children of all ages," which I take to mean everyone, kids AND adults. And, how much more innocuous can you get than "behave and use their indoor voices." He's not asking for silence, just for a reasonable volume from everyone, not just kids. In my opinion the sign is about as polite as you can get. If it had said: "Parents, please control your child's volume," then I would see why this is a problem. But, as it stands now, I just see some overly sensitive people.
Also, I seriously doubt he'd ask a loud child to leave.
What kind of egomaniac is Alison Miller to take issue with a considerate business owner who tries to maintain a reasaonable common atmosphere? It's not at all comparable to "telling you how to parent."
Corporate coach? Psychologist? And effective as dirt, no doubt. If she worked for me I'd fire her arrogant ass.
Having worked in restaurants for years, I can tell you that misbehaving kids are not only inconvenient and annoying to other guests, but can also be downright dangerous. I worked in a restaurant with an open kitchen, and every so often, a toddler would be making his way to kitchen, where people are carrying heavy trays of hot food, bus boys are running with full bus bins, and chefs and the waitstaff are trying to move and walk around. We would literally have to look around and find the parent. Not to mention the changing of diapers at the dinner table, an extremely tired child screaming bloody murder at 10pm while his parents acted like he wasn't there and kept eating. It's ridiculous.
Sometimes you have to make sacrifices when you have kids, and if yours aren't behaving in the restaurant, or movie theater or whatever public place you are in, then you should leave.
I'm sure this owner was not talking about "normal" childlike behavior, he's talking about the extremes.
my parents had a revolutionary strategy for dealing with the times when my volume or behavior could not be controlled while we were in church, a restaurant, or a store:
THEY TOOK ME OUTSIDE.
and then made it abundantly clear that was not the way respectable members of our society should act.
problem solved.
There were actually three, count em, three TV crews out there at 4 PM Wed.
Channels 5,7,9.
The anti Taste of Heaven group of selfish parents has quite a flack machine!
I'm a Mom and I have no problem with this sign. In fact, I took my son into Taste of Heaven this summer fully prepared to grab him and walk out if he started fussing. In the warm weather it's easy to go in, order your treat and then go sit at the outside tables to enjoy and not worry about disturbing other customers.
I noticed that at Charlie's Ale House, they'll often put all the people with kids in the back room - and I'm fine with that.
There's responsibility that comes with being a parent - and part of that is realizing that the world doesn't revolve around you. I try my best to only take my son where it's appropriate - the Heartland welcomes him and the staff even knows his name; other places are for "date nights" or me-time.
The Kim Cavitt comment really bugged me - if you've got a toddler with you, you don't get to relax in a coffee shop and not worry about your kid misbehaving! It's people like this who give us city parents a bad name.
We actually went to each of our neighbors in the condo building and made a preemptive apology in case our baby ever made too much noise. Crap, why am I trying so hard? I could just stage a fucking protest.
Good. While I don't harbor resentment toward anyone that chooses to have kids, I do harbor resentment regarding the huge sense of entitlement this tends to bring about.
Why do I have to walk around the S.U.Stroller on the sidewalk or shimmy between it and a wall to get into a restaurant? If you live in the city and have children, have some awareness of the those around you...
as an third grade teacher on the west side of chicago, i can take my 24 third graders to a museum and keep their voices down when walking around and when eating. They do not get out of their seats, or raise their voices. i believe a parent should be able to do the same with their own child (or children). i spend all day with kids, i love them, i dont mind them at restaurants....when they have been taught MANNERS. We all were taught them....or maybe we werent and thats why these few kids are giving the rest a bad name. In reality, it is the parents giving the kids a bad name. Because it isnt the child's fault his or her parent didnt raise them correctly.
if you want to relax with a cup of coffee, teach your kids manners.
Listen I hate parents with annoying kids, but I hate Taste of Heaven more! I used to go into that place with the idea of relaxing with a cup of coffee, reading for a while and writing--things that one normally does at coffee shops!
