Picture yourself sitting in a diner, trying to enjoy your breakfast and a cup of coffee, when a couple of tables away you hear a 2 year old crying. Crying for nearly ONE HOUR! That was more than enough for the owner of a diner in Maine, who finally slammed her hands down on the counter and shouted, “THIS NEEDS TO STOP!”. This woman is my HERO! However, little Suzzie Screamer’s parents did what so many parents do this day: became offended. They asked, “Are you screaming at a child?!”, to which the owner, Darla Neugebauer, replied, “Yes I am!”…and the child stopped screaming. Darla claims that she told the parents to take the child out of the restaurant so as to not bother other patrons. Doesn’t that seem like a no brainer? Plenty of parents would have done this, again because it’s the COURTEOUS thing to do! I’m paying good money, wanting to simply enjoy a meal in peace and quiet, but there’s a child screaming and carrying on! Darla knows that’s not good for business, so she snapped. Asked by an NBC reporter if she was sorry, Darla explained, “Um, I don’t know if sorry would be the proper word,” she said. “I might have used poor judgment. I wouldn’t say that I was sorry because it stopped. When things stop, it’s usually a good thing.” The screaming child’s parents left the diner and later posted on Darla’s Facebook page that it was “the worst experience”. Adding, “Who in their right mind would behave like this unless you are deranged?”
Are you kidding me?! Now let’s keep in mind there are always two sides to every story, and we’ve only heard ONE side. But I would bet you breakfast, lunch and dinner and Darla’s diner that if we were to talk with other customers who were there that fateful day, they too would say the screaming child was too much. True, yelling back at the child may not seem like the optimum answer, but sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire! Here’s part of Darla’s interview with NBC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V1B7gQstoM
(source iCloud via YouTube with news report from NBC)
I have a family member that has been out at a nice restaurant before with her child, and when the child began having a fit, the mother told the other family members, “oh, just ignore her”. THAT’S her solution?! Again, who wants to be out enjoying a meal, only to have a child screaming and crying, without the parent doing anything? Common sense says to at least take the child to the bathroom or outside and calm them down there. But we live in a society today where some believe their precious little johnny or janie can do no wrong. Wait til your child gets out there in the real world, where most REALLY don’t care about your feelings~
