There are days when I just should not be allowed to read certain Web sites. On those days, I wish some sites were even more interactive; maybe the stories have a button you can click that tags the article with a big FU or something similar. Or maybe it attaches a quote: "This writer is a big poopy-head" or "This person quoted really should start taking her meds again." I guess, however, the point of such articles is to elicit a response either agreeing or disagreeing, passionate or dispassionate. This is just such a story, for me anyway.
Now, the writer, Victoria Clayton, got to me right from the header: No Brats Allowed! Well, that catches my attention. None of us like brats. We didn't like them growing up and we certainly don't want our children to become them. But, the sub-head changes the tone: Is American society increasingly intolerant of tots? Um, that's not really what you were talking about, is it? Wouldn't a more appropriate sub be something in line with manners or behavior? I mean, not all tots are brats. And I know a few adults who would put the lie to the statement all brats are tots. So, which is it? Do people just not like brats or are more and more people becoming child-haters? Let's see, shall we?
We've all heard the recent stories of a Starbucks here or some eatery there posting signs about children and how they should be seen, not heard - good little Stepford scions. I think we all agree (though we may not - completely understandable) that children should be well-behaved when out and about and parents are ultimately responsible. But, have we lost our sense of reason when we start petitions to establish child-free restaurants, "loosely compar(ing) dining with children to dining with cigarette smoke?" Or some people "say(ing) they'd much rather see a dog at dinner, the movies or the mall than
little "cretins." Dogs are better behaved, they smell better and
they're much cuter, wrote one reader." Who are "some people?" Can I get a name, please? I want to find where they're eating so I can bring in some mangy mutt that's just been rummaging around in dumpster juice, sit down next to them and say "Isn't he cuter than that child over there?" as he marks his territory on their Cole Haan's or Jimmy Choo's. So far, looks like people just don't like children. Maybe the brats will come up later.
Josephine Charlton, a p.r. consultant in West Hollywood (translation: out of work publicist (no offense Mrs. Jason)) says she "loves children but feels they are becoming public nuisances nonetheless." Um, ok. Yeah. But, it gets better. "Her local Whole Foods has been overrun by “breeders” with an oversized
sense of entitlement, she says, museums are now inappropriately clogged
with strollers, and even first-class travel has morphed into "Romper
Room" in the air." Ta-fuckin'-dah. Loves children, my ass. She's no different than the guy who tells off-color jokes and then makes up for it by saying "a lot of my friends are black." And breeders? Better than chain-smoking Virginia Slims and talking to 30 cats while knitting tea cozies for people who never visit. But, for my money, here's the money quote: "Charlton, who doesn’t have children but describes herself as an adoring
godmother of two, says too many parents act as if the earth revolves
around their children, and the general public should treat them as
such. Yet kids are more out of control than ever, she says." I love the adoring godmother line. I wonder if she even knows the responsibilities of a godmother. Should anything happen to the parents of those children, will she still consider children a nuisance? I imagine so. What's the total now? Don't like children: 2 Brats: 0.
This is about the point I'm ready to throw my fist through the monitor. Just about halfway into the article. I guess there's some passion there, huh? But, finally, someone says something that makes sense. Etiquette maven Cindy Post Senning argues that "society (is) simply becoming more intolerant of little tikes. Almost
every generation will try to say that the current generation is worse
than ever,” says Senning, director of the Emily Post Institute, an
organization founded in 1946 by our nation’s first grand dame of good
manners, Emily Post, Senning’s great-grandmother. "I don’t think
children are any worse than they’ve ever been.” Thank you, Ms. Senning, for bringing a little sanity. They are children after all. They haven't been fully-school on society's mores so they may be loud or rambunctious at times. There are times when I wish I could be a little more rambunctious.
I'll let you all analyze the rest and hopefully you'll leave comments either agreeing with my take on this or respectfully disagreeing. Can we all agree that it's the responsibility of the parents to raise well-behaved, respectful and courteous children? And can we also agree that children will be children, it's what they are for cryin' out loud? Finally, can we agree that Ms. Clayton wrote an article that's less about brats than it is about an increasing intolerance for children in general?
Recent Comments