Well, after about chilling for about 15 minutes, McCauley basically started harrassing me, making a not so subtle hint that unless I continued to buy more stuff that it was time for me to leave. He made it extremely uncomfortable--for no apparent reason (I am not a bum nor was it particularly busy). It was like, "you're done with your coffee, now get out."
I've resorted to going to Starbucks across the street even though I like to support the little guy. McCauley seems a bit uptight to me. He can certainly do whatever he wants as the owner of the business, but I can't see how he can stay in business. On top of that--his coffee is mediocre!
I would be sympathetic toward Taste of Heaven if maybe their waitress/server/cashier/whatever had not been loudly discussing her previous weekend's cunnilingus activities the last time I was there. Maybe THAT is why they don't want kids around.
It's too much to ask that "Children of all ages have to behave and use their indoor voices when coming to A Taste of Heaven."
Jebus... If you don't want to raise your child to meet that low -- couldn't be lower -- standard, turn the kid over to DCFS.
I loved this story. Especially how the owner of Taste of Heaven said he couldn't control the Iraq war or Katrina, but he could control his shop. Classic.
Okay, I love kids, I've got 2 neices and a nephew, and I occaisionally take my neice for the weekend and we wander around the city giving people a hard time, at age nine she can already say she's crawled under the turnstyle of the 'el' (with permission from CTA staff of course) and knows how to hail a taxi, despite living in the suburbs. I only mention this because I don't want people to think I approach my praise for the owner of this establishment due to my dislike of children, so that being said GOOD FOR YOU. My sister has 3 kids, I'm the oldest of 4 kids, I know a lot of people with kids, and while kids are prone to the occasional public meltdown, you have the option of leaving, and for the most part controlling them in public, so do it damn it!
Okay, I love kids, I've got 2 neices and a nephew, and I occaisionally take my neice for the weekend and we wander around the city giving people a hard time, at age nine she can already say she's crawled under the turnstyle of the 'el' (with permission from CTA staff of course) and knows how to hail a taxi, despite her living in the suburbs. I only mention this because I don't want people to think I approach my praise for the owner of this establishment due to my dislike of children, so that being said GOOD FOR YOU. My sister has 3 kids, I'm the oldest of 4 kids, I know a lot of people with kids, and while kids are prone to the occasional public meltdown, you have the option of leaving, and for the most part controlling them in public, so do it damn it!
I totally support the restaurant owner. Kids or no kids, if you can't behave yourself and let other diners eat in peace, you don't belong in a restaurant. I am sick and tired of parents who don't give a damn or are too afraid to act as their kids ruin the relaxing, if not zen, experience for which others (including me) are paying. There are plenty of restaurants that cater to kids (Chuck E Cheez being one)--take them there if they can't behave.
Harumph.
i gotta say i'm surprised. i thought these comments were going to go all the other way. go city dwellers! go common sense.
yes, to the people who have ever worked in restaurants. i'm not a real big fan of kids (i'm working on trying to find out what it all meeeaans), but i don't want to see anyone get hurt. i'm agile as hell and good with a tray, but letting kids run around like tasmanian devils is a sure recipe for disaster.
as far as being considerate. i don't smoke anymore, but the eye rolls, oh the eye rolls. and people who hate the cell phone talkers. oh, and my loud voice and loud laugh.
but, they won't hesitate for one second to let their kid SCREAM BLOODY MURDER in jewel or go ballistic in a restaurant. they will let their kid throw a tantrum or fight with their siblings. yeah, that's not annoying. i LOVE that. that's what i want to experience. i'm so into that.
you don't want to hear about my crazy ass experience on the fucking el and how i couldn't fucking believe how wack it was and how i can't believe how insane it was on my cell phone? and you think i laugh a bit too loud? didn't like my smoke when i was a smoker?
well, i don't really care for all the eeeaaaaahhhhing. and the running around. and the whining.
so. what are ya gonna do?
Do not blame the parent for not using enough public punishment, blame the free and open mind that does not care if he/she is in a place deemed by society to be a place of quiet and solidarity.
