Parents..would you be mad?

[Izzy's Valkyrie]

I would have reacted rather more poorly than Fran in that situation. I hate dirty toddlers and if you're sending one after me while I'm trying to do my job it is unlikely I won't either run or somehow keep it at arm's length so it can't touch me. So quite frankly I applaud Fran's reaction. At least she didn't punt it away from her like I would have wanted to!

Ideally? Creepy sauce toddler wouldn't have been launched at Fran. In that case, side stepping would end up with a tripped crying kid or a knocked over glass on a nearby table. Kid ruining a nice outfit that I have to spend the rest of my shift in? Those parent's would be getting the bill for the cleaning and I would make sure my managers knew why I was no longer cleanly attired for work.Yelling stop? Unlikely to have any effect whatsoever. Reaching out a hand or foot to stop the kid would have ended in abuse accusations so holding a menu to cover her dress? That's about the best she could do.

What would I have done? Not worn white lol but in those circumstances. Probably the same as Fran to save my sanity and my job.

 

[iwantmypup]

Honestly, atleast she got a menu and not a chair or something.

 

[sparks19]

Except Fran didn't do anything wrong. It is not wrong to avoid being assaulted by a gooey, unrestrained child, especially one that has been launched at you on purpose. There is a standard of behavior for children at restaurants.

we will just have to agree to disagree on that one I guess.

Yes I agree there is a standard of behaviour but not everyone upholds that... that doesn't give free reign to do whatever you wish to the child.

i feel it could have been handled much better and I doubt my opinion on that is going to change anytime soon.

and as a parent I would be pissed about it but that is coming from the idea that I wouldn't SEND my child over there in the first place.

 

[Izzy's Valkyrie]

What realistically could have been done in that situation that would not have ended up with a tripped toddler or a ruined dress? In this EXACT situation, how could Fran have handled it better and effectively so that the child did no ruin her dress or fall down? Sidestepping is obviously not the answer since the child would fall and Fran could very well knock over dishes at a nearby table.

 

[sparks19]

I would have reacted rather more poorly than Fran in that situation. I hate dirty toddlers and if you're sending one after me while I'm trying to do my job it is unlikely I won't either run or somehow keep it at arm's length so it can't touch me. So quite frankly I applaud Fran's reaction. At least she didn't punt it away from her like I would have wanted to!

Ideally? Creepy sauce toddler wouldn't have been launched at Fran. In that case, side stepping would end up with a tripped crying kid or a knocked over glass on a nearby table. Kid ruining a nice outfit that I have to spend the rest of my shift in? Those parent's would be getting the bill for the cleaning and I would make sure my managers knew why I was no longer cleanly attired for work.Yelling stop? Unlikely to have any effect whatsoever. Reaching out a hand or foot to stop the kid would have ended in abuse accusations so holding a menu to cover her dress? That's about the best she could do.

What would I have done? Not worn white lol but in those circumstances. Probably the same as Fran to save my sanity and my job.

so if you had the ability to run away... why not? it would have resulted in the kid not running into anything you stuck out there and you not getting your pretty little dress with some marks on it.

and how do we figure that side stepping would result in the child being tripped? when he gets close (as it's apparent it was more than just a half a seconds notice) step back to where you can slip through tables and do just that. how do you figure the child would be tripped?

 

[Izzy's Valkyrie]

It will keep running past where Fran would be being fairly uncoordinated as most toddlers are and either run into a person/chair/table or trip over it's own feet. Running away is entirely unprofessional and likely to get a server in way more trouble than attending to her customers.

 

[sparks19]

What realistically could have been done in that situation that would not have ended up with a tripped toddler or a ruined dress? In this EXACT situation, how could Fran have handled it better and effectively so that the child did no ruin her dress or fall down? Sidestepping is obviously not the answer since the child would fall and Fran could very well knock over dishes at a nearby table.

I don't understand how you figure a simple step through some tables or around a corner would result in this.

I'm not talking about waiting until the child is about to lunge at you. but as he's running down the aisle step between or around some tables. there must be ONE empty table in the place... or move back until you can get to a free area.

are toddlers smarter than we are? more capable? because that seems to be the assumption here. we can simply step between some tables so the kid has to make a TURN or go into the women's rest room or the kitchen or something. RUN for your life if you have to. but why just stand there KNOWING you don't want what is coming and then stick something in the way for the child to run into.

it's not rocket science lol

or if you are that worried about your cute little dress do as was mentioned earlier and just run away to an area the child can't follow. Then if they complain you will still have the same result from your manager without a child having to run into something to stop him.

 

[sparks19]

It will keep running past where Fran would be being fairly uncoordinated as most toddlers are and either run into a person/chair/table or trip over it's own feet. Running away is entirely unprofessional and likely to get a server in way more trouble than attending to her customers.

OOOOOOH I see... running away is unprofessional but sticking somthing out for the child to run into to keep it from touching you is completely professional.

gotcha

I still stand by my opinion that as a parent I would be angry that someone would just stick something out to push my child back. but again I wouldn't send her there in the first place.

I think I would rather my child trip over her own feet then to have the person just stand there and the whip out an object for the kid to run into. it couldnt' have been as split second as described if it was really thought the child could stop before running into it.

 

[Laurelin]

Personally... I would have sucked it up and taken the hug then promptly gone to the bathroom and washed up. To me it is the least troublesome of the outcomes. If I had reacted in a way that left the kid crying and on the ground, I would have been apologizing all over myself. As a server, I would feel my job would be to keep customers happy.

