One of life’s most valuable lessons is that we cannot control other people’s behavior, only our own reactions. Yet some people do not take this lesson to heart and walk this earth as if everyone owes them something.
A young man working as a waiter in a restaurant encountered exactly this type of person and described the scene in the Reddit thread r/entitledparents.
An arrogant customer asked the waiter to tell a young couple sitting next to her to “stop kissing”.
The waiter described his workplace as an “American-style restaurant” and noted, “We do have a small bar, but it’s more of a family-style restaurant.”
“I’ve been working at this restaurant for about 6 years and have had my fair share of demanding customers,” he said. “This weekend, one of the worst families came to see me.”
The family in question was there for a birthday party. The party size was 18 people, including grandparents, cousins, siblings, and some birthday guests. Describing the scene, the waiter explained, “This was not a catered event… They were in the middle of one of the rooms and there were booths on several sides.”
“In one of the booths near the windows sat this couple, both 14 years old,” said the waiter. “I’ve just finished my teaching degree and knew the kids… Both kids seem to be good kids.”
“The boy is a soccer player, he is very smart and gets good grades,” he said. “The girl is a sweet girl, she is always at his games… She is also a smart kid with a lot of potential.”
The waiter explained that the parents had “a problem” with the teenage couple kissing at the birthday party.
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The mother demanded that the waiter tell the teenagers to “stop kissing,” and when he refused, she became even angrier.
“I told them that in our restaurant there are no rules prohibiting kissing your loved ones because there are none,” the waiter wrote.
The mother insisted that her displays of affection were “inappropriate” because she had children who could see them, but she didn’t stop there. “This woman storms up to them and tells them to stop kissing because there are children around,” the waiter said. “They politely ask her to go away, but she refuses.”
Her kissing wasn’t the only thing that bothered the mother. As the waiter explained: “Then she noticed that the boy had painted nails and said how disgusting that was.”
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The boy was rightly upset and several staff members were needed to de-escalate the tension.
“The other parents in the group started complaining about how ridiculous we were behaving and that they should sue the restaurant for public nuisance,” the waiter said, whereupon the owner intervened.
“She was still going on with her tirade of ‘think of the children,'” the waiter said. She was so agitated that the owner took her to a separate part of the restaurant until the teenagers finished their food.
No one would argue that it would be inappropriate to engage in extensive smooching in a restaurant, but that was clearly not the case here. If it had been, the restaurant staff would have intervened.
“We have banned parents from entering the restaurant for the foreseeable future,” explained the waiter, showing that sometimes the good guys really do win.
One person noted in the comments section, “If people don’t want their kids to be ‘exposed’ to the things that are happening, why are they taking them to a public place?”
Another Reddit user analyzed the mother’s sense of entitlement, saying, “The irony is that 14-year-olds are children, but she is an adult who acts like a moody child.”
The waiter finally pointed out an indelible truth: There is nothing wrong with kissing someone you love, even in a restaurant.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango’s news and entertainment team, covering social issues, pop culture, and all things entertainment.