Oh great. Let us raise our children to not understand and respect the mores and rules of society. Hell, why not just let them run around naked and punch strangers in the knee? Why not teach them 'rules are for squares...in fact, I don't think we even need to pay for this meal...today we learn about the Dine and Dash".
One of the responsibilities of parents' is to teach their children how to behave properly in our society, and that the world is bigger than the individual. Clearly, most parents are failing.
If I lived in Chicago I'd make a point of patronizing Taste Of Heaven to show my support for McCauley and his policy. But since I live in New York, I guess you all are going to have to do it for me!
How does a kid in a 3,000$ stroller makes the parent so self-righteous? Look at me, I have a reproductive system that works!
I have to agree with McCauley’ statement that “protesting parents were "former cheerleaders and beauty queens" who "have a very strong sense of entitlement." Sad but true.
The real tragedy here is that Cafe Boost, across the street, is gone. A Taste of Heaven had nothing on Cafe Boost.
Concerned parents should take their wayward children to the new Tulip toy shop around the corner. They have many interesting and unique toys there.
Res ispa loquitor Cafe Boost. I miss that place. That, Simon's, Svea, and the old Hopleaf made living in the neighborhood amazing.
In my doughnut shop or whatever this place is i would walk up to the parent who's kids are being disruptive and say "Hey! Lady! Control your kids or get out!" Or if you are going to write a sign that would offend someone really get into it. How's this "Parents with misbehaving children will be cheerfully beaten to a pulp."
I don't understand the number of anti-kid posts here. I am a parent of two and wonder why that instantly makes me unwelcome in the city. "That is what the suburbs are for" ??? I do go to Chuck-E-Cheese, but I'm not going to go there every single time we go out just so you can be comfortable. I specifically choose to stay in the city because I would rather have my kids grow up with the culture and diversity that the city offers. But as it turns out, that "diversity" that city dwellers claim to embrace apparently includes everyone but kids. Kids are people too. Their behaviour may be different than makes you comfortable but that can be said for a lot of people. You don't like strollers on sidewalks? Rather than tell me to move to the suburbs, why don't YOU move. Go somewhere where you don't have to see kids. Now, I agree that parents have a responsibility to raise their kids and teach them to respect other people, but like the other poster, I get "looks" the minute I walk in most places. I just wish the mantra of tolerance that city-dwellers like to feel like they embrace were extended to kids.
Just a hunch, but could part of the intensity of the tension over breeders in Andersonville come from the fact that it is rapidly gentrifying and, as the NYTimes notes, formerly very gay (or to be more precise, formerly girls' town)? Not that lesbians don't have kids, but everytime I go back to Andersonville, I think "Damn, when did A'ville get so het?"
Mike846: McCauley's not banning children from the establishment: the sign says "children of all ages". There are some adults who are trapped in a perpetual state of arrested development. But I can understand his frustration. While some couples approach the life changes that accompany parenthood seriously, others treat a baby as if it's the ultimate accessory. Folks in the service and retail industries see it far too often, so if you don't like their first impression please understand that a out-of-control toddler or a wailing infant forms the foundation of their judgment.
I'm not entirely trying to make light here. It isn't that the large majority of the posts are "anti-kids" as they are frustrated with parents who either don't discipline their kids when they act out of line or insist on maintaining some semblance of their pre-parenting lives. Hence the looks of scorn from people while chowing down on the Tuesday buffalo wing special at Sedgwick's to the din of a teething toddler while the sport utility stroller taking up two-thirds of sidewalk space forces pedestrians into the street.
Parents may be pissed off at McCauley's position, but as an independent business owner he has the right to take that stance, just as you, as a parent, have the right to protest or not patronize A Taste of Heaven.
