1st off...YOU weren't there. You know nothing of the situation. And yet, you form an opinion.
Second...The manager WHO WAS THERE saw things differently than you.
Lastly, this episode had nothing to do with you and yet you seem to keep wanting to interject yourself and your situation into the scenario. Get over yourself. Life isn't all about you. Obviously you lack critical thinking skills. The situation DID NOT have any of the "What If's" you keep trying to interject, AND YET you keep trying to interject them. You seem to think that ONLY YOU can identify issues in others and that others are incapable.
Here's the deal. YOU ain't the beginning and end all of people being able to read others. I have a news flash for you. Believe it or not, others don't always act one way. If I would have read the situation differently, I would have acted differently.
As far as intimidation...making eye contact wasn't intimidation. That's just 2 people seeing each other and acknowledging their existence.
Giving someone the hairy eyeball isn't intimidation. That's just silently and non confrontationally letting the other person know that they are beginning to annoy the other.
When nothing was done, that's when the chiding happened. Again, that's not intimidation.
What happened next was the wife, instead of trying to remedy the situation, instead chose to confront it. Like I said before, if you decide to take something to a confrontation level, you better have the horsepower to back it up, or the fortitude to handle the repercussions. Wifey had the big mouth, wifey got the verbal slap down. Hubby decides he's going to get out of his booth and play tough guy, something he wasn't able to pull off. (He got out of his seat to confront me. So who exactly is trying to intimidate who?) THAT is when I used my intimidation.
Now the alternative, would have been for me to actually have gotten up and done something.
Here. Let's do a little roll play scenario.
You and your family go out to eat for a meal. You are seated at a table where other people are seated at other tables in your general area.
Now, along come other people into the general area who are seated.
Now, one of your kids begins to act up.
What do you do???
Your child continues to act up.
What do you do???
Your child continues to act up, being loud enough, that obviously people half way across the restaurant could hear him.
What do you do???
Your child continues to act up, climbing on the booth seat and stomping around.
What do you do???
Your child bangs on the table, drawing eye contact from another customer.
What do you do???
Your child continues to make a nusance of himself.
What do you do???
Your child now gets defiant of your verbal reprimands.
What do you do???
Your child now gets off the booth and walks around the table, becoming a moving obstacle for others.
What do you do???
A customer, who has put up with this for 15 minutes, PURPOSELY makes eye contact with you and gives you THE LOOK.
What do you do???
Your child runs out of your reach, when you try to grab him.
What do you do???
You loudly raise your voice at your child, so that others around you hear you.
Your child continues.
What do you do.
Your wife tries to hold onto him and he slaps at her.
What do you do???
The customer who you've made eye contact with, TWICE, makes a comment, that your child needs a spanking.
WHAT do you do???
At what point do you apologize to those around you???
At what point do you see OTHERS having just as much right to have a nice meal out, as you???
You said:
Who are you to presume to know what is going on someone’s life?
Presumption works both ways.
Who are you to presume you know what's going on in someone's life.
That table to your right, maybe the wife just miscarried for the second time.
The table two rows over, kiddy corner to your left. Yeah, the older couple. Maybe he just got word that his wife of 47 years has breast cancer.
What about that table behind you, about 5 tables away. They have 9 kids, ages 3 mos to 12 years. They just found out that their teenage nephew has been fondling their 4 yr old girl.
The table to your left, with the burly construction worker and wife. He's been working 12 hour days, 20 days on, one off, with a 3 hour round trip commute, for the last 4 months. This is the first time in 4 months he's been able to do anything, besides shove dinner in his mouth, shower and go to bed.
The too young couple in front of you, with the pregnant wife. He works a job making $10 an hour. He scraped everything he could for the last month, just so they could go out this once, before the baby arrives.
You seem to like "what ifs". You seem to want to interject yourself into my scenario.
Interject yourself into the scenario I just posited. Those are everyday positions for many people all over this country.
You said:
Parenting three young kids, one with special needs, takes guts and strength, and sometimes it is just too tiring to parent to your high standards.
Tell that to the couple that just miscarried their 2nd child.
Tell that to the older couple that just found out she has breast cancer.
Tell that to anyone.
Your presumption is that you are the only one that has it tough.
Your presumption is that you have it tougher than anyone else.
Your presumption is, that because of your circumstance,
others OWE...YOU.
Well you win. You are my hero. Thank you for your service as the self appointed parenting police. I will sleep better knowing you are out there.
Let me know when you actually raise a child of your own. Be sure and use your “massive” size to make them tow the line, and see if they are as impressed with your badness as you seem to be.
Princess