A perfect story for our young and childless Crasstalkers.
There is a new wave of DINK – double income, no kids. And with this wave comes restrictions on when or even an outright banning on children allowed at restaurants, grocery stores, and first-class seats in airlines. You may be surprised to hear this, but I am all for it.
I remember going to Jean Georges about seven years ago and shocked that two parents thought it was a good idea to bring their 6 year old to eat with them there. They gave their daughter some sort of hand-held game to keep her occupied and quiet, an elementary school pacifier. That child had no more reason to be there than a kitten. Not appropriate.
The pendulum is swinging yet again with new restrictions on children. Crazy parents of ill-mannered children have only themselves to blame for these new restrictions. Largely because of the permissiveness that the special snowflake syndrome embraces. See BBQCornuts‘ post for just a glimpse of the insanity. Small children are not little adults and they don’t act like adults either. Children need to be taught and trained on how to act like social, well-mannered people. They need to earn respect. They are not entitled to it.
As an example, I live in a town in Connecticut where it is not uncommon for children to call their parents’ friends by their first names. This is a pet peeve of mine because there is a level of respect that is accorded to a person when they are referred to as Mr., Ms or Mrs. That is why teachers are not called Bonnie and Will but Mr. Smith and Ms. Raitt. My children have been taught to say “Good Morning Ms Raitt. How are you today?” The extend their hand and wait for a response. They aren’t perfect and when they forget, they get a reminder from me. More often than not, these children who call Mrs. Smith “Buffy” barely glance in her direction and do not even say hello. If children cannot even cordially greet someone, how are we to expect them to behave politely in more adult settings? No wonder this child-free movement it taking off!
“Brat bans could well be the next frontier in destination and leisure-product marketing,” writes Robert Klara in Adweek. I think he might be right. Below are a smattering of organizations and places that have restrictions on children, either outright banning or restrictions.
– www.leavethembehind.com – a travel site to plan vacations that are free of children
– Whole Foods in Missouri has child-free shopping hours
– A Texas theatre chain has banned children under 6, except for special designated ‘baby days’
– La Vie Childfree has many links to child-free destinations
– Travel and Leisure also has a blog post which lists some wonderful child-free restaurants
I’m curious about the Crasstalk take on this.