It's a shame that people are turning this into a anti-kid friendly situation... How about a manners and common courtesy or lack there of problem ?? The whiney posts by Mothers makes me want to scream !! No one is saying they don't like kids in restaurants, they're saying require proper behavior in public places. Not such a far out concept. I have owned restaurants for over 20 years and it blows my mind how some (not all) parents basically ignore the screaming, running and obnoxious behavior of their children. The little kids are running into servers carring heavy trays and throwing food everywhere and what are the parents doing....talking, drinking, on their cell phones etc. God forbid you say anything because if you do they call you "Anti-Kid" ... I have the right as a owner, patron and as a parent of 4 children to expect big and little people to behave and I do expect manners. Grow up moms and teach your children common manners.
When this Allison Miller in the article says "see if he can control the volume of their voices every minute of the day" - someone should explain to her that no one's talking about controlling their voices every minute of the day, just the mintues they're in a cafe, restaurant or store where lots of other people are around who should be respected.
And mike846 might want to re-read the comments. I don't see lots of "anti-kid" posts, I see lots of "anti-rude inconsiderate parents" posts. There's a big difference. People don't have a problem with you and your stroller on the sidewalk, as long as you're not barrelling down the middle of the path expecting the rest of the world to automatically get out of your way. It's like wearing a backpack on a crowded bus - you should be aware of the space you're taking up, and be alert that you're not bothering anyone. You clearly expect the rest of the world to do as much for you.
Love the parents who are shocked that people just don't unconditionally adore their unique and beautiful miracle of god in places where they probably shouldn't be until they're old enough to not scream uncontrollably. My friends who had kids this age realized that they'd have to give up some of their former daily routine or at the very least adjust it when they brought babies into the world.
Cheers to taste of heaven!
Well, let me say it: "I don't like kids in restaurants." As soon as I see a posse of kiddy criminals hijacking space, running around, even being quiet, I sit as far away as I can. The other day, a mother was playing a cellphone ring that mimicked a baby crying while her child slept. Mothers are just as bad as their kids, and mothers are more dangerous than a drunken, angry 300 pound football player because they perceive to have righteous indignation on their side. Mothers with children can be a dangerous combination of bitchiness and revenge. Don't ever role your eyes or go "phmm" at a mother who cannot control their child-your head will be bitten off!
I can actually see both sides here. As a city resident for nearly two decades before we had kids, I totally understand the annoyance of uncontrolled kids screaming or running around while you're trying to enjoy a meal. We always swore we'd never be those people once we had kids, and I think we've kept to that for the most part. We keep our family dining outings to restaurants that are "kid-appropriate." (i.e., no fancy, upscale places unless it's on the sidewalk cafe, no "date places," etc.). Our toddler is pretty well-behaved and understands restaurants mean no yelling or running around as a result. But even the most hard-core disciplinarian parents will tell you that even well-behaved kids will have their moments, and occasionally those occur in public. I'll do my best to keep him from disturbing you, but guess what, your smoking and cell phone chatter bug the shit out of me, too. So, I guess we all have to learn to deal. (Hopefully, not much longer with the smoking, though).
That said, I think the attitudes of some folks at restaurants are towards people with kids positively ridiculous. Dining at a casual Thai place for lunch one day, we kept getting dirty looks from the waitstaff and fellow patrons because of one, 20-second crying spell by my little guy (he dropped his sippy cup and couldn't reach it), meanwhile a group of six Trixies was practically shaking the windowns, shreiking with laughter from their conversation for the better part of an hour... two tables away. Yet everyone seemed pissed at us.
I wanted to scream: this isn't Everest, it's a fucking noodle shop already! At the lunch rush! Get over yourselves!
Look, I'm a parent and I hate uncontrolled kids running around restaurants and stores as much as the most fervent non-kid person. But if you're eating in a restaurant (or running a restaurant) that, like 75 percent of the dining establishments in the city, offers a kiddie menu or provides high chairs, then you pretty much have abandoned your right to be offended by the *mere presence* of children there.
As for this restaurant, I understand what the owner is trying to do, but calling out parents while exempting rude, obnoxious adults (of which there are plenty in this city) seems kind of prick-ish to me. I'm not going to join a protest or anything, though. There's nothing wrong with a restaurant having a code of conduct, even a selective one.
