This is why I'm a believer in karma. People who pull stupid stuff on a regular basis always seem to wonder why other people are not very nice to them. They are making your life unpleasant briefly, but for their own constant discomfort, they have no answers, not even an idea as to why other people might think life is good. "Why, even that waiter was rude, and here we had 12 customers for him...Can you imagine? I'll have to put those Cheesecake Factory weenies in their place next time, then they'll realize they should have been nicer to me."

Mean people suck. But hey, that's why the universe revolves around them, right?

I forgot to mention, one of the guys even complained on the waiter, saying he didn't get back the correct change and that the waiter was trying to stiff him. All the guy was paying for was a soda.

I work in a call centre, so I know all about rude people. Personally, I try to be polite and friendly at all times, because it just tends to make the interaction with other people a little smoother. On the other hand, some of the people that we get on the phone... YOU are calling ME to help you with something, what makes you think I am more likely to do this while you are swearing at me? It's really discouraging.

One of the things I like about this place is that everyone is civil to each other, even when people don't always agree. On the net (and increasingly so in real life) this is extremely rare. Keep it up, folks!

Would you call someone up at midnight, asking them to go way out of their way in the morning, sacrificing their time so you don't have to? I mean, that's rude in my book.

Edit: I should also mention that my opinion of this girl is tainted by past events, and there are a few other factors involved as well. Trust me when I say calling her rude is one of the nicer things I've called her recently.

Yeah, I use a variation of that. It's always funny hearing the gearwheels in their head grind when they try to adjust their thinking. Sometimes they even hang up, which is an automatic win for me!

There ain't enough fork stabbin's, in my humble opinion. What is it with parents letting their kids act like hellions?

If your 5 year-old tries to sue you, give him a "time out".

People are short sighted. They don't learn the basic understanding of seeing how their actions 1) lead to ramifications or 2) affect other people around them. Even the basic rules of social manners are designed so that those people can remember (via memorization) to say thank you or please and treat others with respect. People don't develop manners because they understand anything (or at least, this seems to be rare). They develop manners the same way people remember that 3x3=9. It's a stop gap to let people who don't understand function without resorting to fork stabbing and other caveman style behavior.

No doubt. I once felt as uncompromising about children in restaurants as mahinae sounds, but at the time I felt that my child would be different and follow my every instruction perfectly to the letter. Unfortunately, it sometimes hasn't worked out that way. Though, in all fairness, there are easily two points where the kid in her example should have been taken outside until he could calm down or just simply been taken home. Ruby's To Go isn't too bad.

I understood your point with the kid in question fully, and I agree with your disgust. But I just get put off by broad generalizations about bad parents.

And I WAS kidding about the smoking section part. However, some states have no smoking in the entire restaurant, meaning that the bar area is a just kid free zone, with a hint of stale beer smell.

I was once going to meet a friend for dinner and he asked if I wanted to pick him up - when the restaurant was located more or less smack dab in the middle of our respective apartments on a straight line. No, I would not like to add over an hour of driving time to my weeknight, thanks!

What do you do with a kid who thinks its funny to run around, kick you repeatedly, wreak havoc with your desk when you've told him you're done playing, grab on to your feet and have you drag him around, and doesn't listen to his own father yelling at him to stop ?

I hope he visits again so I can improve my kid-safe takedown techniques. In fact, maybe I should develop a very narrow-profile martial art with a very short learning curve, and market it to new parents. It's genius ! It just can't fail.

In our area, Red Lobster seats all the kids families in the same section, even if the rest of the restaurant is empty. I like it, myself.

How about the father do something besides yell.

To the OP, that first scenario can be the kiss of death in many restaurants. In my time (working through college) as a waiter, I have never stooped to vengeful tactics ... but I know those who have ... let's just say spitting in the food is mild. Eating take out while occupying three tables at a waiter's station is a serious offense. Those people were literally stealing money out of the server's pocket.

I used to work at a Mexican joint (great food by the way) and we had our share of cheap skates. I was working one night when I saw the solitary gentleman, early 30s, walk in. My manager bumped my elbow and whispered, "hey, it's Pocket Change!" Apparently this fellow (gossip travels fast amongst the restaurant folk) had a rep in town for dining out often, ordering expensive food and fine liquors, generating a large tab for a single-top and then tipping in pocket change. Hence the nickname, "Pocket Change." He continued this practice for such a stretch that many waiters got in the habit of taking the wedding tackle for a swim in his single-malt scotch before bringing it to the table. Knowing my manager, I didn't have a hard time believing this tale.

Long story short, always be courteous to those whose job it is to bring you food and drink