the culture wars...

[flea]

In addition to their ongoing anti-feminist articles about young women wanting to stay home with children, the New York Times also has had repeated articles about clashes between people with children and people without children. Today's instalment is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/09/national/09bakery.html?8hpib

My response is well-covered by Bitch, PhD in this essay (http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/2005/04/moms-at-work-over-there.html) and can be summed up this way: children are part of society. Yes, parents should encourage them to be well-behaved in public, and should not take one-year-olds to Michelin 3-star restaurants. But a casual neighborhood cafe at brunch time or early evening? Give me a break.

Comments

[cashmerepett.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY. Christopher and I took Owen to one of our favorite tiny Italian bistros. It's casual and I see kids in there all the time. But when Owen wasn't being really cooperative after we had ordered and I saw a nicely dressed couple sit next to us and order $9 glasses of whiskey, I figured they might not want their fairly expensive dinner disrupted and we asked the waitress to box our entrees to go.

Owen wasn't screaming or crying, but I could tell by his fidgets that he wouldn't last through dinner. I made a judgement call and we left. I try to pick up on these cues early before there is a problem and be considerate of other customers.