(FYI, to the schmuck up thread complaining about "$3,000 strollers," uh, even the top-of-the-line strollers are four hundred bucks, tops. The popular three-wheel ones you see everywhere in the city are in the $140 range. But, please, continue with your generalizations and stereotypes of us city parents as all being spoiled, filthy-rich jerks...)
You people make me sick. Having a niece or nephew doesn't make you an expert on kids. Recalling how well behaved you were as a child is mind numbingly wrong. I bet you people get really pissed off when you get bumped by one of those out of control self righteous handicapped people in suv type wheelchairs.
norm -- good point about how intolerant some people are on the mere existance of children, I've gotten a few nasty looks in the wicker park area where I live just from having my well behaved neice in my presence, and believe me that pisses the hell out of me. This city belongs to everyone, including and especially children, if we really want Chicago to remain a lively and vibrant town, then people should be comfortable being here at all stages of their life, and especially with their children.
Give me a break. If you have children who know how to behave, then this sign is not meant for you. If you have children who are monsters that you are unable to control, then yeah, I see why this would upset you.
I did re-read and agree that throwing anti-kid out there may have been a little much. I am not responding to the specific situation at the establishment that this post is referring to. I was merely expressing my frustration with being categorized and glared at immediately when entering a public place. I never take my kids places that are inappropriate. Like Norm, my kids are rarely the loudest, most disruptive people in the restaurant yet we get the looks. Tolerance is all I am asking for. I do my best to tolerate you without making my discomfort public. You guys make fun of suburbanites on the one hand yet in many cases you are the reason they leave in the first place.
Some have called me a dummy, but even this dummy knows not to put signs on your front door discouraging people from entering. This Nazi will be out of business in 6 months.
Comparing a businessman who wants his establishment to be a pleasant place to linger over a cup of coffee to some of the most brutal, calculating murderers in known history is not only ignorant, it's offensive.
"I'll do my best to keep him from disturbing you, but guess what, your smoking and cell phone chatter bug the shit out of me, too. So, I guess we all have to learn to deal. (Hopefully, not much longer with the smoking, though)."
I don't smoke in restaurants and if my cell phone rings I hustle and take it outside out of respect for the other patrons, novel idea.
RE; Brian and the Nazi comment,
*Laughing* maybe you can stage a sit in since you've made the leap to calling the owner a nazi you can call yourself Rosa Parks.
There's nothing wrong with WELL-BEHAVED kids & adults in a casual eatery, that's all the owner is asking.
Taste of Heaven is my new favorite eatery. The only people who are having a problem are the ones who don't know how to control their children. I will recommend it to all of my friends. At least the friends who have children who aren't loud spoiled brats.
Oh K relax, take the stick out of your butt. Haven't you ever watched seinfeld?
Mr. McCauley is running a restaurant business and not a 'Mommy meet and greet/playdating service. If the 'entitlement Mafia' has a beef, they can take it on the arches - or to the Arches.
It's not a good Chicagoist post if someone, somewhere, at some point, doesn't call another person a Nazi.
As you were, good people. :)
let's shelve the smoking ban in favor of a anti-kids ban. my blood pressure boils over hearing a screaming kid and that "2nd hand" exposure can't be good for my health. MOVE TO THE SUBURBS WHERE YOU BELONG.
Adult households with no children now comprise the largest segment of the population according to the 2000 Census.
Let's harness our power and outlaw children! No, how about just believing that we all should have respect for others when in a public place. And that's what A Taste of Heaven is. A public place.
I don't think most people mind kids that are having a crying fit or a short inability to be quiet for whatever reason - what we do mind are the parents who feel they don't have to watch what their child is doing.
Yeah move to the suburbs...because Chicago exists solely for the single 20-something crowd. They are the only ones who deserve to enjoy the city.
Children do NOT belong in the suburbs any more than adults do, people who think that need help. If you want to live in the burbs fine, but there is nothing inherent about the city that children can't be a part of (hey, my grandfather grew in the the Bronx, and last time I checked that was part of a city too, and he turned out okay). So this notion that upon having children one must flee to the burbs is demented, stop it.
