Okay...?
No where in that post did I say that I expected the children to behave out of respect for me, so maybe check your reading comprehension skills?
My comment about what boggles my mind was why on earth would you take a 4 or a 6 year old kid to a restaurant where the steaks are ala carte at $50 per, at the base. To have the audacity to complain about another set of patrons when their kids are scrambling around, under the table?
The expectations were not coming from me, but them. They demanded to the manager that we change our behavior, while letting their brats misbehave. I expect that sort of behavior at Applebees, not a 5-star. We did not demand that they change their behavior. In fact, we were patently ignoring it and going on with our conversation as normal.
Normal.
The table over? A group of businessmen who were well sauced, telling raunchy tales about what they did on their last business trip. I assure you, that our minimal swearing paled in comparison to a rather large and drunk individual regaling his table mates with tales about his anal intercourse with the booth babe working the next booth over.
The same holds true for a hockey game. I have been to several different arenas now and it also boggles my mind that a parent would drop $50-$100 on a ticket for a child to sit in the lower bowl and all they do is play at sword fighting with their newly purchased foam fingers. Does that make me sound snobbish or like I feel entitled to anything? No. That is me, wondering WTF were the parents thinking, dragging a 5 year old to an expensive hockey game just to have them run around like they are in a McDonalds Playland.
On the polar opposite side of the spectrum, I have also been to hockey games with families of kids that were actually INTO the hockey being played. Those parents taught their kids that they are there to watch the game, not attempt to pick their nose with a foam wolf-bear-cat claw...
/sigh
At this point, the only thought in my head is; "Why did I bother responding?"
