People with children sometimes struggle to understand people who choose to not have kids. A few even take it way too far, seeing it as the responsibility of the entire universe to go out of its way and assist them with the choices they have made.
One netizen recounted a story they read from a mother who deeply and truly believed that a waiter was out of line for asking her to clean up after her son. Commenters debated the woman’s deep-seated entitlement and hypocrisy, while also discussing how undervalued and overworked service staff often are.
Some people take the “service” part of “service staff” too literally
Image credits: Tirachard (not the actual photo)
One entitled mom posted a rant about a waiter not wanting to pick up the food her son threw on the floor
Image credits: crystalsing (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Pressmaster (not the actual photo)
Image credits: DonSmo
Some people seem to believe the entire world revolves around them
While entitled people come in all shapes and sizes, there is a subset of parents who believe the act of having a child sets them apart, like the mother in OP’s story. For the sake of readability, OP will refer to the mom, not the person who later uploaded the story. While this is deeply illogical, since the entire human race exists due to multiple sets of people all having kids, entitlement is generally not a rational emotion. While it might be hard for a new mother to bend down and pick up after a messy kid, it’s very unclear why the woman in this post didn’t just ask her husband to help.
Instead, she demanded that a generally underpaid worker get down and pick up a mess he did not make. The mess, not incidentally, was caused by something OP did make, but this point seems to have escaped her. Even worse, her attitude reveals that she thought he had to clean up. Entitlement is particularly ugly because the person can’t even graciously accept something, they simply act like they deserve it. So to OP, this waiter stooping down and cleaning up an absurd mess would be just the natural order of things.
To state the obvious, we do need to cut parents and mothers some slack. When a baby is crying in an airplane or some other public place, there is often little the parents can do. The baby doesn’t know any better and tends to not share a language with which it can be reasoned with. Similarly, learning to eat is an important part of growing up, even if it might cause a decent amount of food waste. However, the parents could have simply done most of their “training” at home and not tried to outsource cleaning to someone else.
OP’s hypocritical tirade reveals a lot about just how entitled she feels she is
The rant OP posted after describing the event is the most telling part. She seems to believe that asking her to help clean up (again, where is the father in all of this) is somehow a punishment for having a child. If this mess was too much for her, she had better grow some thicker skin, since kids can get up to quite a lot. She then goes on to describe all the other ways her child has made a mess and her own surprise that people were annoyed. Peeing in the library, for example, which she hand-waves away like it’s something that happens all the time. While an airplane can be forgiven, as people need to get around, why exactly was she taking a baby into a library? It’s akin to the people who bring children into movie theaters and expect everything to be fine.
“Why do we only support when we relate?” she asks, missing the part where she neither related nor supported the waiter. She then talks about people’s exclusivity complex, ignoring the fact that, apparently, she has repeatedly made other people suffer for her choices. This is where the line from overwhelmed mother to entitled person is crossed. Somehow, in a line that is nearing parody, she says that “The kind of community I want Bryn to see is one where we all work together,” which would make sense if she actually helped anyone but herself throughout the entire story.
A few readers discussed the question with OP
Others shared their shock and similar stories
Who sits drinking wine 20 minutes AFTER their childs' bedtime? You leave 20 minutes BEFORE to avoid the meltdown. Their behavior basically ensured a screaming fit. Not to mention they're chugging down the last of their booze right before they drive home. The audacity of this woman to basically say everyone is responsible for cleaning up after my child but me.
Who the hell goes out for a meal knowing fine well it may run past their childs bedtime, AND drinks wine at said meal? That sounds like the type of meal you should get a sitter to look after your child whilst you and your partner go alone.
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Did no one else catch the part where she was drinking then expected to breast feed? Or did I read that wrong?
Def caught that. Not just drinking, but skulling her drink right before heading to breastfeed. Fecking geniuses…
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I was working as a busser at a busy restaurant. One time, I was in the weeds making my rounds through the dining room. A fussy kid, maybe 5 or 6 years old, picked up the sugar caddy, dumped it on the table, and then swept it all over the floor. The father caught my eye and he shrugged as if to say, "Well, what are you going to do?" What YOU can do is use this as a teachable moment so that your child learns how to behave in public. What I can do is clean it all up for you and pretend that you're not horrible people for $2.13 / hour.
Smdh, the father here and the mother and father in OP's story are all three sniveling ungrateful idiots. They're just shameless and it's disgusting. I always picked up after all three of my children. I couldn't stand the thought of leaving a mess for someone else. They didn't make large messes but anything that large enough for me to pick up instead of staff having to drag out a sweeper or a vacuum cleaner, I would pick up myself, immediately. I've seen plenty of parents leaving disgusting messes behind though, even my children would make comments about it. They knew it was wrong to treat others that way from a young age. Two of them worked in fast food while they were in high school also and they've always understood that you need to tip well at restaurants because it can be a rough job for little pay and their services to you requires that you tip them for for it. I have tried to teach them to appreciate people who provide services to them and have always been an example.
Load More Replies... Who sits drinking wine 20 minutes AFTER their childs' bedtime? You leave 20 minutes BEFORE to avoid the meltdown. Their behavior basically ensured a screaming fit. Not to mention they're chugging down the last of their booze right before they drive home. The audacity of this woman to basically say everyone is responsible for cleaning up after my child but me.
Who the hell goes out for a meal knowing fine well it may run past their childs bedtime, AND drinks wine at said meal? That sounds like the type of meal you should get a sitter to look after your child whilst you and your partner go alone.
Load More Replies... Did no one else catch the part where she was drinking then expected to breast feed? Or did I read that wrong?
Def caught that. Not just drinking, but skulling her drink right before heading to breastfeed. Fecking geniuses…
Load More Replies... I was working as a busser at a busy restaurant. One time, I was in the weeds making my rounds through the dining room. A fussy kid, maybe 5 or 6 years old, picked up the sugar caddy, dumped it on the table, and then swept it all over the floor. The father caught my eye and he shrugged as if to say, "Well, what are you going to do?" What YOU can do is use this as a teachable moment so that your child learns how to behave in public. What I can do is clean it all up for you and pretend that you're not horrible people for $2.13 / hour.
Smdh, the father here and the mother and father in OP's story are all three sniveling ungrateful idiots. They're just shameless and it's disgusting. I always picked up after all three of my children. I couldn't stand the thought of leaving a mess for someone else. They didn't make large messes but anything that large enough for me to pick up instead of staff having to drag out a sweeper or a vacuum cleaner, I would pick up myself, immediately. I've seen plenty of parents leaving disgusting messes behind though, even my children would make comments about it. They knew it was wrong to treat others that way from a young age. Two of them worked in fast food while they were in high school also and they've always understood that you need to tip well at restaurants because it can be a rough job for little pay and their services to you requires that you tip them for for it. I have tried to teach them to appreciate people who provide services to them and have always been an example.
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