My post was being scarcastic. Notice my other posts...I have a 7 yr old and 4 yr old and we are trying to live in the city in spite of the attitudes against us.
mike -- then I applaud you
mike -- then I applaud you, sorry for reading too quickly.
And another thing, parents!!!
Keep your toddlers out of the summer street festivals! Those damn things are crowded enough without having to navigate around your all-terrain baby strollers while carrying four beers! Get a babysitter or stay at home...
There... you've been warned. Don't yell at me next summer when in a drunken stupor, I accidentally spill my beer or ash my cig on your kid's head...
I don't think anybody actually has a problem with strollers as such, as long as they don't take up the whole sidewalk. The problem I have with strollers is the same problem I have with people from the suburbs. Here are some simple rules:
1. Don't take up the whole sidewalk
2. Walk to the right
3. Don't expect people to get out of your way if you don't follow those simple rules.
/If you act like you're from the suburbs, people are going to tell you to go back to the suburbs.
Wow. All these pathetically nasty comments about children, from a bunch of overgrown brats. You are all correct- most parents do a poor job parenting, you're all examples of it!
The owner went overboard in his comments, and made a group of people feel unwelcome. Plain and simple. What's nice about Andersonville is that everyone gets along...gay, straight, whatever. Let's try to keep it that way. Comments about "breeders" and such don't help at all.
I think anyone who takes that sign to mean they are bad parents must already be insecure about their parenting skills. To me, that's no difference from a sign saying "No shirt, no shoes, no service" - it's not scorning my abaility to dress appropriately, it's just reminding everyone about polite social mores in a funny way.
I think the real problem is that these parents are selfish. Their latte or visit to a hip brunch spot is more important that disciplining their children. I know it's tough to have to deprive yourself of luxuries for the sake of your children's well-being, but that's what you sign up for as a parent. If your children don't listen to your verbal adminishments, then you have to take action, and if that means you don't get your grande frappucino, well tough.
Just to weigh in at the ass-end of the debate here, there have been 8 or 10 times as many occasions here in Chicago for me where I've had my coffee/brunch/dinner/whatever disturbed by loudmouthed, obnoxious 20-somethings than by little brats crying and running around. I waited tables for years and years too, and while there are often problems with kids running around, again: it's nowhere near as bad as ill-behaviored adults.
On the other hand, the guy did write "children of all ages", so what's the big deal?
I'm coming to Chicago just to patronize this place with an owner who has the consideration to demand respect from rude parents. Not everybody likes children or wants to be bothered by other people's children. Bravo I hope other businesses follow suit across the country.
I think the whole neighborhood misses Boost - I know I do.
do people not see the goldmine with this situation, ummm, yeah kiddie and mommy only cafe/bakery i.e. meaning no faux intellectuals and/or pouseristic "i'm so hip for my own footwear"trendist, disgruntled children haters allowed...I dunno, I think it would be very cool and there seems to be a ready consumer group for such a thing...
Previewing your Comment
True, the owner of Taste of Heaven is a little uptight (won't let patrons stray from the menu for instance: if the omelette special says meat and cheese & you as a vegetarian ask to substitute an ingredient - well tough sh*t. Expect a bitchy response... NOT the most flexible/easy going guy in the world BUT, I have to say I'm willing to give him some respect for his new law. RIGHT ON! ...and knowing how the owner can be, I am amazed and pleasently surprised by the tact used (i.e. "...kids of ALL ages..."). Its not like the sign says: "put a leash on that thing!" Seriously though, I worked in the restaurant industry for years and agree that SOME parents are clueless & act like brats if you ask them politely to make theirs get out from under the table. Ann Sather (bless her heart) was notorious for telling parents that would not control their children that they were not welcome in her restaurant - right to their faces! Didn't seem to hurt business for her too much either. Maybe the message would get over to those misconstruing it as an "anti-kid" campaign if the sign said somethng like: "parents that act like spoiled kids not welcome" And while we're all complaining here - I wish people were as concerned about pollution from gasguzzlers, factories and refineries as much as they are worried over second hand smoke! Anybody with me?
