Omnivore - Oh, those evil children in restaurants

Grant Central still attracting international attention

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  • www.10cities10years.com

About a month ago, I posted about Grant Central Pizza’s menu insert requesting that parents take their squalling children outside until they calm down.

The story was picked up by media all over the place (with no credit given CL, by the way). The latest to mention the brouhaha and Grant Central is Toronto’s Globe and Mail in a blog post entitled, “The 12 secrets of dining out with kids.”

There’s nothing remotely secretive about the tips, although one of them did cause me to balk. Does anyone really believe that parents should use the promise of dessert to bribe their kids into mannerly behavior? “If you’re a nice kid, mommy will reward you with sugar and fat.” Oy. Would you reward your dog with obesity-causing treats because he sits quietly when you command him to do so?

My original post on the subject provoked a lot of argument among commenters. I thought much of the complaining was over the top. So, a few days later, I wrote what I assumed was obviously a parody of the kiddy- bashing. I basically accused many adult diners of the same type of behavior bad kids exhibit.

I didn’t read the comments on that post until yesterday and I was shocked to see that most, if not all, commenters took it seriously. No, folks, explosively laughing adults don’t upset me any more than shrieking infants do. I guess I should take this as another reminder that sarcasm is often not obvious here in cyberville. But it would be even deadlier, I’m guessing, to write that the issue is really about the way our culture regards children.