[RedBloodedAmerican]

feh. If I am in a place and if someones kids are out of hand, I tell em to shut up and sit down and tell the parent to mind them. The parents don't usually say anything. Why wait?

[Loud Mime]

I was once dining with some friends when some lady would not do anything about her loud kid. After we've all had enough, Tom slammed his fork down and YELLED at the mother, "Lady, stuff a sock in that kid's mouth!"

The restaurant fell silent.

She took the kid outside and we finished our meal in peace. What amazed me was how many smiles and "thumbs up" we got from the other customers.

This restaurant deserves more business.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

I've often thought that adults are too respectful of bratty children. When allow children to go on and on like brats, we are really tolerating the parents and their either poor control or their concept that it is "civilized" to carry on in public.

When I was kid, adults would actually tell me to behave or pipe down if I was acting up. I think we need to get over that absurd boundary that we cannot correct an unruly child in public (within limits, of course, no screaming, certainly no touching, but if the child is screaming words, he/she can probably understand an adult saying, "please stop screaming.")