 

[Izzy's Valkyrie]

She's standing by the table kid can't be more than three or four feet away there isn't a whole lot of wiggle room there. Seriously, you think running around in a dress at one's workplace like the toddler is going to murder you is better than just letting the kid bump into her?

 

[Renee750il]

In my experience, 4 year olds are slippery as eels and difficult to avoid when they're determined, lol. I've had to save Kharma a time or two. She knows she's not allowed to eat them, so she leaves it to me to run interference when one comes hurtling at her. I can imagine the one coming at Fran was probably pretty quick, too.

 

[noludoru]

You gave him a physics lesson. Action. Reaction.

:rofl1::rofl1:

Honestly, I'd be down right pissed off but then again maybe I'm weird. Perhaps the parents shouldn't have their children hugging random stranger but you work in a place where children are present and the way you handled things IMO was unprofessional. Honestly, if you can't handle children, find a job without them or cease wearing "cute white dresses" I'm sorry but the whole original post sounded like something straight out of a rich snobby brats mouth. No offense.

So a college kid should find a job that isn't in the service industry or anything with retail sales. . . or anything that deals directly with customers, for that matter?

that doesn't give free reign to do whatever you wish to the child..

She didn't beat him across the face with a frying pan or go after him with a skewer and the intent of roasting him over the stove. She just tried to protect herself and her personal property from being smeared with nastiness.

I get that you're a mom and love you're kid, but if your kid is attempting to touch someone against their will and they defend themselves in a gentle manner, it's absurd that you would be pissed off over it when the child (or in this case, the parents) is at fault.

 

[sparks19]

She's standing by the table kid can't be more than three or four feet away there isn't a whole lot of wiggle room there. Seriously, you think running around in a dress at one's workplace like the toddler is going to murder you is better than just letting the kid bump into her?

how can that be so. she said she stuck the menu out with the impression the child could stop in time but turns out he couldn't. so how could it have been split second?

seriously you wouldn't have to run THAT fast.

Ok fine... poking things at preschoolers is A OK. it's totally professional. who cares if you put something out there fo rthem to run into, stumble back and cry.

seriously we are the ADULTS. can we not figure out ways to handles preschoolers? if not then we are doomed

 

[Zoom]

Again, spaghetti sauce on white...it's not going to just wash up.

And as for neatly side-stepping out of the way, c'mon you guys, this is FRAN we're talking about. :rofl1: (all the love, sweetie!)

 

[MericoX]

It's not like she roundhouse kicked the kid in the face, chuck norris style. (Whick BTW wouldve been WIN and you'd be my hero forever).

Like everyone else says, it sounds like Fran wasn't menacing pointing a menu at the kid, just as a shield. Even without nice clothes I personally wouldn't want a kid randomly hugging me, last time I checked I'm not Barney, let alone one covered in crap.

On a side note, you should've used a napkin an gone all "Torro, Torro" with him and thrown the napkin at him as you dodge his hugging-atempt and run for the hills.

 

[Izzy's Valkyrie]

True, Fran would have tripped over her own feet :rofl1: <3 Fran. Also, as far as I can tell Fran just held the menu over her dress, not out at the kid for him to run in to. I would definitely say holding a menu against your own person cannot even mildly be construed as poking a child with ANYTHING.

 

[sparks19]

:rofl1::rofl1:



So a college kid should find a job that isn't in the service industry or anything with retail sales. . . or anything that deals directly with customers, for that matter?



She didn't beat him across the face with a frying pan or go after him with a skewer and the intent of roasting him over the stove. She just tried to protect herself and her personal property from being smeared with nastiness.

I get that you're a mom and love you're kid, but if your kid is attempting to touch someone against their will and they defend themselves in a gentle manner, it's absurd that you would be pissed off over it when the child (or in this case, the parents) is at fault.

i just don't see sticking a menu that would make teh child stumble back as a gentle manner.

and if that makes me absurd then I am proud to take that title... absolutely.

she's the adult in the situation... the child is 4 years OLD. surely you can outsmart a 4 year old no?

i've grown up around A LOT of kids and while they are clever and quick... they aren't little super powers running around with the ability to leap tall buildings and be faster than a bullet.

maybe find a job where you work behind a counter then no kids can touch you.

or maybe keep some stickers in your pocket when a kid comes running at you flash those in his face lol I guarantee he'll stop to see what you have lol

 

[Renee750il]

Sparks, Hannah's spoiled you, lol

Think about it . . . if the parents are that stupid/awful/pick a descriptive, you have to wonder if the kid picked up the same genes? If a kid can get a grown up to react and run away, you'd better believe he's going to be more determined than ever to do what that grown up is trying to avoid having done.

 

[sparks19]

True, Fran would have tripped over her own feet :rofl1: <3 Fran. Also, as far as I can tell Fran just held the menu over her dress, not out at the kid for him to run in to. I would definitely say holding a menu against your own person cannot even mildly be construed as poking a child with ANYTHING.

she said she held it out like a stick... that doesn't tell me she held it against her person and that surely wouldn't stop the kid from hugging you.

perhaps this incident will allow fran to be more prepared for such indicents. As it's clear from past posts this isn't her first incident with children.

don't get me wrong... people who let their kids run wild in restaurants bother me to no end. and I can tell you that when taking our order Hannah has reached over into a waitress's apron all of a sudden... in her seat of course but the waitress was right beside her. We apologized and the waitress just laughed and asked if Hannah was after her tips lol. of course this person was used to serving around children. Now if that waitress had poked Hannah with a straw or something I might be a little miffed about that.

 

[drmom777]

But Sparks, you did not, I assume, tell Hannah "Hey honey, why don't you feel up the waitress?" If you had, her reaction might have been different