"do people not see the goldmine with this situation, ummm, yeah kiddie and mommy only cafe/bakery i.e. meaning no faux intellectuals and/or pouseristic "i'm so hip for my own footwear"trendist, disgruntled children haters allowed...I dunno, I think it would be very cool and there seems to be a ready consumer group for such a thing..."
Awesome get all the bratty kids and jerky entitlement challenged parents in one place!
Yeah, just what you need, some bratty kid having a tantrum when you're trying to wake up in the morning.
Or try breaking up with your SO: "I'm sorry, did you just break up with me? I couldn't hear you because little Chad over there WAAAAANTTSSS hot chocolate."
I'm so sick of smug yuppie parents who insist on parading around with their strollers like we should all be impressed that they managed to procreate.
That's right, there are some places where rugrats aren't welcome, if they don't know how to behave in public. That goes for their parents too.
" I specifically choose to stay in the city because I would rather have my kids grow up with the culture and diversity that the city offers..."
Blah, blah, blah. You know as well as I do, as soon as your kids are of school age, you'll head back out to Schaumburg. God forbid your progeny should have to suffer the Chicago Public School system. This is, of course, after you've raised property taxes and rental rates in a formerly working class neighborhood, and bitched and moaned to your alderman and formed a neighborhood committee about the noise from the bars you frequented as a college student.
A lot of ridiculous aspersions cast about in this thread.
billy_b, my son is in elementary school in a Chicago Public School. I'm sorry you have this anger over apparently being priced out of a Chicago neighborhood by former college students. I work, and all of the people around me work too...so what about my neighborhood isn't working class?
I totally support the proposition that breeders need to control their brats or take them to Schaumburg where they belong, but I just wish it had been a less bitchy, more professional place that took the stand. Now that Taste of Heaven has dealt with the prepubescent brats, what are they going to do about the brats they let wait tables?
To summarize: Breeders Nazis Brats Schaumburg $3,000 strollers Entitlement
To Summarize: Lots of babble from non-parents on how to raise kids. Also a sense of entitlement from these people that parents and kids are not worthy to be in their presence.
Some people have a similar attitude toward gay people. They too are wrong.
Yeah, that's kind of what I was getting at. A Taste of Heaven is actually much more reasonable about children and urban parents than the majority of peope in this thread.
BRAVO to Mr. McCauley. Not only do I patronize TOH when I'm in that fantastically up and coming hip neighborhood of Andersonville, but I will be giving Taste ofH Heaven even MORE of my non-paternalistic dollars on my next visit.
There is truely nothing WORSE (and I include being dunked in a boiling vat of peanut oil AND being audited by the IRS) than spending good money on good food and having to hear and see children behave like they had just finished off a bag of sugar while their parents sit and sip their coffee and nibble on their rather tasty pasteries and turn a blind eye, you know who. You parents who also decide it is somehow fun to take your noisy children and BABIES mind you, into a movie theater while I pay damn good money to watch an adult flick.
An eating establishment in Traverse City, MI. put it even more unambiguously..."Keep your children quiet and well behaved or we will be forced to sell them to the gypsies". Well said.
I was a Rest. Mgr. for over 20 years. I am happy to see someone with the gumption
to force parents to keep their kids in line.
I can't enjoy a quiet dinner due to screeming kids. So, Good Luck and keep up
the the good work... Mike Jones Tulsa,Ok.
I love how the entitled yuppie parents can't have their "groove" upset by standard (at least this was the case for my parents' generation) consideration for others!
This makes me think of the numerous self-righteous parents who have had me position myself in a movie theatre so their one year olds can see-only to have them scream in my ear throughout the film. I have even had frausy white women get ghetto on me and try to start an altercation when simply asked to shush!
You guys are the 34033 best, thanks so much for the help.